Ibn Battuta, dubbed the traveler of Islam, was a Moroccan scholar who at the age of 21 began a series of travels that eventually covered all of the Muslim world and several lands beyond. He traversed the Middle East, making the pilgrimage to Mecca and seeing the other great capitals of the region; traveled to what was then El Andalus in Spain and along the Mediterranean coast; recorded the glories of the Byzantine empire in its later stages; traveled to India, where he was appointed the Sultan's ambassador to China and described that culture as well; and definitely made it as far as what is now the western part of Indonesia and perhaps even to Java and the Philippines (the location of a land he called Talawisi is disputed). In an effort ambitious by the standards of Jordi Savall and his Hespèrion XXI ensemble, Battuta's perambulations are described in music. Hespèrion XXI here is less a standing ensemble than a group of musicians assembled for the occasion; the players come from all over the Arab world, from Turkey, Greece, the rest of the Mediterranean, and China (during the Chinese portions of his sojourn). Savall depicts not only Ibn Battuta's impressions but the historical events he witnessed or those of which he experienced in the aftermath. This two-disc set will give listeners a knowledge of a great swath of important but mostly (to Westerners) unfamiliar world history as Islam advanced in Byzantium and Central Asia but lost ground in Spain. The program is put together from two live concerts, one in Abu Dhabi in 2014, and one in Paris two years later. The first one covered the first half of Ibn Battuta's career; the second, his later life. The two halves don't fit together perfectly as a single piece (for example, the first half is narrated in English, while the second is in French), but the method is the same throughout: Ibn Battuta's life is narrated, excerpts from his writing are given and accompanied by appropriate music, and instrumental or vocal pieces for each locale are reconstructed. These reconstructions tend a bit toward the impressionistic; at one point a valiha - an instrument little played outside of Madagascar - is used. The booklet (hardly an accurate word for this 386-page monster) includes essays on Ibn Battuta, on the tradition of Islamic travel writing, and on Arab culture, and there is even a letter to Ibn Battuta from a modern observer. As with nearly everything Savall does, this release is extraordinarily rich and historically evocative. - James Manheim



Track List:

CD1
01: Musique ꞉ Taqsim - «Oud»; Narration ꞉ "Shams ad-Din Abu Abdallah Muhammad ..."
02: «Bismillah ir-Rahman» - «Voix»
03: Musique ꞉ Taqsim - «Valiha»
04: Kouroukanfouga (instr.) - Mali
05: Musique ꞉ Lamento di Tristano - «Rebec»; Narration ꞉ "Le célèbre voyageur vénitien meurt à Venise ..."
06: «Plainte grecque» - Asie Mineure
07: Musique ꞉ Taqsim - «Oud»; Narration ꞉ "À l'âge de 21 ans, Ibn Battuta de Tanger, débute son voyage de pérégrination à la Mecque ..."
08: Musique ꞉ Taqsim - «Ney»; Narration ꞉ "Ibn Battuta remonte le Nil pour embarquer vers la Mecque ..."
09: Kevoque (instrumental)
10: Musique ꞉ Taqsim - «Kanun»; Ibn Battuta ꞉ (Récité en arabe). "C'est l'un des édifices les plus surprenants ..."
11: «Qays ibn al-Moullawwah» (Majnoun Layla)
12: Musique ꞉ Taqsim - «Oud»; Narration ꞉ "Mort d'Osman Ier ..."
13: «Nihavent» (Chant ottoman)
14: Musique ꞉ Taqsim - «Ney»; Narration ꞉ "Après une visite à la seconde ville sainte de l'Islam, Medina ..."
15: Musique ꞉ Danse de l'âme, Taqsim ꞉ «Oud & Percussion»; Ibn Battuta ꞉ (Récité en arabe). "La majorité de ceux qui font les tours de la Kaaba ..."
16: «Sallatu Allah»
17: Musique ꞉ Taqsim - «Santur»; Ibn Battuta ꞉ (Récité en arabe). "La partie occidentale de Bagdad ..."; Chahamezrab - Anonyme (Perse)
18: Taqsim ꞉ «Vièle & Kemancha»; Neveser * Hal asmar
19: Musique ꞉ Taqsim - «Valiha»; Narration ꞉ "Après la Perse et l'Irak, Ibn Battuta revient à la Mecque ..."
20: Véro (instr.) - Yémen - «Valiha & Oud»; Ibn Battuta ꞉ (Récité en arabe). "Depuis la ville de Mogadiscio, j'embarquais en direction des côtes du pays swahili ..."
21: Musique ꞉ Percussion; Narration ꞉ "Bataille entre Turcs et Byzantins ..."
22: Der makām-ı Hüseynī Sakīl-i Ağa Rıżā - Anonyme Ottoman
23: Musique ꞉ Taqsim - «Oud»; Narration ꞉ "Revenu de son périple par les côtes africaines ..."
24: «Talaa' al-badr 'aleina»
25: Musique : Taqsim - «Duduk & Kemancha»; Narration : "Ibn Battuta prendra deux ans pour traverser et visiter les anciens territoires byzantins ..."
26: Sufí Dance (instr.)
27: Musique : Taqsim - «Kaval»; Narration : "Depuis la côte turque de la Mer Noire ..."
28: Musique ꞉ Taqsim - «Organetto, Cloches»; Ibn Battuta ꞉ (Récité en arabe). "Notre arrivée dans la grande Constantinople ..."
29: «En to stavro pares tosa» - Chant byzantin anonyme
30: Musique ꞉ Ясен месец веч изгряава (Une lune claire s'élève) - Bulgarie; Ibn Battuta ꞉ (Récité en arabe). "Ensuite, je me suis dirigé vers Samarcande ..."
31: Musique ꞉ «Tabla»; Narration ꞉ "Ibn Battuta parti de Constantinople ..."
32: Laïla Djân (instr.) - Chant-danse de Kabul (Afghanistan)


