Atrium Musicae de Madrid: Al Andalus

February 27, 2021, 9:00 am

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This recording transports the listener into the world of classical Arabic and Andalusian music with highly elaborate musical sequences. Musician Beatriz Amo says, “In recreating this music [which dominated Granada from the eighth century until the fall of the Caliphate in January 1492], we steeped ourselves in the atmosphere that still reigns in the Alcazar, the Alhambra, and the mosque of Córdoba. It evokes the love of life and the taste for beauty that pervaded Arab-Andalusian life.” Originally recorded in 1976, the album was well ahead of its time in the varied sound palette with which the musicians re-created an old musical genre. The ensemble Atrium Musicae Madrid relied on North African oral traditions with direct historical links to the Spanish Golden Age.