Utwory na płycie:

• Peire Vidal (...1183-1204...): Car´Amiga Dols´E Franca
• Raimon De Miraval (h.1191-h. 1229): Bel M' Es Q'ieu Chant E Coindei
• Andalusí: Quien Provoca La Guerra
• Melodía Judeo Espanola: Moricos
• Aimeric De Peguilhan (h.1190-h. 1121): En Aquelh Temps Que·l Reys Mori N'Amfos
• Andalusí: Los Mejores Amantes (Versión)
• Bernart De Ventadorn (h.1147-1170): Can Vei La Lauzeta
• Andalusí: Mi Entendimiento
• Bertran de Born (h.1159-1195, +1215): Ai, Lemosins, Francha Térra Cortesa
• Uc De Lescura (h.1190-h.1204): De Mots Ricos No Tem Peire Vidal
• Andalusí: Mi Amor Está Junto A Mi

Troubadours in Calstile & The Almohads (Trovadores en castilla y los Almohades)

ALFONSO VIII OF CASTILE (1158-1214) OCCITAN TROUBADOURS. Occitan Provençal poetry started to become popular in Castile during the reign of Alfonso VII the emperor, son of Raymond of Burgundy and Urraca daughter of Alfonso VI the conqueror of Toledo. Alfonso VII married Berenguela, sister of Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona. She was a great lover of music and poetry, able to defend the walls of Toledo with her imperial finery and her ladies singing with zithers and psalteries. Her son Sancho III only reigned a year and his son Alfonso succeeded him at the age of only three. Alfonso VIII of Castile (1158-1214) married Eleanor of England in 1170, daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II, and therefore great granddaughter of William of Aquitaine, the first troubadour. This explained the presence of Provençal Occitan songs in Castile and the king’s friendship with many contemporary troubadours. Some of these troubadours sang their poems in Castile or in their native lands encouraging Alfonso VIII to fight against the Almohads after the disaster at Alarcos in 1195. The Almohads had recently invaded the Iberian Peninsula, and also threatened the south of France. They were defeated in 1212 at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. Among these troubadours and their works are: Bertran de Born with Miei sirventes vuolh far dels reis amdos, Folquet de Marselha with Hueimais no·y conosc razo, Peire Vidal with Mout es bona terr´Espanha, Gavaudan with Senhor, per los nostres peccatz, and Guiraut de Calanson with Belh senher Dieus, quo pot esser sufritz. These works are recorded on the CD “Battle of Alarcos, 1195” by this ensemble under the same director. It is worth remembering that the troubadour composed his poems to be sung, that is to say heard and not read. Accompanied by a melody they were circulated by the singers known as minstrels. If a troubadour dedicated a song to a king, it was probably because he had a close and personal relationship with him and possibly visited his court, a fact of which we have proof today. Galician Portuguese and Occitan troubadours met and maintained literary contact in the Castilian court, above all during the reigns of Alfonso VIII and Alfonso X. Al-Andalus is only mentioned by the troubadours in relation to the kings of Castile, who enjoyed its literary and musical influence in the period of the taifas, but who became separated from Al-Andalus when the Almohads, contemporaries of Alfonso VIII, were in power. Alfonso VIII’s fame was well known everywhere and he is mentioned in many poems for different reasons: love, riches, the virtues of war, knightly virtues, his good horses and the gifts he made of them, generosity and the call to the kings of Spain to unite. Other troubadours that sang to Alfonso VIII were Giraut de Bornelh, Guillem de Berguedá, Pire Guilhem de Tolosa, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, Bertrán de Born lo Filhs, Monge de Montaudon, Guilhem Ademar and Guillem de Cabestany. On this recording we have included the songs of Uc de Lescura, Bernart de Ventadorn, Aimeric de Peguilhan, Raimon de Miraval and Peire Vidal Alfonso VIII died on 6 October 1214 but the troubadours continued to remember him long after his death. Pistoleta, Ramon Vidal de Besalú, Aimeric de Belenoi, Peirol and Peire Cardenal are troubadours who mention the king in some of their poems. For forty years, from 1188 to 1228, there were eighteen troubadours who had some sort of relationship with Alfonso VIII and eight who definitely visited him at the Castilian court.