Mare Nostrum

Mare Nostrum takes us on a journey through the Middle Ages in the Mediterranean via four crucial episodes that shaped our history: the Great Schism, the Crusades, the rise of new trading centres and the fall of Constantinople. These milestones frame the complex coexistence and encounters between the civilisations that emerged after the collapse of the Roman Empire, along a fundamental axis between north and south, east and west, and the complex coexistence of the Islamic, Catholic and Orthodox worlds.

The concert weaves together the historical narrative by combining texts by medieval authors with a repertoire spanning early and instrumental music from both shores of the sea. We will hear pieces from manuscripts as old as the Codex Amplonianus, the Vindel Parchment and the Codex of the Musicians, among others, combined with traditional pieces from Valencia, Armenia and the Maghreb.

Repertoire

Strabo, Geography
Ball de Dimonis de Massalfassar – Anonymous (traditional Valencian)
Ondas do mar do Vigo – Martin Codax (Vindel Parchment, 13th c.)
The rupture of the Mediterranean
Canzonetta tedesca – Anonymous (London Manuscript, 14th c.)
CSM 10 Rosa das Rosas – Alfonso X, 13th c.
Bull of excommunication against Emperor Michael I
Statuit dominus – Anonymous (Einsiedeln Manuscript)
Istampitta Ghaetta – Anonymous (London Manuscript, 14th c.)
CSM 9 Por que nos hajamos – Alfonso X, 13th c.
Chronicle of the Crusades
Chevalier, mult estes guaritz – Anonymous (Codex Amplonianus, 12th c.)
Ya Rasha al Fattan – Anonymous Andalusi
Trade between peoples
Morena me llaman – Anonymous (traditional Sephardic)
Ai Deus, se sab’ora meu amigo – Martin Codax (Vindel Parchment, 13th c.)
CSM 383 O fondo do mar tan chao – Alfonso X, 13th c.
29 May 1453
Salakho – Anonymous (traditional Armenian)
The fall of Constantinople
Zurni trngi – Anonymous (traditional Armenian)