The framework story of “1001 nights” is a fascinating allegory for a strong, intelligent woman and the power of story-telling, which can outlast the cycle of life and death.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the orientalist Antoine Galland published his French edition of “1001 nights”, a mixture of texts based on written and oral traditions which he collected during his travels through the orient and whilst working for the French ambassador in Constantinople.
He was a careful translator and advocate for true cultural understanding and his edition of “1001 nights” became the key point of the wide dissemination and fascination for this work until today. Not only literature, but also all other art forms including music reflected this fascination in Europe during the Romantic period. These dynamics of exchange inspired the programme for this CD.
The Polish church musician Wojciech Bobowski (1610–1675), after his conversion to Islam known as Ali Ufqi, took a key role in this process of cultural understanding and exchange which is similar to Galland’s.
Known as “master of sixteen languages” he served as an interpreter and musician in the sultan’s seraglio and became one of the most important official guides between politics of the Middle-East and European embassies, a so-called dragoman.
Similar to Galland he saw the importance of collecting cultural pieces of oral and written traditions from the oriental world and making them accessible to the western world by transcribing and translating them.
His anthologies of Ottoman music preserved several hundred classical Ottoman songs and instrumental pieces which he transcribed into western staff notation. Two copies of his manuscripts survived in the British Library in London and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.
Elector Carl Theodor von der Pfalz (1724–1799), who is known as the founder and patron of the “Mannheimer Schule”, expressed his interest and fascination for oriental culture by building a mosque in the garden of the Schwetzingen Castle. The composer Christian Cannabich wrote “La Grande fête du Sérail” for its opening celebrations.
Carl Theodor created a flourishing cultural scene and a meeting point for musicians: W.A. Mozart taught his children and gave many concerts, Johann Stamitz led the court orchestra with virtuosos such as principal flutist Jean-Baptiste Wendling, and Ignaz Holzbauer was the Kapellmeister of the theatre.
Of course these musicians didn’t remain unimpressed by the oriental culture, as they could already profit from the travels and shared knowledge of those such as Galland and Bobowski/Ufqi.
These ways of fluent exchange of cultural traditions is a celebration of connecting the roots and the past to the present, of connecting continents and generations.