Enea Sorini (voice, psaltery, naqqara, tambourine) | Peppe Frana (oud, citole)
Saturday 22 May, 8:00 pm
Streamed from Chiesa di Santa Maria del Suffragio, Fano, Italy
BOOK TICKETS
Musical witnesses for the Crusades have come down to us from at least two generations of troubadours and trouvères who dedicated a part of their poetic production to describing the momentous experience of ‘armed pilgrimage’; indeed, some of them personally took up the cross, thereby delivering a partial but nevertheless precious glimpse into the significance of this historical phenomenon and its enormous social, military and anthropological repercussions. The repertoire presented in this programme offers an overview of the main motifs that one typically encounters in Crusade songs: military exhortations and praise for the leaders of Christendom, but also torment for leaving behind one’s country and loved ones.
As a contemporary philosopher reminds us, there never was a war without poets: the blind and bestial fury of man against man requires the evocation of an irrational and transcendent dimension—it needs the singing of the epic poet (a figure that, not surprisingly, Plato thought should be exiled from the polis). The centuries-long sequence of the Crusades is no exception, and, if on the one hand these events represent the regrettable (re-)invention of colonial and religious war, on the other hand thanks to the human experience of those who took part in them we can mirror ourselves in the exaltation, the existential dismay and the meditations of these men, so far from us and yet so similar to us—at least as a stark reminder that no war ever was, nor ever will be, holy.
Peppe Frana
A sneak preview:
PROGRAMME
| Palästinalied | Walther von der Vogelweide, c. 1170 – c. 123 |
| La Septime Estampie Real | Anonymous, Manuscrit Du Roi - BnF fr.844 – 13th century |
| Ahi, amours, com dure departie | Conon de Béthune, c. 1150 - c.1219/1220 |
| La Quinte Estampie Real | Anonymous, Manuscrit Du Roi - BnF fr.844 – 13th century |
| Consiros, com partis d’amor | Aimeric de Belenoi, c. 1215–1242 |
| Karitatz et amor | Guiraut Riquier, Narbonne, c. 1230 – 1292 |
| La Seconde Estampie Real | Anonymous, Manuscrit Du Roi - BnF fr.844 – 13th century |
| Pax! In nomine Domini | Marcabru, 12th century |
| Chevalier, mult estes guariz | Anonymous, 12th century |
| Twishya al hiyaz al mashriqi | Andalusian anonymous, 13th century |
ARTISTS
Enea Sorini: Born in Urbino in 1975, Enea first approached the world of early music at the age of eight, when he was chosen to enter the choir of the Pueri Cantores of Pesaro. After completing Art studies in his own city of Urbino (diploma in Animation Cinema at the School of Art and 1st-level degree in Sculpture at the Fine Art Academy), he moved to Pesaro where he graduated first in Singing (1st level) and then in Baroque Singing (2nd level) at the G. Rossini conservatory, also attending singing master classes with Gloria Banditelli and Claudio Cavina. Enea, who specialises in Medieval and Renaissance music, has performed in the most important festivals of early music, both in Europe and overseas. He now collaborates mainly with the Micrologus ensemble (Assisi), Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien (Paris), La Morra (Basel), Pera Ensemble (Munich/Istanbul); he has also worked with the Belgian choreographer/dancer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (Eastman, Antwerp). He is the founder of the Bella Gerit ensemble (Urbino), researching and performing Renaissance music.
As for Baroque music, he has taken part in several productions and performances under the direction of Diego Fasolis, Gianluca Capuano, Marco Mencoboni, and Carlo Ipata. He has recorded numerous albums for Alpha, Sony, Hyperion, Tactus (including two ‘Golden Diapasons’); his music has been broadcast by, and he has worked for, Radio3, Radio France, RSI Switzerland, Polskie Radio, WDR3.
Peppe Frana: Born in Salerno in 1986, he graduated cum laude in Philosophy at the University Institute “L’Orientale” (Naples). Since a very young age he has had a deep interest in extra-European modal forms of music, especially through the influence of Ross Daly’s music, thereby undertaking the study of Turkish oud and other plucked string instruments in the course of frequent trips to Greece and Turkey, where he has studied with some of the most renowned masters: Yurdal Tokcan, Omer Erdogdular, Murat Aydemir, Daud Khan Sadozai, and Ross Daly himself.
His encounter with members of the Micrologus Ensemble sparked his interest in European Medieval music and plucked lute, and he soon became one of the most appreciated soloists and teachers for this instrument, with a specialization in music from the Italian Trecento.
Between 2013 and 2015 he studied Medieval lute at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis under the guidance of Crawford Young.
Peppe collaborates with numerous performers and musical projects in the domains of early, oriental and folk music, and he performs and teaches widely at international level. He is the artistic director of ‘Labyrinth Italia’
