The Troubadors and Arabic influences in NW Asia.

For some time now I've been eager to explore the repertoire of the
Troubadors and Trouveres with my Early music trio. Her lies a body of
monophonic song written and performed throughout large areas of Southern
and Northern Europe. I'm not an Early Music expert, merely a performer,
but as far as I can establish, the music transcended social boundaries
and was played by the people and in the Royal Houses. There are several
vast collections of melodies, transcribed by various editors in standard
conventional notation. But who knows how these melodies were sung as
they passed from composer to performer to the popular repertoire?

Now I find in an Early Music magazine not one but two references to the
Arabic influence in medieval Europe. The first, a scholarly article,
goes into written evidence of Arab and Sephardic influence and
instruments. What is interesting is the portrayal of Southern Europe
around the Mediterranean as being deeply influenced by Arabic culture.
This opens up some fascinating doors for tuning.

The second reference is a review of a new young ensemble who are
beginning to dig into the rich seam of Troubador song and liven up the
songs with a range of Arabic and European string, wind and percussion
instruments. Someone has beaten me to it.

I find that this ties in well with Lou Harrison's description of Europe
as "North west Asia" in the most recent edition of 1/1. I like this a
lot because it's humorous and because European Art and culture need much
humility.

Kind Regards

Hi Alison,

> From: Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@which.net>
> To: <tuning@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2001 10:28 AM
> Subject: [tuning] The Troubadors and Arabic influences in NW Asia.
>
>
> Now I find in an Early Music magazine not one but two references to the
> Arabic influence in medieval Europe. The first, a scholarly article,
> goes into written evidence of Arab and Sephardic influence and
> instruments. What is interesting is the portrayal of Southern Europe
> around the Mediterranean as being deeply influenced by Arabic culture.
> This opens up some fascinating doors for tuning.
>
> The second reference is a review of a new young ensemble who are
> beginning to dig into the rich seam of Troubador song and liven up the
> songs with a range of Arabic and European string, wind and percussion
> instruments. Someone has beaten me to it.

I had been wanting to send a report to this list about
a wonderful concert I attended in Perugia, Italy, while
there for the ISMA conference in September. It was given
by a 2-person group, he on lute, hurdy-gurdy, recorder,
and psaltery, and she on vocals and percussion, and took
place in the vaulted entrance room of the Palazzo dei Priori.
So we heard 13th-century troubadour music performed in a
13th-century building. It was just terrific.

Unfortunately, the concert was on the evening of September 10,
so by the time I could have sent a post about it, no one
would have cared, because of the events of the next morning.

Anyway, the point of this post is that one of the pieces
featured the lute, played with a quill plectrum, in a style
that sounded no different to me from modern Moroccan music
I've heard. The Arabic influence in the area that is now
southern France was indeed very strong during the 12-1400s.
Without having done any serious research into it, my ears
tell me that Arabic music has contributed a great deal
towards the development of European music during the later
Middle Ages.

love / peace / harmony ...

-monz
http://www.monz.org
"All roads lead to n^0"

_________________________________________________________
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Joe!
Sounds like you were might have been listening to Ethan James who i know plays in Italy every
year. Member at one time of Blue Cheer

monz wrote:

>
> I had been wanting to send a report to this list about
> a wonderful concert I attended in Perugia, Italy, while
> there for the ISMA conference in September. It was given
> by a 2-person group, he on lute, hurdy-gurdy, recorder,
> and psaltery, and she on vocals and percussion, and took
> place in the vaulted entrance room of the Palazzo dei Priori.
> So we heard 13th-century troubadour music performed in a
> 13th-century building. It was just terrific.
>
> Unfortunately, the concert was on the evening of September 10,
> so by the time I could have sent a post about it, no one
> would have cared, because of the events of the next morning.
>
> Anyway, the point of this post is that one of the pieces
> featured the lute, played with a quill plectrum, in a style
> that sounded no different to me from modern Moroccan music
> I've heard. The Arabic influence in the area that is now
> southern France was indeed very strong during the 12-1400s.
> Without having done any serious research into it, my ears
> tell me that Arabic music has contributed a great deal
> towards the development of European music during the later
> Middle Ages.
>
> love / peace / harmony ...

-- Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria island
http://www.anaphoria.com

The Wandering Medicine Show
Wed. 8-9 KXLU 88.9 fm

> From: Kraig Grady <kraiggrady@anaphoria.com>
> Subject: Re: The Troubadors and Arabic influences in NW Asia.
>
> Joe!
> Sounds like you were might have been listening to Ethan James who i know plays in Italy every
> year. Member at one time of Blue Cheer

Wow! What a resume! Whatever happened to Leigh Stevens?

