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Alexander the Great: Hero, Warrior, Lover
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“King Alexander on a throne borne by griffins” (12th-century mosaic, Cathedral of Trani, Italy)
 Concert Details and Ticket Information |
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Friday evening, 20 April 2012 | |||
| Pre-Concert Introduction by Anne Azéma at 7:15 | Concert at 8:00 pm | ||||
| Christ Church Cathedral | ||||
| 690 Burrard at West Georgia, downtown Vancouver | directions | ||||
for information on Ticket Prices and Seating Plans.
Tickets for this performance at $35 (students & seniors $3 discount) can be ordered on-line via our secure connection.
These ticket prices include 12% HST.
They can also be ordered by phone (604 732-1610) from the office of Early Music Vancouver. Tickets are also available at Sikora’s Classical Records.
Rush Seats for Students with valid ID on sale for $10, at the door only, from 7:00 pm on the afternoon of the concert.
These concerts are included in our “Bring a Youth for Free” programme.
< click on this logo for Chirst Church Cathedral’s listing of this Early Music Vancouver concert
| Programme |
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Our narration of the Alexander Story comes from Arrianos, Plutarch, Alexandre de Paris,
Thomas of Kent, Iskendername, Seyahatname, The Septuagint and The Holy Koran.
Introit
Alexander’s Ascent
Arrianos (ca.86-160 AD)
Plutarch (46-120 AD)
Glorious are the deeds of those who undergo labour and run the risk of danger; and it is delightful to live a life of valour and to die leaving behind immortal glory. This is Fortune’s discourse, who declares that Alexander is her own characteristic handiwork, and hers alone.....
Many a night did he spend without sleeping, many a blood-stained day did he pass amid combats unceasing, against irresistible forces and innumerable tribes, against impassable rivers and mountain fastnesses whose summit no arrow could reach, furthered by wise counsels, steadfast purpose, manly courage, and a prudent heart.
Daniel’s prophecy (Book of Daniel, XI, 2,4)
Based on Jewish chant, Baghdad
Early Byzantine Tradition
Hear the truth! A mighty king will stand up, that shall rule with great dominion; his kingdom shall be broken and shall be divided towards the four winds of heaven.
Kurdi Pesrev
Sultan Korkud (1467-1513)
— I —
Becoming King
Narration:
The education of Alexander, by Alexandre de Paris (ca.1180)
Philip (Alexander’s father) has called upon the wisest from far away; the first one to respond is Aristotle of Athens. Aristotle educates Alexander nobly: Greek, Hebrew, Chaldean, Latin, all about the sea and the winds, the stars, rhetoric, life.
Narration:
Aristotle’s advice, from Iskendername (1390) by Ahmedi (14th century)
Leave your pride aside and try to be humble; always worry about helplessness. Great people don’t take notice of simple tasks, great tasks cannot be accomplished by simple people…
Ilim ilim bilmektir
Text: Yunus Emre (13th century)
Music: Evc nefes
Knowledge is to understand
To understand who you are
If you know not who you are
What’s the use of learning?
Bel m’es can vei chamjar lo senhoratge
Bertran de Born (fl.1159-1195)
I am pleased to see authority change hands, and old men leave their houses to the young.
So it seems to me the world is better renewed that way than by flowers and birdsong.
Young is a man when he spends generously, grants splendid gifts, organizes fights,
jousts, tourneys, and knows how to be courteous.
To Battle!
Narration:
Darius’ Second Envoy to Alexander, from Iskendername
The envoy greeted Alexander and gave him a message from Darius:
I’ll bring an infinite number of soldiers and destroy Greece.
Ecce Rex Darius
The Play of Daniel (c. 1227-1234)
Here is King Darius, coming with his nobles men; Babylon and his own land live in constant awe of him. Like a whirlwind he will smile, sweeping with his armed hosts, scattering the cohorts, shattering even the strongest... Let us praise him with loud acclaim, for his mighty feasts of arms, let the drum resound for him, the strings of harps be smitten... all the instruments at hand loudly sound the praise of Darius!
