Honey for the ears from The Renaissance Players *

From biblical times, honey symbolised the sweetness and goodness of life. Thus Andalusian Honey, to be performed in Sydney next month by The Renaissance Players, is a melting pot of sweet music and poetry from various Christian, Jewish and Islamic cultural traditions of Andalusia.

El-Andalus was the name associated with the Iberian Peninsula, which was conquered and controlled by Moorish invaders from North African in 710 AD. Slowly, over eight centuries, the so-called Christian Reconquest recovered control of the peninsula until finally, in 1492, the Christian rulers, Ferdinand and Isabella, expelled Jews and Muslims from their kingdom.

The main focus of the concerts will be on the mediaeval Christian cantigas de Santa Maria, Hebrew and Arabic poetry, juxtaposed with the traditional songs of Spanish-Jewish (Sephardic) exiles in their new homeland settlements in the Ottoman Empire. In exile, the Sephardim doggedly preserved Judezmo, the traditional Spanish language of their beloved, former Iberian homeland.

The outstanding voices of Nicole Thomson and Jenny Duck-Chong will be accompanied by six instrumentalists — Professor Evans, James Wannan, Tim Willis, Llew Kiek, Andrew Lambkin and Gina Tedeschi. They will be playing a huge collection of ancient and traditional instruments, including: doucaine, shawms, bombarde, duct flute, harps, psaltery, organetto, gemshorn, vielles, rebecs, ud, mandora, chittara moresca, baglamas, diwan saz, darabukka, tapan, dairch, zils, tambourine.

Poetry and traditional tales will be read by Geoff Sirmai.

The concerts will be held in the Great Hall, Sydney University, at 7pm pm 19–20 October.

*Based on media release issued by The Renaissance Players.

CONCERT DETAILS

The Renaissance Players will perform Andalusian Honey in the Great Hall, Sydney University, at 7pm pm 19–20 October. MCA Ticketing on 1300 306 776  or www.mca-tix.com.au