INVOCATION À LA NUIT
Musica Notturna

Reference: AV9861A+B

• Montserrat Figueras
• Hespèrion XXI. La Capella Reial de Catalunya
• Le Concert des Nations
• Jordi Savall

“It is at night that it is beautifulto believe in the light.”Edmond Rostand1868-1918“Now that the sky and earth and wind are hushed, and birds and beasts are curbed by sleep, night circles in its starry chariot round, and the sea lies motionless in the deep, restless I think and burn and weep…” and the miracle is worked a thousand and one times in our hearts. Yes, thanks to the genius of poets like Francesco Petrarch, in the 21st century we are still moved by these ancient but eternally moving and evocative words. “Set to music” by Claudio Monteverdi in the magnificent Madrigal Hor che’l ciel et la terra, they are a breathtaking invocation and, thanks to the ancestral yet timeless “recitar cantando”, the mysteries which inhabit the infinity of night yield to us without resistance and reach deep into our astonished hearts to satisfy our thirst for beauty. And again, it is the mysterious night which unreservedly embraces silence, that element which is so essential to music. It is then that night reveals to us the most secret laments, the most hidden joys and the most distant murmurs. It is then, also, that we discover the light of the moon and stars which give us a sense of our own reality in the vastness of an infinite universe. It is thanks to all of this that our thoughts grow lucid and our imagination regains its freedom, freedom to feel capable of achieving everything that our hearts desire and aspire to. “Night is the salvation of the soul”, wrote the 10th century Arab poet in one of the tales from the Arabian Nights (The Story of Nur-Ed-din and Enis-El-Jelis). Those 1001 nights, lasting almost 3 years (2 years and 271 nights, to be exact), are a magical number; they pass like a fleeting moment in our lives. Suddenly I realise that I am fortunate already to have lived more than 20 times a Thousand and One Nights. Nights of childhood, full of wonderful new discoveries, but also sad nights, haunted by the fear of war and an uncertain future. ”

+ information in the CD booklet

JORDI SAVALL
Bellaterra, Night of 15th April, 2008

Translated by Jacqueline Minett