The music of medieval Iberia, from the province of Andalusia or al-Andalus, has survived in oral traditions from all three of its constituent groups, Arab, Jewish, and Christian. This opens up possibilities for reconstructing quite a large body of music, although of course the uncertainties increase along with the variety of information. This release by the Spanish early music group Capilla Antigua de Chinchilla focuses on Sephardic vocal music in the Ladino language. The word "endechar" means to lament, and the concept as ...
Read More
The music of medieval Iberia, from the province of Andalusia or al-Andalus, has survived in oral traditions from all three of its constituent groups, Arab, Jewish, and Christian. This opens up possibilities for reconstructing quite a large body of music, although of course the uncertainties increase along with the variety of information. This release by the Spanish early music group Capilla Antigua de Chinchilla focuses on Sephardic vocal music in the Ladino language. The word "endechar" means to lament, and the concept as applied to the program here seems to indicate not only the actual funeral songs (there are only two, designated "endecha sefardí" in the tracklist), but also the tint of melancholy that seems to pervade the whole. The two endechas are quite unusual; Muerte que a todos convidas (Death who invites us all, track 5) comes from the perspective of a dying nobleman gathering loved ones about him and describes this scene in some detail, while Ya crecen las hierbas (Now the plants are...
Read Less
