Jordi Savall: “Music making is the best way to learn intercultural dialogue.”

Jordi Savall’s musical endeavors can be described as eclectic, almost as much as they are historically and culturally informed. Beginning in Catalonia, Spain, as a choirboy, then learning cello, Savall made the uncommon leap towards mastering the viola da gamba, a fretted string instrument popular during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, but is virtually unseen in concert halls today.

In an interview with Ben Finane on listenmusicculture.com, Savall explained that this was due to a natural curiosity that led him to explore music for the viola da gamba by Marin Marais, François Couperin, and J. S. Bach. But more than this, Savall explained that it was Spain’s multicultural heritage that led him to explore Sephardic, Arab, Andalusian, and Oriental repertoires, eventually seeing “the importance of using music as a way of reaching over cultural walls.”

Savall has since founded the ensembles Hespèrion XX (now XXI), which specializes in early music; La Capella Reial de Catalunya, a vocal ensemble that focuses on medieval music and music from the Spanish Golden Age; Le Concert des Nations, an orchestra that uses period instruments; and Orpheus XXI, an ensemble aimed at giving migrants and refugees musical opportunities.

In 2008, Savall and his then-wife, the late Montserrat Figuera, were named “Artists for Peace” by UNESCO, recognizing his efforts to make music as a way to foster intercultural dialogue. Fundamental to his role as a musicologist and performer is his view that music can be a vehicle for peaceful dialogue. In his interview with Finane, he stated:

“[T]he first enemy of humans is ignorance. Ignorance makes fanatics. The second enemy is hatred. And the third is egoism. And all these things can be saved with the development of a sensitive language, like music.”