Amorei Cantigas Tropicais
AMOREI: CANTIGAS TROPICAIS
All tracks composed and performed by José Escudero, Luiz Gibson and Rocío Gálvez, based on original texts and music by Martin Codax and King Alfonso X “The Wise” (13th C.)– Rocío Gálvez: vocals, bongo-flamenco box-drum, tambourine.
– Luiz Gibson: guitar, accordion.
– José Escudero: rebec, bagpipe, five-key flute, udú pitcher, bendir.
– Arrangements: José Escudero and Luiz Gibson.
– Conductor: José Escudero.
– Produced by: Javier Monteverde and José Escudero.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Javier Monteverde at Cézanne Studios (Las Rozas, Madrid), on July 10-12, 2019.Live sound recording of the trio, with minor detail-oriented additions.
The manuscript known as the Vindel Parchment. Found in 1914, it contains seven «cantigas de amigo», (songs of love where a woman addresses her beloved) by jongleur Martin Codax, who is said to have served in the court of king Ferdinand III (Alfonso X’s father). One of the songs (Eno sagrado, en Vigo) lacks musical notation. Six out of the seven cantigas constantly refer to Vigo and its “sea”.
The covers of Martin Codax’s love songs we present in Tropical Cantigas are the result of an experimentation path opened by musicians José Escudero and Luiz Gibson, who met in Segovia and have always shared Galician and Portuguese for their mutual undertakings, blending Escudero’s musical training in traditional Galician and Iberian music, as well as in Early music -represented in the archaic sounds of the rebec (a close relative to the bow viola), the use of bagpipes, wooden transverse flutes and handmade percussions-, with Minas Gerais musician Luiz Gibson’s use of guitar and Brazilian harmonies and rhythms. Singer Rocío Gálvez enriched this creative and experimental venture by adding her fully vivid vocal rendering of early texts and formulating musical arrangements that helped preserve the essence and meaning of the original texts.
Martin Codax’s Cantigas have been supplemented by a small tribute to Segovia (birthplace to this album) through the addition of two songs that portray Segovian-based miracles extracted from Alfonso X’s Cantigas de Santa María (107. Quen crever na Virgen Santa and 282. Par Deus muit´a gran vertude). These two -together with the third bonus track, cantiga 166 (Como poden per sas culpas)- arise, despite their sacred nature, from a musical context that neighbours Martin Codax’s love songs, and thus retain a certain popular flavour, enhanced by the use of Galician-Portuguese, which, as we must bear in mind, was the language used by lyric poetry in 13th-century Castile.
1. Waves of the sea of Vigo (5:18)
(A partir da cantiga 1 de Martin Codax)
José Escudero: bendir -con garavanços-, traverso de 5 chaves, gaita
Luis Gibson: guitarra
Rocío Gálvez: voz
Waves of the sea of Vigo,
Have you seen my amigo?
And, oh God! Will he soon return to me?
Waves of the raging sea,
Have you my b’lov’d seen?
And, oh God! Will he soon return to me?
Have you my friend seen,
The one for whom I sigh?
And, oh God! Will he soon return to me?
2. Beautiful sister of mine (3:44)
(A partir da cantiga 3 de Martin Codax)
José Escudero: traverso
Luis Gibson: guitarra
Rocío Gálvez: voz, pandeiro de Estremera
Beautiful sister of mine, walk by my side
to the church of Vigo, ‘ere the rising sea tides.
Beautiful sister of mine, willingly walk the way
to the church of Vigo, ‘ere the sea’s taken away.
To the church of Vigo, where the brave sea meets th’end,
We’ll meet my mother, my friend
To the church of Vigo, ‘ere the sea rises above,
We’ll meet my mother, my love
And we shall watch the waves.
3. All of you in loving learn’d (4:00)
(A partir da cantiga 5 de Martin Codax)
José Escudero: cántara
Luis Gibson: guitarra
Rocío Gálvez: voz, pandeiro de Estremera
All who learnt to love their amigo
Come with me to the sea of Vigo
And we’ll bathe among the waves!
All who learnt of love belov’d
Come with me to the stormy cove
And we’ll bathe among the waves!
Come with me to the sea of Vigo
There you will meet my amigo.
And we’ll bathe among the waves!
Come with me to the rising sea
There my beloved you’ll see.
And we’ll bathe among the waves!
And we’ll bathe among the waves!
4. In Vigo’s sacred ground (3:26)
(Juan Antonio Negrete e AMOREI, a partir da cantiga 6 -sem notación musical- de Martin Codax)
José Escudero: cántara, gaita
Luis Gibson: guitarra
Rocío Gálvez: voz
In Vigo’s sacred ground
a handsome body dancéd ‘round.
