Program: #20-38 Air Date: Sep 07, 2020
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In 1219, St. Francis traveled to meet the Muslim Sultan Al Malik; eight centuries later in 2019, the Pera Ensemble has reconstructed music from this extraordinary spiritual event.
The context came with unusual perils. The Fifth Crusade was underway, and Francis was therefore “the enemy,” subject to imprisonment, torture, and execution. He experienced at least one of the first two. He avoided the third but not for lack of trying: At one point, he challenged al-Kamil’s priests to an “ordeal of fire.” (They declined.) In the end, the sultan proved as almost-persuadable as Agrippa had while listening to Paul. And Francis, who had expected either a miracle or martyrdom, was honorably escorted back to the crusaders’ camp.
To capture in music the flavor of such a dramatic event must have been daunting. Yet Yeşilçay and his ensemble have captured exactly that.
From the crusader hymn “Deus Lo Vult: Pax in Nominee Domini,” which opens Disc 1, to “Surah Al-Hujurat 9/13 & Surah Al-Ahzab 33/56,” which concludes Disc 2, 1219 combines vintage Oriental and Occidental compositions and texts, situating spirited singing and original-language recitations amid period-piece instrumental virtuosity.
Ultimately, what eventuates over the course of 1219’s distinctively Middle Eastern–sounding two hours and 13 minutes feels less like a competition of worldviews (although it was, and remains, that) and more like the mutually respectful dialogue that historians believe actually took place between Francis and al-Kamil once each got over his surprise at the other’s not being as threatening or as antagonistic as he’d expected.
Thibaut King of Navarre (1201-1253)
Seigneurs Saichiés
Au Tans Plain De Felonie
Farabi (872-950)
Du Shems
Alfonso El Sabio (1221-1284)
Poi las Figuras
Ibn Arabi (1165-1240)
Vokal Improvisation
Al-Lusiri (1212-1294)
Qasida Burda
Francesco d'Asissi (1182-1226)
Cantico Della Creature
Lodi di Dio Altissimoa-Zikir
Celaleddin Rumi (1207-1273)
Evrad-I Sherif
Yunus Emre (1240-1321)
Gel Gör Beni Ask Neyledi
Jacopone da Todi (1230-1306)
Dona de Paradiso
Shadheli (1196-1258)
Hizb-Ul bahr
Anonyme
Danse Real
Lauda di Cortona 13e s
Sia Laudato
Troppo Perde l'Tempo
Laudar Vollio
O Divina
Sulied
Talaaql Badru Aleyna
Hasbi Rabi Celallah
Hicazussak & Ussak Nasheed
La Septime Esampie Real
Qanum
Medieval Lute, Qanun, Mey
Organetto
Nat-I Sharif (Hymne sur le Prophète)
Traverso
Rebap Fidel, Vihiuela
Oud, Qanun
Qanun, Ney, Violoncelle, Bendir
Qanun, Traverso
Ney
Surah Al-Hujurat 9/13, Surah Al-Ahzab 33/56, extrait du Coran
Ensemble Pera
Composer Info
Marcabru (?1110-?1150), Thibaut King of Navarre (1201-1253), Farabi (872-950), Alfonso El Sabio (1221-1284), Ibn Arabi (1165-1240), Al-Lusiri (1212-1294), Francesco d'Asissi (1182-1226), Celaleddin Rumi (1207-1273), Yunus Emre (1240-1321), Jacopone da Todi (1230-1306), Shadheli (1196-1258)
CD Info
Berlin Classics CD 0301383BC