Jordi Savall i Bernadet is a Spanish conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol family of instruments in contemporary performance and recording. As a historian of early music his repertoire features everything from medieval, Renaissance and Baroque through to the Classical and Romantic periods. He has incorporated non-western musical traditions in his work including African vernacular music for a documentary on slavery.

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Jordi Savall i Bernadet (Catalan: [ˈʒɔɾði səˈβaʎ i βəɾnəˈðɛt]; born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol family of instruments (notably the viola da gamba) in contemporary performance and recording. As a historian of early music his repertoire features everything from medieval, Renaissance and Baroque through to the Classical and Romantic periods. He has incorporated non-western musical traditions in his work including African vernacular music for a documentary on slavery.\n

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Musical education

His musical training started at age six in the school choir of his native Igualada (1947–55). After graduating from the Barcelona's Conservatory of Music (where he studied from 1959 to 1965) he specialized in early music, collaborating with Ars Musicae de Barcelona under Enric Gispert, studying with August Wenzinger at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland (1968–70) and eventually succeeding Wenzinger in 1974 as professor of viola da gamba at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.\n

Ensembles

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In 1974 he formed the ensemble Hespèrion XX (known since 2000 as Hespèrion XXI), together with his wife soprano Montserrat Figueras, Lorenzo Alpert and Hopkinson Smith. Hespèrion XX favored a style of interpretation characterized simultaneously by great musical vitality and maximum historical accuracy.\n

In 1987 he returned to Barcelona to found La Capella Reial de Catalunya, a vocal ensemble devoted to pre-eighteenth-century music. In 1989 he founded Le Concert des Nations, an orchestra generally emphasizing Baroque period, but sometimes also Classical and even Romantic music such as, for example, Sinfonía [por] Grande Orquesta by Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga (1806–1826).\n

More recently Savall has performed with family members. The family ensemble has included his wife Montserrat Figueras (who died in 2011) and their two children, Arianna and Ferran. Arianna plays the harp and sings, like her mother; Ferran plays the theorbo (bass lute) and sings, not only with his family, but also in Barcelona jazz clubs.\n

In several of his recordings and concerts, Savall and his ensembles have incorporated non-western musical traditions, including African vernacular music played by musicians of the ensemble 3MA (Driss el Maloumi, Ballake Sissoko, Rajery) in Les Routes de l’Esclavage or The Routes of Slavery (2017). In their performances and albums titled Orient-Occident, Savall and musicians from the Middle East have presented traditional Arabic, Christian and Sephardic music, originating from medieval Al-Andalus, Syria, Morocco and Turkey.\n

Additionally, Savall has created music festivals, such as the Festival musique et histoire in the Fontfroide Abbey in southern France and the Jordi Savall Festival, set in historic monasteries of Catalonia.\n

Personal life

Savall was married to Montserrat Figueras from 1968 to her death in 2011. They had a daughter, Arianna Savall, and a son, Ferran Savall. On 23 June 2017, Savall married the Dutch philosopher Maria Bartels, in Cardona.\n

Recordings

Savall's discography includes more than 200 recordings. Originally recording with EMI Classics, and then from 1975 on Michel Bernstein's Astrée label, since 1998 he has recorded on his own label, Alia Vox.\n

Honours and awards

2000 – Premi d'Honor Lluís Carulla for service to Catalan culture or for scientific, cultural or civic works in the Catalan language
2006 – Honorary doctorate from the University of Barcelona
2008 – Appointed European Union ambassador for intercultural dialogue
2008 – Savall and his wife, Montserrat Figueras, were named \"Artists for Peace\" by UNESCO.
2009 – Handel Prize from the city of Halle, Germany
2009 – National Music Prize from the National Council of Music and Arts of Catalonia
2010 – Praetorius Musikpreis Niedersachsen
2010 – MIDEM Classical Award for his album \"Jerusalem – la ville des deux Paix: La paix céleste et la paix terrestre\"
2011 – Grammy Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance for Dinastia Borja. Església i poder al Renaixement
2012 – Léonie Sonning Music Prize
2013 – Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (France)
2013 – Honorary doctorate from the University of Basel
2014 – Gold Medal of the Generalitat of Catalonia
In 2014 he refused the Premio Nacional de Música awarded by the Spanish government, in protest at the government's artistic policies, accusing them of \"grave incompetence\" and \"dramatic disinterest\".
2016 – Honorary doctorate from Utrecht University
2022 – Honorary membership of the Royal Philharmonic Society
2026 – Ernst von Siemens Music Prize

Discography with Alia Vox

Full discography as published on Alia Vox website:\n

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Filmography

Savall adapted and performed music for the 1991 Alain Corneau film Tous les matins du monde about composers Sainte-Colombe and Marin Marais. His work on this film earned him a César award from the French film industry in 1992. The soundtrack has sold more than a million copies worldwide.\n

He has composed music for the following films:\n

(1991) Tous les matins du monde (All the Mornings of the World) by Alain Corneau
(1993) The Bird of Happiness (El pajaro de la felicidad) by Pilar Miró
(1994) Joan the Maiden (Part 1: The Battles; Part 2: The Prisons) by Jacques Rivette
(1997) Long Twilight (Hosszú alkony) by Attila Janisch
(1997) Marquise by Véra Belmont
(1998) Secret Defense (Top Secret) by Jacques Rivette

References

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External links

Media related to Jordi Savall at Wikimedia Commons
Alia-vox.com Archived 16 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine, Jordi Savall's official website.
Complete discography at Medieval.org
The private website Classic @ la carte is devoted primarily to Jordi Savall's works.
Misteria Paschalia Festival
Zachary Woolfe, Interview, \"Jordi Savall's Never-ending Repertory\", The New York Times, 27 March 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015
\"Jordi Savall\". Festivalenescu.ro. 21 April 2017. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
\"Jordi Savall\". Gramophone.co.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2018.

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Jordi Savall

Broadcast History