Narration:
To battle, by Alexandre de Paris
At dawn, when the lark sings, the army gets on horse-back, to the sound of horns and trumpets, followed by the men on foot and the king, with his barons. What a sight!
Love
Narration:
Alexander and Candace, by Thomas of Kent (12th century)
How marvelous is love! It will make you loose your senses. The wisest in the world behaves like a fool, once ensnared. How can man measure up to woman? She is sweet as a dove, and roars as a dragon. Alexander comes to the queen’s tent. She was most beautiful and graceful, her crown of gold from Frisia: she was listening to a new song to the harp and vielle.
Novel Amor
Anonymous (13th century)
Narration:
Alexander, since you are under my power by Thomas de Kent
Alexander, since you are under my power, let’s go and play under the covers; no one will know about it, save for my servant girl. Candace was beautiful, white as hawthorn, girdled in a purple tunic; they lie on the bed to speak of courtly love and practice its law.
Estat ai, en greu cossirier
Text:Comtessa de Dia (fl. 1175)
Music: based on Tristan Vienna Lai 3
How would I love to hold my knight one evening in my naked arms, so that he should be happy that I only offer him my breast as a pillow. For I have made myself more beautiful for him than Floris for Blanchaflor; I give him my heart, my love, my spirit, my eyes, and my life. Fair, gracious, pleasant friend, if ever I get you in my power, and if ever I can lie down with you and give you a lover’s kiss — know then that I will be greatly gifted at offering you the husband’s place — if you promise me to do everything that I ask.
Her Gordugu Periye Gonul Muptela Olur
Buselik Beste by Itri (1640-1711)
This heart gets addicted to all angels
But never knows that they become invisible troubles.
Quant voit l’aube du jour venir
Text: Anonymous (13th century)
Music: based on Guiraut Borneilh
When I see daybreak coming on, there’s nothing I could hate so much, for it makes my lover whom I love with true love part from me. Now I hate nothing as much as day, which parts me, love, from you. When I lie down in my bed, and look to my side, I find no trace of my love, and so make this lament to other true lovers. Now I hate nothing as much as day.... Dear sweet love, you will go away, God have your body in keeping. In God’s name I beg you, do not forget me, there is nothing I love as much as you. Now I hate nothing as much as day...
Marvels 1
Narration:
The king’s entertainment, by Alexander de Paris
A harper from Tarsi comes close to the king (Alexander); he is very good at playing lays on his flute, and is versatile on all instruments. He sits in front of the king’s tent, and begins to play a lay he knows well, but never before played that way.
Alexander’s Arrival at the City of the Amazons
Music: Saba Sarki (Anon.)
Text: Iskendername
… It took them a month to get to a city named Sadkam. This was a gigantic great city in which only women lived and there were no signs of men. The children, elders, soldiers, servants and their sultans were all women…
Marvels 2
Fontes et omina, quae qui moventur in acquis
Gregorian
Springs, and all living things who move in the water, praise God and sing a hymn to him!
Flores apparuerunt
Gregorian (Song of Songs, II, 12-14)
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come; and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock.
Narration:
The Tree, from Evliya Celebi’s (1611-1682) Seyahatname
Gabriel said to Alexander “O Alexander! God greets you and he sends you this tree as a gift, which is the like of the Tuba tree in paradise.”
Narration:
The fountain of youth, by Alexandre de Paris
Let me share the following with you, Lords. This fountain was surrounded by marvellous, odoriferous trees. Many a precious stone was shining in its waters. Alexander approaches the fountain. Its waters came from Paradise, from the Euphrates which is born out of the Tigris. More than forty-six elders bathed in it: they came out as young, thirty old knights. Alexander is happily smiling at this sight.
Iskender the Prophet
Narration:
Evliya Celebi
… since Alexander had two horns he was called Alexander the two-horned… when Alexander was seeking a cure so that he no longer carried these horns, God’s word descended upon him!