My love to be.
In Vigo’s sacred ground
a slender body dancéd ‘round.
My love to be.
A handsome body danc’d,
In friends refus’d a chance.
My love to be.
A slender body danc’d,
In love refus´d a chance.
My love to be.
That ne’er had an amigo,
save in the sacred stance, in Vigo.
My love to be.
Who Love’s face ne’er had seen,
save in Vigo’s holy see.
My love to be.
5. Oh God, if only my friend now knew (3:20)
(A partir da cantiga 4 de Martin Codax)
José Escudero: traverso, rabel, whistle, voz
Luis Gibson: acordeom, voz
Rocío Gálvez: voz, pandeiro
Oh God, if only now this’d be known to my amigo
How alone I stand in Vigo!
And so in love am I.
Oh God, if only my belovéd now would know
How in Vigo I feel alone!
And so in love am I.
How in Vigo I stand alone,
With no love to call my own!
And so in love am I.
How lonely in Vigo I do feel
Having no company to bring!
And so in love am I.
No-one have I by my side,
save these crying eyes of mine!
And so in love am I.
And I bring no company,
save both eyes that cry with me!
And so in love am I.
6. Word has been brought to me (3:23)
(A partir da cantiga 2 de Martin Codax)
José Escudero: traverso, cántara, bendir, gaita
Luis Gibson: guitarra
Rocío Gálvez: voz, pandeiro, cinçarras
Word has been brought to me,
Someone’s coming, my amigo.
And thus, I head, mother, for Vigo
Word to me has been brought,
Someone’s coming, my belov’d.
And thus, I head, mother, for Vigo
My amigo is arriving,
And his good health gladdest tidings.
And thus, I head, mother, for Vigo
My belov’d comes to me,
Safe and healthy, happily.
And thus, I head, mother, for Vigo.
He returns alive and well
Favoured by the King himself,
And thus, I head, mother, for Vigo.
He is well, and sound and he
Is an ally to the King.
And thus I head, mother, for Vigo.
7. Oh waves that I came to see (3:02)
(A partir da cantiga 7 de Martin Codax)
José Escudero: traverso, palmas
Luis Gibson: guitarra
Rocío Gálvez: voz, palmas
Oh, waves that I came to see,
If only could you tell me
Why my friend is late without
me
Oh, waves that I came to
gaze,
If only you’d knew the tale
Of how my friend endures
without me.
8. By God, great virtue lies (6:42)
Versom da Cantiga 282 de Santa María -Alfonso X-
José Escudero: traverso, palmas
Luis Gibson: guitarra
Rocío Gálvez: voz, palmas
On how Holy Mary rescued a Segovian lad who fell off a very high building but remained unhurt by invoking Our Lady with the words “Holy Mary, come to my aid”.
Chorus:
By God, great virtue lies
in popular wisdom
When all in trouble exclaim:
“Holy Mary, be my aid!”
9. Who in the Blessed Virgin believes (3:43)
Versom da Cantiga 107 de Santa María -Alfonso X-
José Escudero: traverso
Luis Gibson: guitarra
Rocío Gálvez: voz, caixom
On how Holy Mary kept a young Jew from being knocked off from a cliff; and because the Jew had commended herself to Our Lady she did not die or become hurt.
Chorus:
Who in the Blessed Virgin believes,
Of all pains shall be relieved.
10. As well as men for their sins are crippled (3:02)
Versom da Cantiga 166 de Santa María -Alfonso X-
José Escudero: voz, rabel, gaita
Luis Gibson: guitarra
Rocío Gálvez: voz, caixom-bongó
On how Our Lady cured a crippled man in the Church in Salas.
Chorus:
As well as men for their sins are crippled,
By the Virgin’s intercession their whole bodies can be mended.
Special thanks to:
Javier Monteverde, for his keyboard backgrounds to tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 9 & 10; Quico Cadaval and José Luis Forneiro for his proofreading of the Galician-Portuguese version of these lines; Icíar Muguerza for her English rendering; Pilar Suárez por her French traslation; Ana Caballero, for her help with the production of this album, and Ronny Vasques and Chus Hernández for attentive listening and comments prior to release. We also wish to thank Antonio de Holanda, from Pernambuco, for his key inspirational mixing of Brazilian and Iberian rhythms.
English translation: Icíar Muguerza.
Graphic design: Adriana López
Photographs: Javier Monteverde (studio photographs), Laura Muñoz y Rodrigo Torrejón (live photographs)
Album cover: Adriana López. Based on Cantiga 1 de Santa María -detail- (Códice Rico de El Escorial)