Jordi Savall: A Sea of Music, EIF music review – 'celebratory party spirits'

Jordi Savall: A Sea of Music ★★★★

Usher Hall

Billed as a beanbag concert in the EIF’s music programme, Tuesday’s performance at the Usher Hall also brought a bit of theatre and plenty of dance as well as a history lesson about the slave trade, linking to the overarching Festival theme of All Rise. A regularly returning artist, and now with something of a cult following, Jordi Savall put together A Sea of Music with two ensembles which he founded – the long-established early music specialist group Hespèrion XXI and the vocalists La Capella Reial de Catalunya - along with the Mexican based Tembembe Ensamble Continuo. Together with clear and convincing narrator Emilio Buale, they played, sang and danced their way through events of the 1400s to the late 1800s, the sea of the evening’s title paying tribute to the millions of people whose lives were devastated by forced migration across the centuries and the fight against slavery.

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Comfortable though it was to experience this colourful and often surprising exposé from a beanbag, a threading together of over twenty songs that might not have found themselves together otherwise presents a challenge to musical sustainability over the course of two and a half hours. Instrumentally, there were many magical and mysterious moments from the fascinating kaleidoscope of bowed and plucked strings, plaintive wooden flutes, brass and percussion, drawing on both historic and traditional musical cultures. Out front, the kora, a sort of harp-lute hybrid from West Africa, brought a delicious and evocative delicacy, often combined with haunting untuned drums. The master of proceedings himself, Maestro Savall, sat solemnly to the side, sometimes leading with viol tunes cutting through the textures, sometimes conducting with his bow. As storytellers, the singers illuminated tales from across Europe, Africa and the Americas with everything from celebratory party spirits to touching simplicity.

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