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Constantinople, latest JUNO Award winners, are bringing and strange program of music by little identified Ottoman composer Dimitrie Cantemir to Toronto. The Montreal-based ensemble will likely be performing on the Aga Khan Museum on April 19.
Cantemir’s music will likely be carried out together with items by his contemporaries, comparable to Marin Marais from France, or Italy’s Antonio Bertali.
Who’s Dimitrie Cantemir?
Prince, statesman, and man of letters, Dimitire Cantemir was born in 1673, though there’s some dispute concerning the actual date, and died in Russia in 1723. Throughout his 49 years, he served as vovoide (an elected warlord) of Moldavia, now a part of Romania, twice.
Whereas his political exploits had their ups and downs, and resulted in his exile to Russia, he was additionally identified for his mental skills. He may communicate 11 languages, and wrote a number of scientific books. His Historical past of the Progress and Decay of Ottoman Empire served because the mannequin for Edward Gibbon’s later Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
He’s credited with writing the primary Romanian novel in 1705.
When it got here to music, he wrote about 40 compositions within the Ottoman fashion, and a few are nonetheless carried out in Turkey. He additionally transcribed and printed about 350 conventional instrumental items in a set titled “Edvar-i Musiki”. The gathering is a useful glimpse into Ottoman and Center Japanese music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A couple of of his works have been recorded.
The Musicians
Constantinople takes its inspiration from its namesake metropolis, typically referred to as a bridge between East and West. The ensemble was based in 2001 by inventive director, Kiya Tabassian.
Constantinople has recorded 20 albums on varied labels, together with the latest award-winner, Il Ponte di Leonardo. They’ve created some 60 authentic works, and toured to 290 cities in 57 international locations. Their objective is to create music with a way of neighborhood that encourages cross-cultural collaborations and exchanges.
They carry out works that incorporate parts from various musical traditions, from medieval Europe to the up to date world, and from Mediterranean Europe to Japanese traditions and New World Baroque.
Kiya Tabassian is a grasp of the setar, a sort of Persian lute. He emigrated to Canada on the age of 14, and pursued his research of Persian music at the same time as he studied on the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. He has carved out a novel profession with a global profile.
Different members of Constantinople embody Didem Basar on the kanun (or Turkish zither), who studied and earned her bachelor’s diploma in composition on the Istanbul Turkish Music State Conservatory, the place she first started to review on the age of 11.
Montrealer Patrick Graham is a percussionist, improviser, composer and teacher. He has studied and carried out kinds from up to date Western percussion, the body drumming traditions of the Mediterranean and Center-East, South Indian rhythm and Japanese taiko.
Tanya LaPerrière is a graduated violin grasp of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, together with McGill College. Along with Constantinople, she is co-solo violin of Arion orchestra. Iranian-Canadian drummer Hamin Honaria specializes within the Persian hand drums Tombak & Daf.
- Discover extra details about the live performance, and tickets, [HERE].
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Anya Wassenberg is a Toronto Metropolis Editor at Ludwig Van. She is an skilled freelance author, blogger and writing teacher.
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