Seriously, welcome back Kraig even if you're just visiting. Regarding
the topic, I bought a CD recently by the Hesperus Ensemble called
Neo-Medieval which contains a lot of improvisation in performances
of "really old" stuff. They certainly explore the commonality between
these musics. I believe the members also perform in 'ethnic' ensembles
as well as "old" ensembles.

Here is a paste from www.cdconnection.com

Availability: In Stock
HESPERUS / NEO-MEDIEVAL
CD CD
CD -- $13.08 -- 53185 -- DORIAN DISCOVERY 80155 -- 12/97
------------------------------------------------------------------
Add to Basket
Hesperus

[DDD] Stereo. 1 CD. 1:13 Includes estampie(s) by Anonymous. Ensemble:
Hesperus Ensemble. Soloists: Scott Reiss, Tina Chancey, Grant
Herreid.Includes work(s) by various composers. Ensemble: Hesperus
Ensemble.

Anonymous. La Manfredina. Period: Medieval. Recorded in Ellicott City,
Maryland. Written in 14th Century. Recorded in 1996. Arranged: Hesperus

Anonymous. Chanconetta Tedescha. Period: Renaissance. Recorded in
Ellicott City, Maryland. Recorded in 1996. Arranged: Hesperus

Bob Valentine

In-Reply-To: <200111210714.JAA49178@ius175.iil.intel.com>
Funnily enough, I heard some Mediterranean-crossover on the wireless this
morning. I don't know how old it was supposed to be. I think it was this
piece:

07:30
The Corsairs (a que defende do demo) C.S.M. 348
Cesar Carazo (tenor), Luis Delgado (Andalusi lute)
Wafir Sheik (Arab lute), Jaime Munoz (kaval), Enrique Almendros
(tejoletas)
Sony S2K 62859A
T 6 (CD 1)

>From <http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/playlists/mon30147.shtml#wednesday>. I
thought Musica Antigua of Cologne were involved. Perhaps it's them listed
individually.

Graham

And another example

Music of the Troubadours
Enesmble Unicorn + Oni Wytars
Naxos 8.554257

Ensemble Unicorn oncentrate on middle ages
and early rennaisance as does the ensemble
Oni Wytars. Oni Wytars also performs "classical
and traditional Arab and Turkish music".
Instruments include fiddle, laud, harp,
hurdy-gurdy, bagpipe, gaita, bujo, oud,
saz, davul, zarn, bendir... The singer is
Maria Lafitte who is extremely enthusiastic.

Yer basic mix of "old time" and MidEast. They
also have a CD On the Way to Bethlehem Naxos
8.553132.

I'm enjoying it now and the Naxos Early Music
series is usually $5.00 at Tower, so you can
grab a handful on the way to the checkout
counter.(I found an awesome CD in this series
called Portugese Polyphony. There is some
rather bold useage of augmented triads in
late non-functional harmony in
compositions by Cardoso).

Bob Valentine

--- In tuning@y..., BVAL@I... wrote:

/tuning/topicId_30407.html#30448
>
> And another example
>
> Music of the Troubadours
> Enesmble Unicorn + Oni Wytars
> Naxos 8.554257
>
> Ensemble Unicorn oncentrate on middle ages
> and early rennaisance as does the ensemble
> Oni Wytars. Oni Wytars also performs "classical
> and traditional Arab and Turkish music".
> Instruments include fiddle, laud, harp,
> hurdy-gurdy, bagpipe, gaita, bujo, oud,
> saz, davul, zarn, bendir... The singer is
> Maria Lafitte who is extremely enthusiastic.
>
> Yer basic mix of "old time" and MidEast. They
> also have a CD On the Way to Bethlehem Naxos
> 8.553132.
>

Hello Bob!

Thanks for this citation. I was actually looking for this record,
which I own, _On the Way to Bethlehem_ and wanted to comment on it in
light of this discussion. I *highly* recommend it: the combination
between Medieval and Middle Eastern flavors is spellbinding...

Joseph Pehrson

Hi Kraig,

> From: Kraig Grady <kraiggrady@anaphoria.com>
> To: <tuning@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2001 9:45 PM
> Subject: Re: [tuning] The Troubadors and Arabic influences in NW Asia.
>
>
> Joe!
> Sounds like you were might have been listening to
> Ethan James who i know plays in Italy every year.
> Member at one time of Blue Cheer

That's interesting to know... but no, the name of the
ensemble is "Dramsam". Here's a webpage, but it's in Italian:
http://www.accademia.home.it/dramsam.htm

I couldn't find anything significant about them on the web
in English.

love / peace / harmony ...

-monz
http://www.monz.org
"All roads lead to n^0"

_________________________________________________________
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