“Guerre & Paix 1614 – 1714 (War & Peace)” = La Capella Reial de Catalunya/ Le Concert des Nations/ Hesperion XXI/ Jordi Savall – Alia Vox multichannel SACD AVSA9908 (2 SACDs + large book), 75:54, 77:51 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] *****:
Jordi Savall and his fine group of Hesperion players, along with his superb AliaVox label, are surely unique in the recording world for their fine presentations and outstanding production values. Savall himself, ever the religious humanist, has made it his life work, at least in the last 20 years or so, to use art as a means to the general betterment of the world, and each of his “themed” deluxe book sets offer much in the way of education and purely musical enjoyment, even if one does not always agree with the sentiments expressed by some of the usually very astute contributors.
This latest tome has Savall exploring the extremely turbulent European century of 1614 – 1714. One does not, usually, think too much about the political situation at that time when humming along to the Four Seasons or the serenity of the early Bach cantatas. But the time was a violent one, and Savall wishes us to explore the detritus and values of the age in order to placate our own current penchant towards all things warfull. He does this through the plenitude of music that traced the outlines of the age, a time when the viola da gamba was beginning to fade and the first startings of the classical orchestra were taking shape. The musical landscape was being thoroughly shaken during this period, as violent in its own way as the historical events accompanying it, those preceding the War of the Spanish Succession, from the 1613 Ottoman attack on Hungary through the Thirty Years war, all the way to the Treaty of Utrecht and the fall of Barcelona.
No matter the sentiments expressed the 394 page, six-language book (about 50 real pages of info for each language), there is much to think about in this latest expose of Savall’s give-peace-a-chance philosophy, and certainly the work is as timely as ever. Musically, for those not interested in the thought process underpinning the production, both of these SACDs, organized according to specific periods and events, will provide endless pleasure – indeed solely from that perspective. The sound is as rich and concentrated as any in the series, and the music, the familiar and the unfamiliar, is stunningly enjoyable. This is one of the best releases in a line of releases that is replete with superlatives. [Amazon has this, but only as separate MP3s…Ed.]
TrackList:
DISC 1:
Introduction
1. Pavane pour la petite « guaire » (guerre), fait pour les Cornetz en 1601 – Mss. Philidor
1613 L’Empire ottoman attaque la Hongrie
Makam « Muhayyer pesrev » – Marche Guerrière Ottomane. Anonyme (instr.)
2. Taksim
3. Marche Turque
Du début de la Guerre de Trente Ans au Traité de Nimègue 1614 – 1689
1614 Massacre des juifs à Francfort
4. Ha lahma ‘anya – Plainte en Araméen
1618 Prague, début de la Guerre de Trente Ans
5. Galliard Battaglia à 5 Voci. Cantus XXI – Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654)
1624/25 Breda est assiégée par les troupes espagnoles
6. Romance : Ya es tiempo de recoger – Lope de Vega / Anonyme
1635 La Paix de Prague
7. Zion spricht : Der Herr hat mich verlassen – Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630)
1636 Richelieu déclare la guerre à l’Espagne
8. Charivaris pour les hautbois – Anonyme (Mss. Philidor)
9. Gavotte en suitte – Anonyme (Mss. Philidor)
1640 Guerra dels Segadors « El Corpus de Sang »
1641 Janvier. Pau Claris exprime sa volonté de constituer une République Catalane
10. Catalunya comptat gran (Traditionnel / Jordi Savall)
11. Hymne de la Catalogne (Traditionnel / Jordi Savall)
La Catalogne accepte la souveraineté de Louis XIII
