BAL-KAN (HONEY & BLOOD): CYCLES OF LIFE - HESPERION XXI, SAVALL (3 HYBRID SACDS)

Jordi Savall
Hespèrion XXI
To Voltaire’s statement “Without the senses there is no memory, and without memory there is no mind”, we would add that without memory and mind there is neither Justice nor Civilisation. Music is the most spiritual of all the Arts. In fact, it is the Art of Memory par excellence, which only exists when a singer or an instrumentalist brings it to life. It is then, when our senses are moved by the beauty and emotion of a song or by the surprising vitality of a dance, that, thanks to memory, we can capture it in our minds. Such intense yet fleeting moments bring peace and joy or sweetness and nostalgia to our hearts, moments that we cherish in our memory.

In devising and developing our programme, we invited and worked with 40 singers and musicians of various faiths: Muslim, Christian and Jewish, from 14 different countries: Armenia, Belgium/Manouche, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Cyprus, Spain, France, Greece and Crete, Hungary, Israel, Morocco, Serbia, Syria and Turkey. Performing as soloists or in ensembles, they offer a wide selection of music belonging to many living traditions that make up the vast mosaic of musical cultures of the Balkan peoples and their Gypsy and Sephardic diasporas. To provide a poetic and well-structured listening experience, we have grouped together songs and new music under the six different headings of “Cycles of Life and Nature”. This magnificent original idea by Montserrat Figueras was developed during 2009/2011, finally culminating in a concert programme devoted to the “CYCLES OF LIFE: The paths of the Sephardic Diaspora”, which was presented in Barcelona on 31st May, 2010, and at the Fontfroide Festival on 18th July, 2011. This dynamic structure allows the songs and instrumental pieces of the BAL · KAN project to combine and alternate in a highly organic way within the six principal parts of the programme:

I. CREATION:
UNIVERSE, ENCOUNTERS & DESIRES
II. SPRING:
BIRTH, DREAMS & CELEBRATIONS
III. SUMMER:
ENCOUNTERS, LOVE & MARRIAGE
IV. AUTUMN:
MEMORY, MATURITY & JOURNEY
V. WINTER:
SPIRITUALITY, SACRIFICE, EXILE & DEATH
VI. (RE)CONCILIATION

The selection of music for