Tilavet, Surah al-Kahf (The Cave)
The Holy Koran
… “Alexander!” we said, “You must either punish them or show them kindness.” He replied: “The wicked we shall surely punish. Then shall they return to their Lord and be sternly punished by Him. As for those that have faith and do good works, we shall bestow on them a rich reward and deal indulgently with them.”… “Alexander!” they said, “Gog and Magog are ravaging this land. Build a rampart between us, and we will pay you tribute.”
Ussak ilahi & zikir
Text: Yunus Emre
Music: Anonymous
God is great. Servants of him follow his word and believers of him follow his word.
Death of a Hero King
Narration:
Alexander’s lament, by Alexandre de Paris and Thomas de Kent
Ha, Death, miserable thing; your menace is like the beat of a drum.
“Lords”, said Alexander, “do not sigh! What good would it be to tear your hair, clap you hands, and rip your clothing? It is the fate of all: what lives, must die. If I count my days, they are few. But if I count the victories, there are many, granted by Fortune. I am ensnared by felony, certainly not the first king to die poisoned by a close counsellor...
Lords, do not sigh! We have to part, it cannot be otherwise: death is taking my heart.”
Narration:
Aristotle’s Lament for Alexander, from Iskendername
O the young man who ruled the world! Since you were not satisfied, see what the Tyrant has done to you…
Mon chan fenisc
Text: Bertran de Born
Music: based on Guiraut Riquier
I end my song in grief and misery. I hold it ended for ever, for I have lost my cause and my pleasure, losing the greatest king ever born, large–handed, nobly spoken, well-riding, graceful in his form. For you came to be called the Young King. You were the guide and the father of all who are young. Hauberts and swords, handsome fabrics, helms and gonfalons, these things have no one to preserve them, no one to keep them here – no, they will follow you there. Gentle receptions, giving without a changing heart, grands lodgings nobly kept, gifts, garments, meals to the noise of vielle and song, with a brave companion valiant and strong....Lord, for you I want to wrestle myself from joy, and everyone who saw you – let them weep.
Nihavend nefes
Text by Yunus Emre
Music: Anonymous
Alexander too, came and wondered in this world
He destroyed the throne of Darius
He swam across the oceans with a dolphin
But, he could not escape death as well.
– programme subject to changes
| Programme Notes |
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In our current age we cry out for heroes, put them on a pedestal, forget them in three days and discover in their absence a hunger for true leaders. Alexander the Great, in our memory, remains the largest military figure and explorer of all time. His deeds, both real and legendary, inspired bardic poetry and song across the known world – both East and West. It is around this literary figure of Alexander that we have built this concert. The music tonight offers illustrations of moments chosen from his fabled history, as it has been told to us through many sources.
In French language, the larger-than-life mythical figure of Alexander the Great originates with 12th-century mediæval literature. However, Alexander had become a literary hero long before, through the biography of Pseudo-Callisthenes, written in Alexandria in the 3rd century. “This text”, writes the scholar Harf-Lancner, “which combines both historic sources and Greek and Egyptian legendary tales, had a wider circulation rate than the Bible in the Middle Ages. It is the founding text of the myth of Alexander the Great for the entire world...” From this Greek biography developed several legendary traditions: Latin, Byzantine, Arabic and Persian. The excerpts that we present here are drawn from these different families of sources which share among themselves poetic myths common to the Mediterranean basin and beyond.
Several continental mediæval sources emerged and were assembled and presented around 1180 by Alexandre de Paris. He created a new narrative style with 12 syllables lines. This manner is now called alexandrine verse. Thomas of Kent, an Anglo-Norman of whom we know little, wrote a similar compilation, which in turn served as a base for other teller of tales. In the eyes of these authors, Alexander was a valiant king whose mythical exploits concerned not only military conquest, but also discovery and exploration of what were to Europeans, new, ‘Oriental’ worlds. The nearly super-human range of Alexander’s feats fascinated the mediæval imagination, as did the punishment that followed his deeds – his young death – which served as a lesson in itself.
