This is how the great musical successes of the 15th century sounded

No one in his time understood the eagerness and bibliophile zeal of the youngest son of Christopher Columbus, Hernando, who came to collect more than 15,000 manuscript copies to form the largest library of the Renaissance, today guarded in the cathedral of Seville, where some 4,500 are preserved. volumes.

Nor was the value of the collection understood.

Many books were suspect at the time of the Reformation, the Inquisition made those of Erasmus of Rotterdam disappear, and time did the rest: from the deterioration caused by humidity to the usual thefts in the 19th century (the legend of Columbus and the fans to the old book provoked the continued looting of these collections).

But despite these depredations, the library that is preserved in Seville is a unique jewel in the world.

Among so many manuscript treasures, a musical rarity stands out: the complete songbook that Hernando Colón acquired in 1534, a manuscript most likely in the opulent chapel of the almighty Duke of Medina Sidonia, and which is testimony to the great Seville of the Columbian era, then capital European trade and about to become the gateway to America.

This book of songs, unique in the world, now takes the form of a new record work thanks to the care and historical rigor of the Sevillian musician Fahmi Alqhai (one of the best viola gambists of our time), the son of a Syrian and a Palestinian already born in the Seville capital, where he founded the Accademia del Piacere group 20 years ago, a true national and European benchmark in Early Music.

Alqhai displays all his plumage of musical erudition sheathed in his particular aesthetic contrast.

He receives EL PAÍS in his recording studio with his hair reminiscent of

and a black Metallica t-shirt, the legendary hard rock group.

"They were my beginnings, this is where I come from", he admits when questioned by this nice paradox.

From those beginnings remains the passion with which he weaves into his discourse the unique particularities of the

, an extract from this musical book that was used at the time for its interpretation in religious and secular festivals and that was always made according to the client's taste.

In this case, “and according to the latest studies carried out, it was selected by one of the most important musicians of the 15th century in Seville, Juan de Triana.

A very famous teacher in the city who lived between the divine and the human, he sang in the cathedral, but also organized the festivities of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, one of the main magnates of the kingdom of Seville”, Alqhai recounts.

By order of the aristocrat, this set of musical pieces is therefore compiled —including all the known works of Juan de Triana himself— which, according to the studies of the musicologist Lucía Gómez, author of the book

and advisor on this album , in all probability it was performed in Seville by one of the first

of violas da gamba (then called vihuelas de arco) documented in the world.

The musician playing in his local.

PACO BRIDGES

“It's a very thoughtful songbook”, explains Fahmi Alqhai and jokes when he refers to the set of pieces as something that today could be considered “not exactly tacky, but what the

″ was in our eighties, in relation to the compilation albums that the record companies released in the Christmas campaigns with the best of Spanish pop each year: "The musical hits of the moment that both the Duke and Duchess of Medina Sidonia and their guests must have heard are present here".

And in it, continues the Sevillian musician, “there is all kinds of music and songs: praising the Virgin, the birth of Christ, themes of battles, and a lot of secular music, with sentimental concerns, from lost love to very lascivious issues , hence its historical importance, because it gives us a very complete vision of everything that was heard at the time, the most popular use of music”.

The Sevillian soloist, who has recorded this album together with his Accademia del Piacere group, feels that its publication has been a pleasure to which they felt predestined.

“The Colombina songbook is well known, but it is true that it is rarely visited.

I had worked on it a long time ago, for me it is a youth project.

I started with this songbook and with Juan de Triana when he was 20 years old.

We have always included some loose pieces in the Accademia del Piacere concerts, but it has not been until now when we have tackled a project of this caliber”.

palace music

Of the 95 pieces that make up the oldest polyphonic corpus of the Spanish repertoire —where the predominant composer is Juan de Triana, but also contains music by other renowned authors such as Johannes Cornago, Johannes de Urrede and Johannes Ockeghem—, Fahmi Alqhai has selected 15 pieces that make up the disc.

“The main objective was to find a selection that was organic and coherent, thinking of a concert or an album format.

We didn't want to do anything mammoth and the Colombina material is not all equally precious, there are things in that hundred works that make no sense repeating them because many have the same format and the same theme, they are very similar pieces.

Furthermore, as an artist I always put experience first: how this material reaches the public, enjoyment,

Precisely this approach to all audiences is one of the hallmarks that has made Accademia del Piacere one of the most popular musical ensembles at festivals, regular music programs and international tours.

“It will be because of the

[pleasure] of our name”, he jokes.

“The public, for me as a musician, is always the first objective, as was the case at the time of the Dukes of Medina Sidonia.

If what he was hearing seemed like a bummer, he probably would have kicked you out of his palace.

So here you have to do the same: let the music transport you back in time, but, above all, let it move you”.

To this end, Accademia del Piacere has carried out an in-depth job of arranging and updating the scores.

“In the songbook of La Colombina, the music is written in a very schematic way, very bare, so there is no evidence of what the practice was like, not even the original sound, that which is talked about a lot in Ancient Music .

It's an entelechy, no one can ever get there, but if we have the instruments to get closer in the most reliable way possible", explains Alqhai, who for the recording of the album decided to leave the studio and move the entire formation and participating voices to the Convent of San Pedro de Alcántara, a small architectural jewel of the city of Seville unknown to the general public and that kept the appropriate acoustic and sound conditions.

In order to materialize this album, Alqhai received a scholarship for researchers and cultural creators in music and opera from the BBVA Foundation, which has covered both the thorough prior research and the recording.

“I recognize that

is a whim, it's not a pop project and records are almost a thing of the past, so I don't know if we're going to do the more than a hundred dates of other tours, but I wish the artists more whims like this and not having to always be fighting with the market”, claims the Sevillian musician.

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