Jordi Savall is among the leading instrumentalists and conductors of the
European early music scene, specializing in Renaissance, Baroque, and
Medieval music. He took an interest in early music and began learning
the viola da gamba. He studied the gamba and early music research and
practice with Wieland Kuijken in Brussels and August Wenzinger at the
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel.
In 1968, Savall married the
soprano Montserrat Figueras, who shared his interest in early music.
With Figueras and other musicians interested in early Spanish music, he
founded the ensemble Hespèrion XX in 1974. The ensemble took its name
from an ancient name for the Western European region from Italy to
Iberia. At the turn of the 21st century, the group changed its name to
Hespèrion XXI.
The Codex Trujillo is a manuscript edited by Baltasar Jaime Martínez
Compañón, bishop of Trujillo, Peru. It contains 1,411 watercolours and
20 musical scores documenting the life in the diocese. It shows how
baroque pieces imported from Western Europe was enriched by the local
tradition, creating a unique Metis repertoire.
This music was conceived to be sung and danced at the same time (‘bailar cantando’) and we are confident you’ll try doing both.