Contrary to what one would think, the mediæval Alexander was not the amorous hero many imagine him to be. His “courtliness” was limited to his education, which was extensive and supervised by the wisest of the time (Aristotle, among others), as well as his magnanimity and generosity repeatedly demonstrated both in combat and among friends. If he indulged in a relationship with Queen Candace, it was a political pairing in the context of love; and Roxane, his wife, appears only slightly more than briefly. The masculine companion seemed to be Alexander’s preference, and it is this excess of ambition that separates him from other courtly heroes such as Arthur, Tristan and others.
Neither was the mediæval Alexander a spiritual leader. He was an active personality – constantly pushing and fighting the limits of his known world. Even though he conversed with sages and drew inspiration from their thoughts, he was, above all, a warrior. In this he is different from Iskender or Zulkarneyn (Iskender and Zulkarneyn are Alexander’s two popular names used in a number of Middle Eastern traditions). Zulkarneyn is in fact a person mentioned in the Holy Koran who for many centuries (by the majority of Islamic scholars) was considered a prophet and identified as Alexander. Even though this was at times debated certainly the Ottoman/Turkish tradition for a number of centuries accepted Alexander as a prophet of God. This was best represented in Ahmedi’s Iskendername. This particular work written in 11 syllables is not only an extension of the earlier Persian traditions but also a wonderful representative of early Ottoman/Turkish tradition.
The obvious challenge encountered in this programme is setting these epic tales to music, as no musical manuscript survives directly related to the literary sources. However, what we do have available is a panoply of bardic storytelling techniques, shared (with slight differences and nuances) among Mediterranean cultures. In this tradition, the storyteller narrates excerpts of well-known historic feats for his audience. Chanting, recitation and musical instruments accompaniment and commentary in turn support and respond to the storyteller. The precise musical elements that we have brought to this narrative of Alexander’s exploits are borrowed or derived from ancient Greek, Hebrew, Byzantine and Gregorian chants, as well as from trouvères and troubadours, classical Ottoman/Turkish music, Turkish Sufi music, Koranic chanting and newly composed melodies that draw from these sources as inspiration. In this programme, we therefore present a new narrative – composed of ancient fragments and evoking through music the timeless, allegorical and archetypal figure of Alexander the Great.
| The Artists |
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THE BOSTON CAMERATA
Acclaimed as “world class” by the New York Times (2011) and widely considered to be America’s foremost early music ensemble, the Boston Camerata was founded in 1954 and until 1974 was associated with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Joel Cohen was the Camerata’s Artistic Director from 1968 to 2008, succeeded in 2008 by Anne Azéma. Based in Boston from its inception to the present day, the Camerata began touring overseas in 1974, and has been heard on four continents and in nineteen countries. In the US, the ensemble has performed at the Tanglewood Festival; New York’s Lincoln Center; The Brooklyn Academy of Music; and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. The Boston Camerata began touring internationally in 1974 and has since appeared in Canada, England, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Singapore, Israel, Norway, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico.. Last 2011-2012 season alone, the Camerata has enjoyed five international tours.
Camerata’s forays into music theater have been widely praised. Performed in collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company, Borrowed Light, a dance production based on original Shaker songs, was named in December 2009 as “Best of the Decade” by the Village Voice.. With more than sixty performances since 2004 in Europe, the United States, and South Asia., this production in 2011 alone have attracted total audiences of approximately 12,000 people. Borrowed Light will return to the US Jacob's Pillow Festival in July 2012.
Media appearances by the Boston Camerata have included a nationally syndicated radio series in the US and numerous broadcasts on French, English, Canadian, Dutch, Spanish, Swiss, Norwegian, and Swedish radio. Camerata provided the music for Guardian of Memory, a 1993 Library of Congress TV project. Camerata’s video of Shall We Gather at the River appeared on American cable outlets in 1992-93, while its Shaker music projects Simple Gifts (1995) and The Golden Harvest, (2004; new editions 2010) have received coverage on American public radio, the BBC, and ABC Australia.
