Imagine a king so cultured
and wise that he spends his days composing,
or overseeing the composition of over
four hundred glorious, imaginative,
inspired and stunningly beautiful songs
to the Virgin Mary (the Cantigas de
Santa Maria). A sovereign so open-minded
and civilised that he wallowed in, absorbed
and incorporated into his court and
own artistic works the cultural influence
of Moors and Jews despite his own strongly
Christian faith. What a glittering star
in the firmament of monarchs! This is
what the lucky Spanish had in the thirteenth
century in their ruler, Alfonso X, nicknamed
El Sabio, The Wise, who called himself
the "King of three religions". A selection
of the Cantigas, possibly the highlight
of Alfonso’s creations, have here been
reconstructed taking into consideration
the non-European elements, with accomplished
Moroccan musicians supplying traditional
accompaniment to the melody lines given
by the Cantigas manuscript, and using
instruments as close as possible to
those shown in the manuscript. The results
are deeply striking – a collection of
moving, exciting, and thrilling songs,
performed with passion and panache by
the Camerata Mediterranea and Abdelkrim
Rais Andalusian Orchestra of Fes under
the direction of Joel Cohen and Mohammed
Briouel.
The pieces themselves
range from ones that are very familiar
to us from the performances of other
mediaeval groups – such as the Cantigas
100 – Santa Maria, strela do dia,
and 417 – Nobre don e muy precado,
to ones that are less well-known. From
the atmospheric opening instrumental
Bughya (overture), Nawba Ramal
al-Maya, we are taken on a magical
journey encompassing many different
moods and airs, ranging from the rousing
Ben vennas, Mayo (Cantiga 406)
and lively and beautiful Mui gran
dereit’e (56) with its spoken introduction
giving a greater flavour of the culture
and language, through to the moving
solo song Sola fusti, senlleira
(90), or haunting Cantigas 230 and 320,
and concluding with a melting rendition
of Por nos Virgen Madre, Cantiga
250.
The ensemble playing
is outstanding, and the voices are strong,
confident and powerful, capable of shining
out alone, or blending into the tutti
as required. The decision to use musicians
steeped in Moorish music has paid off
exceptionally well. Both lovers of mediaeval
and non-European music will find this
coming together of cultures fascinating
and appealing. All in all, it is an
extremely well-presented, designed and
performed disc and I recommend it highly.
Em Marshall