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Jordi Savall & Hespèrion XXI
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Jordi Savall & Hespèrion XXI · Jordi Savall is a Spanish conductor, composer and viol player, born in 1941 in Igualada. Since the 1970s he has been one of the great figures in Western early music. He made the viola da gamba family popular again in performances and recordings. He started in the school choir at six, studied at the conservatoire of Barcelona and then at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, where he became professor of viola da gamba in 1974.
Music and breakthrough
In 1974 he founded, with his wife, the soprano Montserrat Figueras, Lorenzo Alpert and Hopkinson Smith, the ensemble Hespèrion XX, since 2000 Hespèrion XXI. His style combines great liveliness with as much historical accuracy as possible. In 1987 he founded La Capella Reial de Catalunya in Barcelona, a vocal ensemble for music from before the eighteenth century, and in 1989 the orchestra Le Concert des Nations, mainly for Baroque music. Later he also played with his children Arianna and Ferran.
Influence
Savall increasingly recorded music from other traditions. With musicians of the ensemble 3MA he made Les Routes de l'Esclavage (2017), with African folk music. In the Orient-Occident programmes he played, with Middle Eastern musicians, Arabic, Christian and Sephardic music from medieval Al-Andalus. In the same way he brings the Ottoman music of Cantemir, such as Der makâm-ı 'Uzzâl, to a large audience. His importance lies in the way he plays early music as a living tradition in dialogue with other cultures.
Listening
Der makâm-ı 'Uzzâl usûleş Devr-i kebîr (Cantemir 118) · Jordi Savall & Hespèrion XXI, 2009