CD2
01: Musique ꞉ Taqsim - «Rebab»; Narration Ibn Battuta ꞉ "Ensuite, je me suis dirigé vers Samarcande..."
02: Laïla Djân (instr.) - Chant-danse de Kabul (Afghanistan)
03: Musique ꞉ Taqsim - «Sarod»; Narration Ibn Battuta ꞉ "Au centre du vaisseau, il y avait une estrade en bois..."
04: Muddhu gare yashoda (Raga) - instr.
05: Musique ꞉ Taqsim - «Sarod»; Narration Ibn Battuta ꞉ "Les habitants des Îles Maldives sont des gens pieux et religieux..."
06: Danse instrumentale
07: 高山流水 Gao shan liu shui (« Ruisseau et montagne ») - Musique traditionnelle de la province Shandong
08: Musique ꞉ Improvisation - «Zheng»; Narration Ibn Battuta ꞉ "Les Chinois sont des infidèles adorant des idoles..."
09: 蕉窗夜雨 Jiao chuang ye yu « La pluie tombe sur le feuillage »
10: Chanson dansée « Ya bourdaeyn »
11: Musique ꞉ Improvisation - «Flûte double»; Narration Ibn Battuta ꞉ "Je partis de Tunis par mer sur un vaisseau de Catalans..."
12: «Quant ai lo mont consirat» - Anonyme catalan (Chant spirituel)
13: Musique ꞉ Taqsim - «Oud»; Narration Ibn Battuta ꞉ "Depuis Alhamma j'ai continué mon voyage vers la ville de Grenade"
14: «Fiyachia» - Tradition arabe
15: Taqsim - «Ney»; Anonyme arabe ꞉ «'Al maya, 'Al maya» (Chanson dansée)
16: Musique ꞉ Taqsim - «Valiha»; Narration Ibn Battuta ꞉ "Parmi tous les peuples, les Noirs sont les plus exagérés..."
17: «Danse impériale» - Anonyme (Improvisation de Paroles et Musique)
18: Isabella (Stampitta)
19: 天山之春 Tian shan zhi chun « Le printemps de la Montagne Tian Shan » - Musique de l'ouest de la Chine (Osman Jan, version Wang Fandi)
20: Taqsim ꞉ «Oud & Kanun»; Der makām Çargah sirto - (instr.)
21: Anonyme ꞉ «Cerco de Baeza» (Romance de la Frontière, CMP 106)
22: 行街 Xing jie « Joyeuse promenade dans la rue » - Sud-est de la Chine
23: Taqsim ꞉ Duduk, Ney, Organetto, Percussion; Lamentation arabe ꞉ «Li Saheb ꞉ Chant de la séparation»