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

La Música de Al-Andalus

Ensemble Al-Ruzafa

Conductor: Hames Bitar

Aleppo: custody of the musical tradition from the Orient.   Aleppo is an important trading city and communication cross-point where the most pure traditions of Arabic chant have been preserved. The most characteristic expression of this chant is the vocal improvisations or layali, through which the complete doctrine of maqam was developed into a form of choral music, the qad (alqudud in plural), related to the muaxaha genre, very well-known in Al-Andalus.   From the eighteenth century onwards, the muaxaha expanded through the Mid-Orient, particularly in Aleppo, where it is known ...+ info

Julian Arcas

María Esther Guzmán, guitarra

AN EVENTFUL LIFE Julián Gabino Arcas Lacal was bo.rn in María (Almería) on 25th October 1832. His father, Pedro Arcas, was a good amateur guitarist who followed the work of Dionisio Aguado and his school. At an early age he was to start teaching his sons Julian and Manuel, both of whom immediately showed a natural affinity for the instrument. When Julián is 12, the Arcas family moves to a Malaga, perhaps attracted by the economic boom the city was then experiencing. Here, he is taught by José Asencio, Dionisio Aguado's favourite guitarrist, who was capitali...+ info