Conversation with Jordi Savall

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>> From the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. >> Anne McLean: Good evening, I'm Ann McLean from the Library's Music division. We are very delighted to give our warmest welcome to an early music luminary and legend, Jordi Savall. So delighted to have you here. And we want to say that this is a rare opportunity to have a chance to hear all three of your incredible ensembles. Do you travel with them as a trio very often? Is this unusual to have all three? >> Jordi Savall: No, for some big programs we can combine both. All three, yes. >> Anne McLean: And this is a remarkable program that we have with the, with the music from so many cultures and Venice the focus. Like so many of your projects you bring together kingdoms, eras, cultures, religions and everything. And you also have a remarkable group of friends that you travel with. I was thinking about Andrew Lawrence King's comment that you have to, that it's like surfing in big waves to, to perform with you. You have to have the skills of a virtuoso musician, you have to have the improvisational abilities of a jazz artist and also to be a great accompanist. How do you manage to get together people like this everywhere? >> Jordi Savall: Well, you know I'm in this job mostly 50 years. And in experience you meet people. And when you meet people and the teams goes well, in both sides you are happy. You have a good relation. And my principle always philosophy is you can only make nice music if you have nice human relations with the musicians. It's so essential. Because making music is very intimacy experience. When you make music you are, you are only with your heart and you have to share everything. The most essential emotions and you have to do this with people do you trust. People you feel really close and mostly, well all the musicians they have tonight in the concert are good friends. Some of them, not for long time like the group from [inaudible]. I know them only from the, from the spring of last year. But still we have make so nice experience and now they are really like friends also. >> Anne McLean: Can you say for you this is the happiest experience to be on stage, performing and gives you a tremendous energy. And you'll hear this tonight and amazingly so. I wanted to ask you about the Byzantine music that is the thread woven throughout this and you have a remarkable ensemble here tonight. How did you meet Mr. ? ? How did this come about? [audience applauds] >> Jordi Savall: Well when I have a start to, to have the conception of this program, the first difficult question was how to found very precise the music from 1828, 28 when the supposed [inaudible] arrived to Venice , it was necessary to have a vocal piece exactly from this period. And so the next different moments, the whole thousand years. I have listened through my friends from Greek and from Turkey (Turkey?) different vocal ensembles from different, mostly orthodox singers. And finally I choice [inaudible] because I found him really the best. And them I visit him in Salonique. And was very simple, I have been invited in his place where they rehearsal and say to them, [inaudible], I need from them a piece from 8 hundred, 828. Oh, no problem we have [inaudible], this is exactly the same time. Sounds like this, [singing], [audience laughs]. I was like, my God. I was, we have spent the whole day to listen pieces then I had to make a choice of the music for the whole concert. I have to say the first choice from all the music for the program. The result was program for four hours music. [audience laughs] >> Jordi Savall: It's not tonight like this. But at the beginning, it was really chose-ing the most important dates, most important moments and chose-ing the music. But I have to say the first concert we do in France and in Utrecht, the program was the first have of the program was one hour and 30 minutes. And the second part a little more. Now we have to do a little, now I think the first part is about fifty fifth minutes and the second part, one hour and five minutes [inaudible]. It's difficult to, to make a thousand years of history and music in less time [inaudible]. [audience laughs] >> Jordi Savall: If you start the piece you have to have the time to develop the piece otherwise it makes no sense, you know. But I think what, what, it's the difficult this concert, we have, I need people that can play medieval music, early renaissance music, renaissance music, early baroque music, baroque music and still classical music because we finish in 1797 and the last piece of the concert it's already more 19th century piece as baroque music, no. Then I need really very good musicians, they can play medieval harp, renaissance harp, baroque harp, they play then different type of instruments. [Inaudible] some of the winds they play [inaudible], they play [inaudible], they play flutes, they play baroque flutes and this is I think the quality of our group. And then I have a very nice group of oriental musicians. We have a great player from [inaudible], from Greece, [inaudible]. We have a fantastic player of [inaudible] and, and, and Armenian [inaudible]. [Inaudible]. And then I have two great musicians from Istanbul. [musician name] who plays, is one of the best ? players in the world and [musician name] is one of the best also, oud player, Turkish