The Boston Camerata’s numerous recordings appear on the Erato, Harmonia Mundi, Nonesuch, Telefunken, and Warner Classics labels. Its recording of Shaker spirituals and chants, Simple Gifts, topped the national Billboard magazine classical charts in 1995 and 1996. The Camerata’s most recent original recording, A Mediterranean Christmas (Warner Classics) became an international bestseller in 2005, and the historic 1989 recording of the Tristan and Iseult legend, a recipient of the coveted Grand Prix du Disque, was re-released in 2008. A co-ordinated series of Americana re-releases by Camerata also appeared on Warner Classics in early 2009. Camerata’s first DVD, A Symphony of Psalms, directed by Anne Azéma, was released in 2010.
The Boston Camerata is frequently invited to participate in educational projects. An annual summer workshop in mediæval song was produced in Coaraze, France, from 1996 to 2005. In 2007, Camerata was in residency at the University of Tennessee for a semester-long residency under the auspices of the university’s Marco Institute of Medieval and Renaissance Studies – its most extensive and ambitious educational project to date. In 2009 the Boston Camerata participated in the first international colloquium of Camerata Mediterranean at Saint Guilhem le Désert, France. Camerata’s Artistic Director, Anne Azéma, will occupy the Richard M. Trotter Distinguised Visiting Professor chair at the University of Oregon, Eugene, in the spring of 2012.
DÜNYA
DÜNYA is an educational organization located in Boston, MA, USA. Its goal is to present a contemporary view of a wide range of Turkish traditions, alone and in interaction with other world traditions, through performance, publication and other educational activities. DÜNYA seeks to work with a wide range of cultural and religious organizations and musical groups but relies on no particular political, governmental or religious affiliation or support of any kind. The many colors of music—popular and classical, secular and sacred, old and new—are displayed in adventurous programmes which explore the relationships among different styles. In the Turkish spectrum, Arabesk (popular) and ayin (classical sufi music), Ottoman theater (karagöz) and Ottoman chamber music (ince saz), entertainment music (tango, kanto, fasıl) and marching band (mehter) each find their way into a season or even into a single concert, often in conversation with other world traditions, where culture and individuality are enhanced, not threatened. Programming begins with the Ottoman-Turkish tradition, but Turkish music is just one voice among many. When carefully positioned next to other musics—Western classical music and jazz, religious music of many regions and creeds, popular music in its many forms—the colors of Turkish music become even more vivid than when alone.
This is why so many DÜNYA programmes involve collaborations which cross boundaries of style and tradition, programmes like: European Travelers and the Ottomans (a tribute to Mozart, with The Boston Camerata), The Psalms of Ali Ufki, Armenian Composers of the Ottoman Period, Let us Repeat the Names of God (with The Silver Leaf Gospel Singers), Greek and Turkish Holy Days, The Music of Cyprus, and The Language of Birds. All repertoires are presented respectfully and explored for what they contribute to the whole. Almost every programme includes improvisation and new composition, often inspired by traditional forms.
Anne Azéma Artistic Director, voice
French-born vocalist and scholar Anne Azéma directs the American early music ensemble The Boston Camerata, and the French ensemble Aziman. As a performer, she has been acclaimed by critics on five continents for her original, passionate, and vivid approach to songs and texts of the Middle Ages. Her 2008 appointment to direct Camerata was described as “an inspired choice” by Musicalcritiscism.com (UK), while L’Union-Reims (France) has praised her “charismatic leadership.” Ms. Azéma also tours internationally as a vocal soloist, and her current discography of 35 recordings (Grand Prix du Disque, Edison Prize) includes five solo CD recitals. She was artist-in-residence at the Arsenal of Metz from 2004–2007, where she created and directed a major music-and-theatre work, The Night’s Tale. Ms. Azéma’s teaching activities include master classes, seminars, and residencies in France, Holland, Mexico and the US. She has been guest lecturer at Boston University, McGill University, the University of Georgia (Athens), the University of Wisconsin (Milwaukee), and the Boston Conservatory of music. In Europe, she has taught and directed in Amsterdam, the Hague, and Tilburg (Netherlands), Metz, and Strasbourg (France). In September 2010, Ms. Azéma was appointed by the government of France as a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters, a principal distinction of the French Republic.
