[ Alia Vox SACD / 2 CD Box Set ]
Release Date: Monday 2 February 2009
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"A bewildering voyage in time and space is buoyed up by beautiful sound."
Editor's Choice - Gramophone April 2009
"A bewildering voyage in time and space is buoyed up by beautiful sound. Jordi Savall has long been one for dreaming up fascinating concepts for his albums. But musically tracking the disparate cultures of Jerusalem is ambitious even for him. Whether or not you (as does our reviewer) find this a mite too ambitious for two discs, the playing here is wonderful and the presentation is of showpiece quality: the discs fit inside what amounts to a handsomely illustrated book on the subject."
Editor's Choice - Gramophone April 2009
A hommage to Jerusalem and an invocation to peace
"This project was conceived as a hommage to Jerusalem, the city endlessly built and destroyed by man in his quest for the sacred and for spiritual power. Through the power of music and words, this fruit of the passionate and committed collaboration of musicians, poets, researchers, writers and historians from 14 nations, as well as Alia Vox and the CIMA Foundation teams, has become a fervent invocation to Peace. A Peace born out of a dialogue based on empathy and mutual respect is, despite the enormous difficulties involved, a necessary and desirable path forward for all concerned. It is a goal that is both urgent and imperative, one which can help humanity to overcome its ancestral fears and follies, thus preventing countless innocent victims and untold futile siffering. Jerusalem is more than a holy city: it is a symbol for mankind, continuing to remind us all in this 21st century of the great difficulty in living together. Without peace, no human life is possible." Montserrat Figueras and Jordi Savall, Unesco 'Artists for Peace', Bellaterra, Autumn 2008
Invited musicians: Yair Dalal (oud); Dvir Cohen, Erez Shmuel Mounk (perc); Yagel Harel (shofar); Wabab Badarne (qanun); Usama Abu Ali (flutes, ney); Kaled Abu Ali (chant); Razmik Amyan (chant); Gaguik Mouradia (kamancha); Dmitris Psonis (santur, morisca, percussions); Omar Bashir (oud); Fahmi Alqhai (viol); Mutlu Torun (oud); Driss El Maloumi (chant, oud); Khaled Arman (rebab); Siar Hashimi (darbouka); Al-Darwish (Sufi group of Galilee); Les trompettes de Jéricho; La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Hespèrion XXI (Andrew Lawrence-King, Pedro Estevan, Arianna Savall, Pierre Hamon, Montserrat Figueras...).
CD 1
Fanfare of Jericho, 1200 av. B.C.
I Heavenly Peace:The Prophets of the Apocalypse and of the Last Judgment
2 The Sibylline Oracles (3rd century B.C.)
Jewish sources, Aramaic music
3 Introduction (Ney & percussion)
4 The Koran: Bismi Al.là ar Rahman (7th Century)
Fatihah Sura I, 2-7. Sufi sources
5 Postludium (qanun)
6 Revelation VI, 12-3 Audi pontus (12th century)
corresponding to the Cathar Gospel of Pseudo-John V
7 Postludium (medieval harp)
II Jerusalem, Jewish city, 1000 BC-AD 70
King David makes Jerusalem the capital of the unified kingdom of Judah and Israel
8 Shofars call
9 Prayer for Jerusalem
10 Instrumental dance
Liberation of the city by Maccabeans, 164 B.C.
11 The Peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122) - The Psalms of King David (10th Century B.C.)
12 Rabbi Akiva goes to Jerusalem Talmud, Makkot 24b
13 Song of Exile (Psalm 137, 1-6)
Destruction of the Temple and Diaspora,A.D. 70
14 Instrumental lament (shofars)
III Jerusalem, a Christian city, 326 - 1244
15 Stavrotheotokia
(Hymn to the Virgin at the foot of the Cross)
Attributed to Emperor Leo VI, 886-912
Queen Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine is in Jerusalem,A.D. 326
16 Fanfare "Pax in nomine Domine"
17 Pope Urban II, First call to the Crusade, 1095
Recited text in French
18 Crusaders' song: Pax in nomine Domini
Marcabru (1100-1150) - 1st Crusade
19 Crusaders' song: Chevalier, mult estes guaritz, 1146
Anonymous 12th Century - 2nd Crusade
20 Conductus : O totius Asie - Anonymous (s. XIII)
21 Planctus " Pax in Nomine Domini "
The Crusaders lose Jerusalem to Saladin Instrumental
Iva Jerusalem, a city of pilgrimage, 383 - 1326
22 The Dome of the Rock - Ibn Battuta (1304-ca.1377)
23 Zionida: Beautiful city, delight of the world
Judah Ha-Levy (1075-1141)
CD 2
IVb Jerusalem, city of pilgrimage, 383 - 1326
Cantiga de Santa Maria: Offondo do mar tan châo
Alfonso X the Wise (1121-1284) CSM383
V Jerusalem,Arabic & Ottoman city, 1244-1917
Arabic city, 1244 - 1516
2 Prelude (Oud)
3 The Koran, Sura XVII, 1-Mohammed ascends to heaven from the Temple Mount
4 Danse of the Soma
5 Sallatu Allah - Arabic tradition
Ottoman city, 1517 - 1917
6 Makam Uzäl Sakil "Turna"
Ottoman mss. of Kantemiroglu (17th century)
7 Suleyman the Magnificent's dream, 1520 legend
Recited text in Turkish
8 Warrior's march (Anonymous Ottoman)
The Ottoman Conquest of Jerusalem, 1517
VI Jerusalem, Land of Refuge & Exile, 15-20thC
9 Palestina hermoza y Santa - Anonymous Sephardic
10 Palestinian Lament - Anonymous
11 Andouni Armenian Lament, 1915 - Anonymous
12 El male rahamim (Hymn to the victims of Auschwitz),
1941 Historical recording by Shlomo Katz, 1950
13 Funeral March Instrumental
VII Earthly peace: a duty and a utopia.A plea for peace
14 Instrumental Dialogue
15 A plea for peace in Arabic
16 Adonay Prayer for peace in Hebrew
17 A plea for peace in Armenian
18 Da Pacem (Gregorian)
Dialogue of songs
19 Apo xeno meros (in Greek) - Anonym (Oral Tradition)
20 Ghazal (in Arabic)
21 Ghazal (in Hebrew)
22 Ghazal (Palestine)
23 Siente Hermosa (ladino)
24 Apo xeno meros (in Greek) Gregorian Chorus
25 Durme, hermoza donzella (ladino)
26 Ghazal (in Arabic, Greek & Hebrew)
27 Ghazal (instrumental, Morocco)
28 Final Ensemble (tutti)
29 Final fanfare "Against the barriers of the Spirit"