Sarband: Pilgrims of the Soul

Special edition, sized 14 x 24 cm, including book of 48 pages. A pilgrimage to Montserrat – Santiago de Compostela and Baalbek.
Sarband, with the Lebanese singer Fadia el-Hage and the Osnabrück Youth Choir, in concert at the Bacchus Temple within the framework of the ‘Baalbek International Festival’. With their current production Pilgrims of the Soul, the musicians of Sarband prove that music can be much more than mere ornament, that it has been and can be a cosmopolitan medium of intercultural respect: an example of understanding and mutual appreciation, a demonstration of peace.
Every summer since 1955 (with the exception of the civil war years 1975-1996) a festival has been carried out in the mystical setting of Baalbek, an archaic, sacred site in Lebanon.
Renowned orchestras, theatre groups, chamber music ensembles and soloists from all over the world perform at this event. In 1998 (at the second post-war festival) the Sarband ensemble gave a concert in the Bacchus temple of Baalbek.
Pilgrims of the Soul takes listeners on a journey into Spain’s Medieval past. Between the eight and fourteenth centuries, Christians, Jews and Moslems co-existed peacefully in Al-Andalus (present-day Andalusia). Sarband brings this cultural melange to life in music as the Medieval melodies emerge from the lute, dulcimer, Gothic harp and shawm in new splendor.
The recording of this concert serves as the basis for the latest Sarband CD, its programme dedicated above all to the Golden Age of Al-Andalus – a civilisation in which the three world religions succeeded in peaceful co-existence.

“… and again on the wonderful album Pilgrims of the Soul, the musicians of Germany, England, Turkey and Lebanon […] conduct a suspenseful dialogue of the cultures … This fascinating recording takes listeners along on a journey into the depths of Spain’s past […] A first-class production in every respect!” (Harald Kepler, Amazon Germany Music Editor)

"This CD is the crown on Sarband's work so far; with a fabulous book … and of course the voice of Fadia el-Hage, merging the three grand religions together into one CD, a perfection of ear, eye and solemn days to come." Choice Music.NL

Soloist: Fadia el-Hage

Tracks:
1. Lamma Bada - 2. Dum pater familias / Laudemus virginem / Salve virgo - 3. Ya ra'i z-ziba / Salve regina - 4. Mariam Matrem / Ad mortem festinamus - 5. Zarani l-makhbub - 6. Ayyu-ha s-saqi - 7. Cuncti simus concanentes - 8. Nani nani / O successores fortissimi leonis - 9. Polorum regina / Stella splendens