From Damascus to Europe through Andalusia

During the Reconquista, the Iberian Peninsula was home to Arabic, Jewish, Visigothic, Basque, Celtic and Latin cultures living side by side — in times of peace as well as conflict. From this cultural amalgam emerged a musical heritage that still shapes European music today.

At the heart of this project is the historical kinship between the Arabic oud and the European lute. The musician Ziryab brought the oud to al-Andalus in the 9th century; over the medieval period it evolved into the medieval lute and later the Renaissance lute. Performed together by both ensembles, this kinship becomes audible.

The repertoire draws on Spanish manuscripts (Cantigas de Santa María, Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, Cancionero de Palacio) as well as historical Arabic sources and the so-called Andalusian repertoire.