A record dedicated to the first
Galician-Portuguese troubadours (from the XII and XIII centuries) based on the Cantigas de
Amor y de Amigo (Songs of Love and Friendship) of Bernal of Bonaval, Xoán Zorro, Pero
Eanes Solaz, Don Denis of Portugal, Sancho I of Portugal, Pero of Veer and Mendiño.
§
JESUS CORVINO, violin
CUCO PÉREZ, acordion
RAFAEL REVERT, piccolo
CARLES dels COMEDIANTS, flageolet
AMANCIO PRADA, vocals, guitar and zanfona
Recorded at Sonoland (Madrid), in August, 1980
Sound Technicians: Pepín Fernández y Santiago Coello
Grafic design: J.L. Hontoria
§
I was living in
Segovia (1975-1980), in that sonorous solitude of Refitoleria Street, when I chanced upon
these Cantigas de Amor y de Amigo (Songs of Love and Friendship) in a book titled Ocho
siglos de poesía gallega (Eight Centuries of Galician Poetry). There, looking at
the countryside from my window or in long walks around the walls of the town and its
Alcázar, I memorised the verses; which in this way started to acquire their own peculiar
rhythms and harmony...On looking at the Alcázar I would think: here also, Alfonso X El
Sabio, himself a troubadour, patron and protector of many others, held his itinerant
court...The sky and the fields which he contemplated from the highest tower have hardly
changed at all. Perhaps the landscape of the soul hasn´t altered either: we sow the same
wheat with the same unchanged illusion and anxiety. I also wondered if it would still be
possible to sing verses written seven or eight centuries ago with genuine emotion; if the
passing of time had not robbed them of their reason, sense and freshness. I sensed this
wasn´t the case, that the heart of men shelters the same unchanged passions and continues
to long for that whose name it doesn´t know.
The musical composition was helped in this case by the sonority of the Galician-Portugese
and by the light musicality of verses which were designed and written to be sung. The
original music which accompanied these songs has been gradually forgotten, apart from some
compositions by Martín Códax, Alfonso X el Sabio and ... few others. I haven´t,
however, attempted to recuperate or rediscover the original scores. Neither did I try to
imitate a particular hypothetical style from the time. There are many well-known groups
and performers who do admirable work in this field, investigating and popularising old
songs. My musical strategy when confronted by this troubadour poetry, as with any other,
has been to ignore the historical-literary context, because what really matters to me is
the emotive and sympathetic response which a "naive" reading can engender. I am
interested in the poetry´s resonance. To music and song belongs the power to exalt and
communicate the emotion and thought of poetry, which is in the air and belongs to
everyone.
Singing is a way of offering the soul.
Amancio Prada
(From
the programme of the concerts performed at the Teatro María Guerrero de Madrid,December
of 1984) |
