Viva Espana!
Spain is one of those places that to outsiders is not really what it may seem. It is not really a country with a single voice. It is a highly regionalized country. Sometimes we hear about Basque aspirations for independence. We not might be so aware of the feeling of cultural and linguistic difference of other regions like Catalonia. This mixing of culture, regional identity and religion has made the musical tradition of Spain very rich.
In the last several decades there has been renewed interest in the traditional pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James -- Santiago de Compostela. Martin Sheen recently made a film about it. EMI has recently reissued two discs from the 1970's in digital form called "Camino de Santiago I & II".
They are a kind of musical pilgrimage taking you through medieval music of some of the regions one would walk through on the way to Santiago. Music from Navarre, Castile, Leon and Galicia are featured. For the most part it is simple chant-like music with a penetrating interiority.
My only trip to Spain was in 2005 and although we spent most of our time around Madrid, we did travel to Zaragossa, Barcelona, Toledo, Avila and Cordoba. It was in Cordoba that the Moorish influence in Spain was very visible. The great mosque there had been converted into a church after the expulsion of Muslims from Spain, but the influences have remained many since.
The same has been true for the Sephardic Jews, the Sephardim. A music and distinctive spirituality are part of the Sephardic tradition. I recently picked up a Dorian recording made in 1999. Listening to these two discs side-by-side they each present a particular musical story, but they also line up very well. The cross-fertilization of ancient and constant spiritual experience seems to communicate itself.
It may be hard to go on pilgrimage every day, though our commutes might be able to become mini-pilgrimages if we let them, but music such as on these discs can easily transport us to a place far away, a quiet place where what is important floats gently into view and where we can unburden ourselves before the Almighty.
Amen.
In the last several decades there has been renewed interest in the traditional pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James -- Santiago de Compostela. Martin Sheen recently made a film about it. EMI has recently reissued two discs from the 1970's in digital form called "Camino de Santiago I & II".
They are a kind of musical pilgrimage taking you through medieval music of some of the regions one would walk through on the way to Santiago. Music from Navarre, Castile, Leon and Galicia are featured. For the most part it is simple chant-like music with a penetrating interiority.My only trip to Spain was in 2005 and although we spent most of our time around Madrid, we did travel to Zaragossa, Barcelona, Toledo, Avila and Cordoba. It was in Cordoba that the Moorish influence in Spain was very visible. The great mosque there had been converted into a church after the expulsion of Muslims from Spain, but the influences have remained many since.
It may be hard to go on pilgrimage every day, though our commutes might be able to become mini-pilgrimages if we let them, but music such as on these discs can easily transport us to a place far away, a quiet place where what is important floats gently into view and where we can unburden ourselves before the Almighty.
Amen.
