THE GARDEN OF THE HESPERIDES
From the Old World to the New
Music by Diego Ortiz, Gaspar Sanz, Pedro Guerrero, Santiago de Murcia, Francisco Correa de Arauxo, and traditional Occitan and Sephardic pieces.
Jordi Savall is one of the most versatile musical personalities of his generation. For over fifty years, he has brought to light musical treasures that had remained in the shadows of indifference and oblivion. Devoted to the study of early music, he reads and interprets it with his viola da gamba or as a conductor. His activities as a performer, teacher, researcher, and creator of new projects, both musical and cultural, make him one of the leading figures in the revival of historical music.
He is the founder, together with Montserrat Figueras, of the groups Hespèrion XXI (1974), La Capella Reial de Catalunya (1987), and Le Concert des Nations (1989), with which he explores and creates a universe of emotions and beauty, offering it to millions of music lovers. Through his participation in Alain Corneau’s film Tous les matins du monde (winner of the César Award for Best Soundtrack), his intense activity as a performer (about 140 concerts per year), his discography (6 recordings per year), and the creation in 1998, with Montserrat Figueras, of his own record label, Alia Vox, Jordi Savall demonstrates that early music is not necessarily elitist, but appeals to a wide audience of all ages, increasingly large and diverse.
Over his long career, he has published more than 230 recordings of medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical music, with special attention to the Iberian and Mediterranean musical heritage. These recordings have earned recognition such as the Midem Awards, the International Classical Music Awards, and a Grammy Award. His concert programs have made music a tool for fostering understanding and peace between different, sometimes conflicting, peoples and cultures.
In 2008, Jordi Savall was appointed European Union Ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue and, together with Montserrat Figueras, named “Artist for Peace” within UNESCO’s “Goodwill Ambassadors” program.
Between 2020 and 2021, on the occasion of Beethoven’s 250th anniversary, he conducted the complete symphonies with the orchestra Le Concert des Nations and recorded them in two CDs titled Beethoven Révolution. His prolific musical career has been recognized with the highest national and international honors, including the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from the Universities of Évora, Barcelona, Leuven, Basel, and Utrecht, the appointment as Knight of the Legion of Honour of the French Republic, the International Music for Peace Award from the Ministry of Culture and Science of Lower Saxony, the Gold Medal of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Helena Vaz da Silva Prize, and the Léonie Sonning Prize. He is also an honorary member of the Royal Philharmonic Society, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.
In 1974, Jordi Savall and Montserrat Figueras, together with Lorenzo Alpert and Hopkinson Smith, founded in Basel Hespèrion XX, an early music ensemble aiming to recover and disseminate the rich and fascinating musical repertoire prior to the 19th century based on historical criteria and original instruments. Its name, Hespèrion, means “from Hesperia,” which in Ancient Greece referred to the westernmost peninsulas of Europe, namely the Iberian and Italian peninsulas. It was also the name given to the planet Venus when it appeared in the West.
Hespèrion XX, from 2000 onwards, changed its name to Hespèrion XXI. Hespèrion XXI is today an essential reference for understanding the evolution of music from the Middle Ages to the Baroque. From the beginning, Hespèrion XXI adopted a clear and innovative artistic direction that has set a standard in the global early music scene.
Its repertoire includes, among other things, works from the Sephardic repertoire, Castilian romances, pieces from the Spanish Golden Age, and the Europe of Nations. Hespèrion XXI continues to play a key role in the recovery and reevaluation of musical heritage, with a significant worldwide impact. The ensemble has released over 60 recordings, performs concerts worldwide, and regularly participates in major international early music festivals.
With the support of the Departament de Cultura of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Institut Ramon Llull consortium.
