The viol player testifies to a common cultural inheritance of infinite variety
"Is it not strange that sheep's guts should hale souls out of men's bodies?" asks Shakespeare's Benedick, ravished by the strings of a viol. Strange it may be, but for Jordi Savall the haling comes quite naturally. After its 200 years of relative silence he has made the viola da gamba sing again. His wife, Montserrat Figueras, and his children sing and play guitars and harps in what must be the world's most picturesque family business. Even if they cannot hale the soul from your body, they can bring you to your feet with an Irish jig or a Mexican fandango. Savall just released an album of Rameau suites to applause, but what really mark him out are his wanderings beyond the temple of high culture. An omnivorous troubadour, he roves from Manchester libraries to Colombian villages to salvage musical traditions ? with recordings that move from Berber beats to the raptures of a raga, from the thrilling stillness of an Armenian lament to the sprightliness of an Elizabethan galliard. Alex Ross describes a concert in which Savall "pointed out that the music of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish cultures often features similar or even identical melodic shapes" and "a sentimental vision of global unity acquired heartbreaking force". Fittingly, multifaith Jerusalem provided Savall's most ecumenical stage. Some say globalisation is now spinning into reverse, yet the fate of the world's people is more closely bound than ever. Jordi Savall testifies to a common cultural inheritance of infinite variety. He is a man for our time.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/07/praise-jordi-savall
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