BAL·KAN
Miel et Sang

Referència: AVSA9902

• Jordi Savall
• Hespèrion XXI

To Voltaire’s statement “Without the senses there is no memory, and without memory there is no mind”, we would add that without memory and mind there is neither Justice nor Civilisation. Music is the most spiritual of all the Arts. In fact, it is the Art of Memory par excellence, which only exists when a singer or an instrumentalist brings it to life. It is then, when our senses are moved by the beauty and emotion of a song or by the surprising vitality of a dance, that, thanks to memory, we can capture it in our minds. Such intense yet fleeting moments bring peace and joy or sweetness and nostalgia to our hearts, moments that we cherish in our memory.

To Voltaire’s statement “Without the senses there is no memory, and without memory there is no mind”, we would add that without memory and mind there is neither Justice nor Civilisation. Music is the most spiritual of all the Arts. In fact, it is the Art of Memory par excellence, which only exists when a singer or an instrumentalist brings it to life. It is then, when our senses are moved by the beauty and emotion of a song or by the surprising vitality of a dance, that, thanks to memory, we can capture it in our minds. Such intense yet fleeting moments bring peace and joy or sweetness and nostalgia to our hearts, moments that we cherish in our memory.

In today’s world of instant communication, the overriding influence of globalisation is one of the principal causes of the daily loss of ancestral memories. We are faced with such an avalanche of information, visual stimuli and leisure activities that age-old local cultures belonging to the oral tradition can be crowded out. Often these include unique musical traditions passed down over the centuries from parents to children and from teachers to pupils, which have been kept alive to the present day, thanks to the essential role they play in the daily lives of individuals and families, and because they are an integral part of the ceremonies and festivals that celebrate the natural Cycles in the Life of both Man and Nature: music that has survived and has helped us to survive.

+ information in the CD booklet

JORDI SAVALL
Padua, 21st October, 2013

Translated by Jacqueline Minett

Select Bibliography and Works consulted:
–Timothy Rice. Music in Bulgaria: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
–Jean-Arnault Dérens and Laurent Geslin. Comprendre les Balkans. Histoire, sociétés, perspectives. Paris: Éditions Non Lieu, 2010.
–Georges Castellan. Histoire des Balkans: XIVe-XXe siècle. Paris: Fayard, 1991.
–Paul Garde. Les Balkans – Héritages et évolutions. Paris, Ed. Flammarion, Champs actuel, 2010.