Shira Kammen vielle, harp
Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Shira Kammen has spent well over half her life exploring the worlds of early and traditional music.
A member for many years of the early music ensembles Alcatraz and Project Ars Nova, and Medieval Strings, she has also worked with Sequentia, Hesperion XX, the Balkan group Kitka, the Oregon, California and San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals, and is the founder of Class V Music, an ensemble dedicated to performance on river rafting trips. She has performed and taught on three continents and on the Colorado, Rogue and Klamath Rivers. Shira happily collaborated with singer/storyteller John Fleagle for fifteen years, and frequently collaborates with performers such as storyteller/harpist Patrick Ball, soprano Anne Azéma, mediæval music expert Margriet Tindemans, and in many theatrical and dance productions. She has played on several television and movie soundtracks, including ‘O’, a modern high school-setting of Othello. Some of her original music can be heard in a new film about fans of JRR Tolkien.
Robert Larabee çeng, voice, percussion
Robert Labaree (çeng, voice, percussion) is an ethnomusicologist specializing in Turkish music and mediæval European music. He is chair of the music history department at New England Conservatory and director of the conservatory’s Intercultural Institute, which he established in 1993. As a founding member of the EurAsia Ensemble from 1980- 1995, he has performed, taught and recorded Turkish classical music across the U.S. His solo CD Çengname appeared in Turkey in 2001 on the Kalan label, a recording which
re-introduced the Ottoman harp (çeng) – out of use for three centuries – into Turkish music using a modern design by Feridun Özgören. He is co-founder and vice president of DÜNYA.
Çem Mutlu voice, percussion
Çem Mutlu (voice, percussion) came to Boston from Turkey in 1992 to attend Berklee College of Music. Since then Mr. Mutlu has been playing jazz and a wide range of world music with groups in the Boston area. He is well known for his creative adaptations of traditional Turkish vocal and percussion techniques to modern musical genres.
Mehmet Sanlıkol voice, ud, saz, ney
Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol is a composer, jazz pianist and teacher with a doctorate in composition from New England Conservatory, and is co-founder and president of DÜNYA. He came to the United States in 1993 when he won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music. In 1997, he founded the band AudioFact and toured Mexico, Argentina, the USA and Europe. The same year, he received Berklee College of Music’s Clare Fischer Award and completed his degree in Jazz Composition and Film Scoring. In the beginning of 1998 he released the CD “Black Spot” with AudioFact. Sanlikol graduated from New England Conservatory of Music in 2000 with a Master’s Degree in Jazz Composition. In 2004 Mehmet completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Composition at the New England Conservatory. Recently, he is writing a book about the organization and the music of the Ottoman Janissary Bands and is teaching at
Emerson College and Tufts University.
Tom Zajac winds, psaltery
Multi-instrumentalist Tom Zajac is a member of Renaissance wind band Piffaro and is a frequent guest with The Boston Camerata, the Folger and Newberry Consorts, King's Noyse, Hesperus, and Cançonièr, as well as a performer with a number of groups in the Boston area,. He has toured extensively, having appeared in concert series and festivals in most corners of the world. Tom Zajac can be heard on over 40 recordings of everything from mediæval dances to 21st-century chamber music. He has played hurdy-gurdy for the American Ballet Theater, bagpipe for an internationally broadcast Gatorade commercial, and serpent in a PDQ Bach piece live on Prairie Home Companion. He also performs on santur and zurna with the Boston-based Turkish ensemble, Dünya. During August, 2011, he took part in a research visit to hear and meet Polish early music ensembles. Tom teaches at recorder and early music workshops throughout the US; he directs the mediæval & Renaissance week of the SFEMS workshops, as well as the early music ensembles at Wellesley College.