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A Pretty Paella: The Alfonsine Cantigas de Santa Maria and their Connexions with Other Repertories

A Pretty Paella: The Alfonsine Cantigas de Santa Maria and their Connexions with Other Repertories The collection of Cantigas de Santa Maria compiled by Alfonso X (el Sabio) (r. 1221–1284) is a gold mine of musical information; unfortunately, however, much fool's gold has also been found amongst its pages. The CSM have been argued to provide evidence that their music derives from plainchant (thus justifying “churchy” performances) yet also to manifest so many “Arab” traits as to support a “Turkish Delight” style of performance. True, there are occasional substantive links between one or other of these repertories, but these are infrequent and specific rather than numerous and general. A closer, judicious, scrutiny of the Cantigas reveals that they are neither the product of an ecclesiastical nor of an “Arab” kitchen, as it were, but a repertory (and iconography) whose careful examination yields up several surprising secrets, especially when reading between its lines. The CSM are neither fish nor fowl, and the collection contains few, if any, recipes for Lamb Ziryāb or for the Lenten fast. On the contrary, its dishes are, in common with Paella, suorum generis, belonging to a musical cuisine of their own, whose sum is indeed greater than the parts of their manifold influences. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Al-Masaq: Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean Taylor & Francis

A Pretty Paella: The Alfonsine Cantigas de Santa Maria and their Connexions with Other Repertories

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A Pretty Paella: The Alfonsine Cantigas de Santa Maria and their Connexions with Other Repertories

Abstract

The collection of Cantigas de Santa Maria compiled by Alfonso X (el Sabio) (r. 1221–1284) is a gold mine of musical information; unfortunately, however, much fool's gold has also been found amongst its pages. The CSM have been argued to provide evidence that their music derives from plainchant (thus justifying “churchy” performances) yet also to manifest so many “Arab” traits as to support a “Turkish Delight” style of performance. True, there...
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN
1473-348X
eISSN
0950-3110
DOI
10.1080/09503110902875491
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The collection of Cantigas de Santa Maria compiled by Alfonso X (el Sabio) (r. 1221–1284) is a gold mine of musical information; unfortunately, however, much fool's gold has also been found amongst its pages. The CSM have been argued to provide evidence that their music derives from plainchant (thus justifying “churchy” performances) yet also to manifest so many “Arab” traits as to support a “Turkish Delight” style of performance. True, there are occasional substantive links between one or other of these repertories, but these are infrequent and specific rather than numerous and general. A closer, judicious, scrutiny of the Cantigas reveals that they are neither the product of an ecclesiastical nor of an “Arab” kitchen, as it were, but a repertory (and iconography) whose careful examination yields up several surprising secrets, especially when reading between its lines. The CSM are neither fish nor fowl, and the collection contains few, if any, recipes for Lamb Ziryāb or for the Lenten fast. On the contrary, its dishes are, in common with Paella, suorum generis, belonging to a musical cuisine of their own, whose sum is indeed greater than the parts of their manifold influences.

Journal

Al-Masaq: Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean – Taylor & Francis

Published: Aug 1, 2009

Keywords: Alfonso el Sabio: Cantigas de Santa Maria , their tonality, rhythm, notation, evidence for improvised dance-music, ground basses; Muwashshaḣ; Zajal; Kharja s; Ma ⃛la‛; “Archpriest” Juan Ruiz; Fiddle-technique; Mediæval instruments and their identification; “Arab” and “church” theories concerning the Cantigas and their performance

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