Istanbul: Dimitrie Cantemir, “The Book of the Science of Music” and the Sephardic and Armenian musical traditions – Hesperion XXI/ Jordi Savall, director – AliaVox multichannel SACD 9870, 73:03 ****[Distrib. by Harmonia mundi]:
It certainly cannot be an easy thing to try and reproduce music from the Ottoman Empire as found in Istanbul at the turn of the seventeenth century, and Jordi Savall even admits that this music was probably played quite differently from what you hear on this disc. Scoring is also a problem, as are tempos. But listening to this I think that Hesperion XXI has been successful enough to give us a good flavor of a music that until now has not been very well known or even researched. Savall himself only came across it in 1999, and has been studying assiduously since then.
The main source for this disc has been “The Book of the Science of Music”, a compendium of work by the polyglot ruler and exiled Romanian Dimitrie Cantemir (1673-1723), a man whose father had been high up in the Sultan’s government, and who then chose the side of Russia in the Russian-Turkish war—the wrong side, as it turns out, for to save his life he then endured exile for some 20 years. His contributions to historical theory, music, and as a chronicler of religion are unmatched at the time and maybe since, though many of his scientific theories have since been superseded, though his musical work remains. The folio contains around 355 works, of which nine are by Cantemir himself.
Savall and company use this book as the basis for their recording, supplementing it with the required improvisations and music from the Sephardic and Armenian traditions from the same period. The Tanbur (tambura) is one of the featured instruments, not unlike a viola da gamba of the same period. This music is definitely of the period; one can sense that right away. However, I will admit, that despite the importance of this recording and the excellence of the playing, a little of this goes a long way, and the trance-like proclivities of much of the music does indeed seem to be geared towards a different culture in a different time period.
The notes are fantastic, presented lavishly in the bound-in booklet, with in-depth studies and commentary by Savall in many languages, as usual. The recording is typically AliaVox, meaning crystal clear and quiet, with perfect ambiance surrounding the performers. Recommended to all Savall-addicts without question; others might want to start with one of his many other superb efforts.
— Steven Ritter
