La Música de Al-Andalus

Ensemble Awtar-Tilimsem

There is a very significant fragment of the poem written by Ismá'il b. Bard when he asked 'Abd al-Hamid b. Basil for a lute, and was given an old instrument:   You were very generous to send me a lute that belonged to the family of al-Waid. Generation after generation mended it with their hands. It is Co me like a lute of mosaic. The spiders wove over it for they thought it a vestige of a building in ruins. This lute is like effaced lines, like the remains of the ink of beautiful calligraphy.   (AI-Kattáni (1029): Kitab al-tasbihiát mi...+ info

Poder á Santa María

Sinfonye

Conductor: Stevie Wishart

THE MUSIC AND PERFORMANCE OF THE CANTIGAS The melodies of Alfonso's Cantigas tend to be more predictable and forward moving in comparison to the cansos of the Troubadours. They are more reminiscent of the provençal dansas with easily memorable, short-ranging phrases which suggest strong metrical feels even short though the rhythm is often ambiguously notated in the Cantigas manuscripts. The musical form of the Cantigas a is remarkably consistent, usually with the second half of the stanza sharing the same melody as the refrain, as in the French virelai. In contrast to this lengthy m...+ info

En la Alhambra

Orquesta Ciudad de Granada

MUSICAL `ALHAMBRISMO' IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY SPAIN More than a fully-developed style entity, Alhambrismo in nineteenth-century music was a fashion, a type of "sound" which can be linked with a tendency towards the picturesque and the recreation of the mood of Spanish music of the first half of the nineteenth century. The Picturesque had opened its doors on two trends in European orchestral music: northern idealism asseen in Fingal's cave by Mendelssohn, and the Orientalism of The Desert by David, which was followed later in works by Massenet and Saint-Saëns. Historically, Spain was co...+ info