The Mediterranean tradition of the medieval fiddle: a guided tour with Jordi Savall

Mythologically associated with Apollo, the lyre pinched in antiquity.
Some hypotheses assume that the strings were bowed by the bow under the Arabian influence, and that this use is diffused in the Iberian Hesperia to the Xth Century.
In the fifteenth century, the Italian term "read" to designate the fiddle betrays this etymological origin.

For this recital devoted to the medieval fiddle, Jordi Savall used four instruments: a read of six Italian arco strings, soprano and tenor viol two five-string and an oriental rebab.
The program is structured in three parts, each uttering a characteristic part of the three great Mediterranean cultures (Jewish, Islamic, Christian) and two representative dances of the Trecento (istampitta, saltarello, trotted).
Some works have been freely adapted by the Catalan viol player, here accompanied by the percussion of Pedro Estevan.

Captured in the generous acoustic of the Collegiate Church of the Castle of Cardona, this recording shows the usual qualities eminently disk Savall: concentration, virtuosity, sensual warmth.
However, it is in the interior of a soloist Ductia Galician or Sephardic Lamento that communication with those distant epochs seems more intimate.