oud. This makes, allow me to play some of the oriental music like a Turkish mass representing the, the attack of the Turkish Ottoman troops to Constantinople and other play sometimes a Persian music. There were different moments of the concert. And the [Inaudible] of both arrive at certain moments like nine, 1791, a great composer, Amadeus Mozart is visiting Venice and of course, I have choice "Alla turca", [audience laughs] which is a beautiful piece that we normally listen with the piano [inaudible]. But I'm sure the Mozart was inspired with the real Turkish musician. And you'll hear how the, the Turkish musicians, especially the [inaudible] are improvising before this using the material from Mozart. It sounds like [inaudible] happens, like Mozart is taking the ideas from the [inaudible] to build this "Alla turca" march, no. And then we use of course the orchestra to play this [inaudible]. This my idea, in fact music it's the only time machine that we have today. we can travel to the time with the music. And when you will listen this "Alla turca" you can very easy imagine to be in Venice in the time of Mozart was there. With musicians taking the pleasure to preform this "Alla turca" was the Turkish music was very a la mode. And with this music you can feel the same emotion, theres the people from the time [inaudible] they to have. As always when the history finish from a civilization, from a culture, sometimes the last year the people are crazy and makes really absolutely crazy things. And the history says that the last carnival before the, the troops [inaudible] arrive here, it's arriving was one of the most absolutely special carnival. Everybody was like crazy and I have choice for this moment to represent the special moment two beautiful [inaudible], the songs, the gondolas, they were singing. And from a collection from exactly the same time, collected by Adolph[inaudible], the master, the opera [inaudible] in this time. And this is again you will feel, you will hear music which has a little bit Mozart, popular. It's a very nice mixed of, of styles. And you will have very, the impression to be in the center of Venice with the, with the, gondolas moving through the small canals. And after this, it's the end. And the end was the most difficult thing to found. I have to say they have spend a lot, a long time to see how can I finish this program. It's a tragedy at the end. It's, Venice lost his freedom and with will be attached to the Italy for a long time. And I found by a [inaudible] thing, I found in Paris, a manuscript who was performed in Paris, a little later but represented this ideal from tragedy revolution and all the mystery of this time. And this is song in four parts, compose, arranged by Luigi [inaudible] and Italian composer was in Paris in this time. He has takes two moments of two symphonies by Beethoven and you'll hear this. I don't tell anymore. [audience laughs] It's really a surprise. It's, the music by Beethoven is one of the most beautiful music but listen this music with singers. It's really incredible because when it's [sings]. It is, it is really a every time, every time my skin it becomes like a. Anyway, ideas always music. It's the really living human history because the music it takes always about the emotion. And then with, when we listen the emotion in twelve hundred by the Crusades song [inaudible] or when we listen to the lamentation of Constantinople by the [inaudible] or when we listen to the battle of Marianne by [inaudible]. Every time you will feel a very special emotion. And this is the power of the music. We can feel today the same emotions the people they, they have a thousand years ago, five hundred years ago, three hundred years ago. And this is the great power of the music. And this is why I do music. >> Anne McLean: And you've said that for you there are two types of music, sleeping music and and contemporary music. [audience laughs] >> Jordi Savall: Yes, this is a [inaudible]. Many times they tell me, playing ancient music. And my answer is always there's no ancient music. Somebody will have the idea to say the Shakespeare is ancient, ancient theater. Nobody will think the, the plays from [inaudible] this old theater. This is contemporary theater always. And with the music I think the same, we have old manuscripts, ancient manuscripts, ancient printings but when you play the music, when you sing the music, the music becomes your contemporary. Because the music it's only finished, it's only well not finished, it's never finished. The musicians part is beautiful. But music becomes a new life every time the singer and musician plays. And this, it's long and we are singing and playing and when we stop, music stop. And what remains, what remains after this, the memory, memory. Ah, ah Voltaire says with " sans les sens y pas de memoire". The sense, all the things that touch us, it makes our memory. We don't, we remember only the things that touching us. A nice pasta, [audience laughs], a nice beautiful breeze and the sun and the afternoon. A beautiful person. We remember from the, the nice times, also the very bad things. But human beings has tendence to forgot the bad things and to remember the best things. And this is the quality of the music. For this is so important to play the music with the old emotion and all the beauty because only like this we will remember this moment forever, you