Goodmorning! it's Saturday, August 24 - day 2 of Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht 2024.
Utrecht is now truly enveloped in Sevillian ambience on this warm day packed with Spanish sounds. But don't forget your umbrella... a few raindrops are expected early in the evening.
A retrospective
Yesterday, the bells of the Dom Tower festively announced this festival edition. Then, in the Dom Church, Música Temprana performed triple-choir music from Améfrica Ladina (re-watch it here). Simultaneously, Graindelavoix led by Björn Schmelzer opened the festival in the Jacobikerk, with recently rediscovered Tenebrae Responsoria by Francisco de Santiago.
Today: co-curator Koert Debeuf
Each year's edition is assisted by a co-curator, a thinker who offers in-depth insights into that year's theme. With Seville, this is the Flemish middle-east expert, historian and philosopher Koert Debeuf.
With provocative opinion pieces, critical reflections and flaming visions of the future, he is a razor-sharp interpreter, gifted speaker and thinker-without-borders. As an inspirer, challenger and touchstone, he refines the programme. In doing so, he makes us look at the imaginary borders between East and West through a different lens.
Four times Debeuf addresses festival-goers, and today he will explain what may be his most startling thesis: not Florence or Rome, but Baghdad was the birthplace of the Renaissance... Visit the lecture, and find out why!
Earlier this week, he also elaborated on this thesis in NRC, read it here (in Dutch).
Tip from the team: Mara Winter, Khouri, Kenney & Kang
Every year, the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht is also a feast for the people behind the scenes. Our crew members are happy to share their concert tips! With today, the tip from Loni, editor of Tijdschrift Oude Muziek, who is especially looking forward to the poetic programme Tafsil by Mara Winter, Raphaël Amahl Khouri, Jessika Kenney and Eyvind Kang.
“There are so many types of music on our planet, endlessly fascinating I find that. Through Spain, the transition from Western early music to a completely different musical universe is small. Then it turns out that the poetry of medieval troubadours and Hebrew and Persian poetry have a lot in common. I'm curious about how these musicians will interweave the music from these different cultures in their concert.”
Composer of the day: Alfonso X ‘The Wise’ of Castille
Whereas yesterday we started with a Portuguese composer in Seville, today's composer may not even really have been a composer... Alfons X of Castile is mainly known in history books as the wise King of Castile and Leon in the period 1252-1284. As a king, he made a very meritorious contribution to the development of culture in this area. His court included Spanish, Jewish and Arab scholars who ensured that Arabic and Hebrew manuscripts in all kinds of scientific fields were translated into Galician.
And in terms of music his impact is also still visible. The Cantigas de Santa Maria, an immense collection of over 420 songs, was compiled under his reign. Several versions exist, but the so-called E manuscript in the library of El Escorial in particular is beautifully decorated with colourful miniatures. The cantigas are unison songs in Galician-Portuguese, each referring to the Virgin Mary and the miracles she brought forth.
For a long time, these songs were attributed to Alfonso X, as he also seemed to be a very good poet. But as is often the case, historiography appears to have somewhat bent reality. Scholars now argue that most of the cantigas were most likely written by other musicians at Alfonso's court. But by now, almost 800 years later, it no longer seems important who exactly wrote them: it is certainly the Wise King Alfonso who made this collection of songs happen in the first place.
The cantigas have a prominent role in La Tempête's concert tonight, with Simon-Pierre Bestion contrasting these decades-old works with music by twentieth-century composer Maurice Ohana. In addition, next week's concert by Hana Blažíková & Barbora Kabátková is entirely devoted to the same song collection ‘by’ Alfonso X.
Also on the programme today...
... amongst others, the first harpsichord recital in the Música ibérica series and motets by Cristóbal de Morales.
Today on EMTV
With EMTV, you can watch live streams each day from Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht 2024.
In conclusion, did you know that...
... the Dom Tower is the most heard instrument at the Festival of Early Music Utrecht? Not only because the carillon concerts can be heard throughout the city. In fact, like many church towers, the Dom Tower also contains a playing drum. This consists of lots of small holes into which pegs are inserted. This playing drum then rotates and the pegs ensure that the right bells play a melody every 15 minutes.
A few times a year, these melodies are changed. For each festival, the playing drum is adapted with music that suits the festival theme. This year's tunes include music by Gaspar Sanz and Antonio Soler. In other words, although not many are aware of it: two hours on the terrace in the city centre of Utrecht means eight times an early music tune!
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