MP3 The Ivory Consort - The Ivory Consort - Live!

A live record

13 MP3 Songs in this album (77:32) !
Related styles: WORLD: Andalusian, CLASSICAL: Medieval



Details:
These performances present examples of a shared culture, the myriad outpourings of different peoples who lived in medieval southwestern Europe, in what is now called Spain and southern France.

In musicological circles, questions such as âWho influenced whom?â are the subject of fervent debate. Unfortunately, in some instances, even the most well-researched theories tend to foul the academic nest with naive, self-serving, and unintentionally or not, racist attitudes about one peopleâs cultural superiority over anotherâs.

Rather than taking sides and naming a winner in this contest (a solution that makes us all losers), we present this program in the hope that by opening our ears and minds to a few possibilities, we can all be winnersâeven those of us who donât give a hoot about âinfluencesâ or history. These possibilities are:

· That two peoples living in close proximity to each other often share a common culture and language, changing them according to their needs. This can even happen when they come from very different religious or ethnic backgrounds - whether they are living in convivencia (peaceful coexistence); subject to all manner of restrictions and deprivations, as Jews and Christians have been at various times under Muslim rule in Andalucía; or even at war with each other, as the Christians and Muslims were for centurias during the Reconquista.

· That something old can sound new. Insight and appreciation of ancient art formsâand much of their beautyâcan be restored by courageous artists who, with a historically-informed background and genuine love of the material, dare to take educated guesses and give from their heart renditions of what would otherwise truly be âlostâ arts.

· That great music and poetry are not the province of any one culture. In the words of the 13th-century troubadour (composer-poet) Raimon Vidal, in his Las Razos de Trobar (âReasons to Composeâ):

"All good Christians, Jews and Saracens, Emperor, prince, King, duke, count, viscount, commander, vassal, cleric, citizen, and peasant, small and great, daily give their minds to composing and singing, by either inventing or listening, speaking or hearing; no place is so solitary or isolated that, as long as there are a few or many, you will not hear singing either by a single person or many together; even the shepherds in the mountains know of no greater amusement than song. All good and evil things in the world are commemorated by the troubadours. Indeed there is no good or evil saying put into rhyme by a troubadour that is not remembered every day, because composing and singing are the driving force behind all valor."


Jay Elfenbein,
Director, Ivory Consort