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.
