středověké Inspirace · Medieval Inspiration / Kvinterna
alchemy · cantigas, improvisations & sephardic songs
medieval.org
arta.cz
Arta F1 0095-2
2000
1. Stvořitel / The Creator [5:43]
[sefardí/sephardic: Criador hasta quando]
2. Chaos [1:13]
3. Země / Earth [2:25]
4. Voda / Water [3:51]
5. Vzduch / Air [3:10]
6. Oheň / Fire [3:52]
7. Rtut' / Quicksilver [4:41]
[incluye una deconstrucción de/with a deconstruction of: Stella splendens
LV 2]
8. Síra / Sulphur — fragment [0:59]
9. Kámen mudrců / The Philosophers' Stone [4:20]
10. E lohenu welohe (žalm / psalm) [5:19]
11. Ondas do mar [5:58]
ca I
12. A que por muy gran (fragment) [7:48]
CSM 384
[absolutamente travestida/in full cross-dressing]
13. Como poden [3:25]
CSM 166
14. A virgen Santa Maria [3:00]
CSM 47
15. La rosa enflorece [3:14]
[sefardí/sephardic]
16. Quando el rey Nimrod [5:19]
[sefardí/sephardic]
17. Shofar [0:23]
KVINTERNA
Hana Blochová — zpěv/vocal, varhanní portativ/portative organ
Milan Bílek — percussion
Pavel Polášek — pumort/bombarde, shofar,
zobcové flétny/recorders, santur, zpěv/vocal
Přemysl Vacek — loutna/lute
Petr Vyoral — sopránová fidula/treble fiddle, kvinterna
hosté/guests:
Dan Dlouhý — percussion (1 - 7, 9, 10, 16)
Petr Filák — „ud" arabská loutna/arabian lute (11 - 13)
Lubomír Holzer — percussion (6, 8, 11 - 14), zpěv/vocal (13)
Michal Sodja — didjeridu (6, 8), shakuhachi, brumle/jew's harp (11, 12)
Libor Štětkář — zpěv/vocal (13)
Miloš Valenta — altová fidula/alto fiddle (11, 13, 14)
Recorded November 1998 and September 1999 at the Zlatá Koruna monastery
Engineers: Tonmáš Štern - Paradoxon Music, Jan Volný - Volný styl (11 - 14)
Mastering: Jindřich Michalík - AUDICOM
Recording production: ARTECO - B.M.
Translation: Derek Paton
Design: Jiří Vašíček, Studio N R.
©2000 2HP Production s.r.o., Prague
ALCHEMY is the hermetic art,
teaching about the spiritual life of matter, its development, and
transformation. It is philosophy and mysticism. From the beginning it
was called Music. It demonstrates that matter, from its inception,
through the Spirit, by necessity heads towards perfection. The first
creative principle of the existence of matter in creation, according to
the medieval alchemists, is the 'Black Madonna': The first substance, prima materia, of
the symbolic colour black, is the primitive matter created by God and
is called Chaos. All matter arose from this through the interaction of
the four elements and three principles. The first differentiation of
primitive matter led to two contrary alchemistical principles — symbolic
Mercury and Sulphur. In alchemy, transformation into the first
spiritual state is called the stage of Mercury and takes places
symbolically as dissolution. It is understood as the feminine principle
and its colour is white. The concluding part, namely, mystic death, is a
necessary condition of the initiation of the Spirit on the path to the
preparation of the Great Work. The alchemistical stage of Sulphur
represents the masculine principle and the synthesis of matter. Its
colour, red, represents the element of fire, symbolizing power, the
apostleship the supremacy of Spirit over matter. Medieval Christian
alchemy links it with the blood of the crucified Christ and with the
apocalyptic stage of Christianity. The final apocalyptic transformation
was the gate that had to be passed through to enter the final stage of
the Great Work, namely, the preparation of the Philosophers' Stone. Both
principles — Mercury and Sulphur — are connected or divided by a third
principle — the harmonizing energy of the salt of the Stone. They are
the effect of contrary forces in Nature, and in the Middle Ages were
depicted as warring female and male figures with the attributes of both
principles.
This recording came about only as the result of
broader circumstances. The music is therefore not an artificial
creation, but a statement in time. The elaboration of my philosophical
and musical conception is the result of collaboration between all
members of the group Kvintema and its guests. We developed the
proposed musical themes on the basis of our own improvisation, our
experience of interpretation as a group, and astrological
predestination. The composers of the supporting melodies of the parts of
Materia prima for the individual elements are Petr Vyoral
(Earth, fidula, the earth sign Taurus), Pavel Polášek (Water, santur,
the water sign Pisces), Přemysl Vacek (Air, lute, the air sign Gemini).
The 'ethnic' instruments of Michal Sodja (didgeridoo, the fire sign Aries) create the archetypal basis of the 'Fire' and
'Sulphur' parts. A role equally expressive and in some parts dominant
is played here by the rhythmic element, which not only has the function
of creating rhythms and imitating sounds, but often also evokes the
atmosphere of the broader space of the work. The creative completion of
other parts of Materia prima — 'Chaos' and 'Fire' — is an example
of the compositional contribution of Dan Dlouhý (drums, the water sign
Pisces) in colloboration with Milan Bílek (drums, the water sign
Cancer). 'Mercury', representing the feminine principle, dissolution, is
my variation on the late fourteenth-century song in praise of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, 'O Virgo splendens', from the convent in
Montserrat, Catalonia, and is interpreted with a multi-dimensional
musical layering. The canon for two voices, supported by the special
sound of regular beating on a metal kettle, creates the melodic and
rhythmic base, taking place in real time, over which, with the effective
sound-imitation of gongs and other metal percussion instruments, the
dialogue of the bombarde (a bass shawm) and woman's voice soars.
'Sulphur' (synthesis, the masculine principle ) is a commemorative
fragment on the work of the percussionist Lubomír Holzer, and has here a
system-creating function. 'Stone' uses the acoustic spreading of
aliquot tones of singing, of Tibetan bowls, and of the banging of gongs,
in the chapter house of a monastery against the musical background of a
parlando of a magical Latin text; in terms of content it relates to the
emergence of the Philosopher's Stone and spiritual gold. The
introductory Sephardic song 'Criador', comes from thirteenth-century
Spain, and is dedicated to the Creator and the celebration of His work,
as is the case with the closing psalm, 'E lohenu Welohe'. This
alchemistic musical cycle, inspired by Christian and Jewish philosophy
and also by the music of medieval Spain with demonstrable influences of
the Orient, is joined by Spanish music of the period — the 'cantigas',
which come mainly from the thirteenth century. 'Ondas do mar', 'A que
por', and 'Como poden' are from the anthology Cantigas de amigo*;
the song 'A virgen Santa María' comes from the Marian songs known as Cantigas de Santa María.
The songs of the Sephardic Jews, 'La rosa enflorece' and 'Cuando el rey
Nimrod' originated in old Spain. The interpretation of original work,
just like passages of new musical improvisation, is influenced by the
encounter of various cultures, which for us is a rediscovered source of
inspiration.
Hana Blochová
* Nota del copista: solo cierto para 'Ondas do mar';
'A que por' y 'Como poden', de las Cantigas de Santa María
* Copyist note: only true for 'Ondas do mar';
'A que por' and 'Como poden', from Cantigas de Santa Maria