know. And I think this is a quality that's possible because with music we cannot lie. As you know, many people are lying today. [audience laughs] And it's very easy to lie with the words but with the music no, it's not possible. Even the most [inaudible] person, the person who has no idea about music, will feel if a singer is singing with emotion or not. It's not necessary to start in conservatory to know about musicology. Everybody and hear every singer sing with emotion or not. If a musician is playing with sensitive, sensibility and pleasure. And this, I think, is the most important thing. And this is why the music remains a fantastic source of dialogue, of comprehension of sharing experience, building bridges. Because you will see tonight we have 14 different varieties, the first soprano is from Morocco, the second is from Italy, contralto is from the Basque land, the tenor is from Catalonia, the base is from Italy. We have the musicians from Istanbul, from Armenia, from Greece. We have the vocal ensemble from Salonique and from the musicians we have the first violins from, from Argentina, the cello from Hungary, the [inaudible] one from Germany, the other from Austria. The harp from England, the guitar from Spain and etc tetra. And this is, but this is, and still we are a family. And we share the music with great joy and respect. And the thing is this is the best thing to do today. To show the, even with the very strong differences, we can be very well together. The diversity is not a tragedy. It's a country and your country it's the best example today. How a country is built, extraordinary diversity of cultures and has living together for so many hundred years. Thank you. [audience applauds] >> Jordi Savall: I need a bow. I need a bow. I don't see any bow. Can play like a guitar but. One moment. >> Anne McLean: You know while he's asking for the bow, we should say that in our cases tonight, if you have time to look at them, there a number of rare items that show the history of Venice as a music publishing center. So for example we have have the famous auhexitan which was the first by Petrucci, the first score printed in musical movable type. The first musical score printed in movable type. So that's on display tonight. We also have, I believe the eighth book of the Monteverde madrigals [inaudible] and a number other of very rare items. Venice was a printing center and so printers like [inaudible], Dorea, Gardona and others were making it a commercial hub for that. It was also a home for gamba making which I was thinking Mr. Savall would talk about. Oh, thank you so much. This instrument he's kind enough to demonstrate briefly for us is by Peter Rumboughs, 1708 it's part of the Library's Wilson's files. [Jordi Savall tunes instrument] >> Jordi Savall: This is a viola gumba. In fact it's like a lute with the bow. We have the same feeling as a lute. [music] >> Jordi Savall: And [inaudible] it's not playing everyday. [audience laughter]. She's a little...undormi [audience laughter]. But anyway [inaudible]. As you can see, as is typical from the viola gumba, seven strings. This is one of the reasons why people abandon the viola, [audience laughter], it's too many strings. [audience laughter] And it's seven frets making the divisions and this is not for helping to tune. It's more to help the quality of open song. [music] >> Jordi Savall: And on of the [inaudible] of the viola, we don't take the bow like the violin, it's the cello, [inaudible] was the base of the violin. The name of the cello in the beginning before the [inaudible] was the villo. La base, le villo. Your arm was like this. If you play it with the instrument in this position, like it was the beginning, before the violin. Two families of bows, the viola [inaudible], play on the arm. And this is a natural position. And the contrary of the gamba position this is not, [inaudible]. This is more natural. This is a very natural position. And the reason after this time, it's not possible to make tension here. Like this you can control tension with your fingers. [inaudible] control the music. Everything you are doing, soft, [inaudible], crescendo [inaudible] is made by this finger. [inaudible]. This was so important the [inaudible] finger was called "lamb la music". [inaudible] It was a connection with feeling. And well, I will play you a little piece to see how it sounds the instrument. [tuning instrument] [music] [audience applauds] >> Anne McLean: We very much would like to thank you on behalf of the Library for taking the time. You're very gracious to try the instrument before your concert. >> Jordi Savall: I would like very much to take it too. >> Anne McLean: We'll talk, we'll talk with the curator. But ah, we've just wanted to say that this concert, this extraordinary concert of music and musicians that you have brought to us gives us a sense of tremendous joy and helps us to understand in person tonight so much of why you are a UNESCO artist for peace. And why we admire you and we thank you tremendously. From the bottom of our hearts. [audience applauds] >> This has been a presentation of the Library of Congress. Visit us at LOC.gov.
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Channel: Library of Congress
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Length: 33min 4sec (1984 seconds)
Published: Mon Oct 01 2018
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