12. Intrada-Geschwindt-Langsamer-Sarabande – Suites d’Orchestre – Guillaume Dumanoir (1615-1697)
1645 Guerre de l’Empire Ottoman contre Venise
13. Taksim & Makam « Uzzäl uşūleş Darb-I feth » – Dervis Mehmed (Mss. Dimitrie Cantemir N.209)
1648 Paix de Westphalie. Fin de la Guerre de 30 ans
14. Siehe an die Werke Gottes – Johann Rosenmüller (1617-1684)
1649 Guerre civil en Angleterre
15. The Newark Siege – John Jenkins (1592-1678)
1652 Les Institutions catalanes reconnaissent Philippe IV d’Espagne comme souverain de Catalogne
16. Philippus Rex Hispaniæ (Fanfare instrumental et vocal) – Jordi Savall d’après Ambrosio Cotes (1550?-1603)
1659 La Paix des Pyrénées
Célébration de l’entrée royale à Paris, en 1660
17. Jubilate Deo « Le Motet de la Paix » (LWV 77/16) – Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)
1669 Les Vénitiens sont expulsés de Crête par les Ottomans
18. Der makām-ı Räst « Murass’a » uşūleş Düyek
1678 Célébration du Traité de Nimègue
Alceste – Jean-Baptiste Lully
19. Marche des Combattants
20. Menuet (LWV 50)
1689 Guillaume III est couronné Roi d’Angleterre
21. Praise the Lord, O my soul – John Blow (1649-1708)
DISC 2:
Du Traité de Turin à la fin de la Guerre de succession d’Espagne 1696 – 1714
1696 Célébration du Traité de Turin
Te Deum – Marc Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704)
1. Prélude
2. Te Deum Laudamus
3. Te aeternum patrem
4. Pleni sunt caeli
1701/02 Commencement de la Guerre de Succession d’Espagne
5. Sonata – Battalia a 10 – Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704)
6. Die Schlacht – Battalia a 10 – Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704)
1705 Pacte de Gênes. L’archiduc Charles arrive à Barcelone
7. Cant dels Aucells quant arribaren los Vaixells – Anonyme traditionnel / Jordi Savall
1708 Mariage à Barcelone de l’archiduc Charles
Il più bel nome – Antonio Caldara (1670 – 1736)
8. Sinfonia
9. Coro di Seguaci della virtù
10. Aria : Cari Elisi (Marianne Beata Kielland)
1710 Mort de l’Empereur Joseph I
11. Marcia Funebre – Jordi Savall d’après le Requiem de Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
L’archiduc Charles est couronné Empereur
12. Kyrie – Missa Bruxellensis – Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
Célébration du Couronnement
13. Florilegium II, Chaconne de la Suite IV « Impatientia » – Georg Muffat (1653-1704)
1711 L’Empire Ottoman attaque la Russie
14. Der makām-ı Uzzäl Sakîl « Turna » Semâ’î – Mss. D. Cantemir (324) – Vasily Titov (ca.1650-ca.1715)
15. Beznevéstnaya Dévo (O Virgo) – Vasily Titov (ca.1650-ca.1715)
1714 Siège de Barcelone
16. Batalla Imperial – Joan Cabanilles – Johann Caspar Kerll (1627-1693)
1714 11 septembre. La capitulation de Barcelone
17. Lamento der Verwundten Musquetirer – Battalia a 10 – Heirich Ignaz Franz von Biber
1714 11 septembre. Prière pour les victimes du Siège de Barcelone
18. Missa Pro Defunctis – Hei mihi – Joan Cererols (1644-1712)
Plainte populaire catalane
19. Catalunya en altre temps – Texte ancien / Musique : Jordi Savall sur une mélodie traditionnelle
Conclusion
Célébration de la fin de la Guerre de succession d’Espagne
Jubilate Deo / O be joyful (HWV 279) – Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759)
Composé pour la célébration du Traité de Utrecht (11 d’avril 1713), ou la France signait
l’accord de Paix avec les Pays Bas, la Grande Bretagne, la Savoie et l’Autriche.
20. O be joyful in the Lord – Solo (D. Munderloch) & Chorus
21. 221. Serve the Lord with gladness – Chorus
22. Be ye sure that the Lord he is God – Duo (D. Guillon, S. MacLeod)
23. O go your way into his gates – Chorus
24. For the Lord is gracious – Terzetto (D. Guillon, D. Munderloch, S. MacLeod)
25. Glory be to the Father – Chorus
26. As it was in the beginning – Chorus
—Steven Ritter
