In Conversation--Songs of Holy Toledo
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| Ana Alcaide (Photo in Google Images) |
In 2012, I discovered Sephardic (Jewish) songs of Toledo via Ana Alcaide, a Spanish traditional musician. After watching Alcaide's stunning YouTube videos in which she plays the Swedish keyed fiddle (nyckelharpa) and sings Ladino (Spanish Jewish culture) songs, I thought of interviewing the musician for this blog.
I encourage anyone reading this to check out Ana Alcaide's videos on YouTube because you will learn a lot from this fascinating woman who bridges the scientific world with the musical one.
I caught up with Ana via e-mail and I'm honored to include her on this blog of musical healers.
WME: How do
your biology studies wed with your musical explorations? I ask this question
because some musicians have taken music into the natural realm or have found
musical aspiration from nature.
Ana Alcaide: Right! In fact, nature is one of my great
sources of inspiration. As a biologist, I keep a the spirit of curiosity when I
approach to music traditions. I always do some kind of ‘research’ on the
traditional material I work through. For me is important to keep this part,
even though I take musical freedom
afterwards.
WME: Did
you have an interest in Sephardic songs prior to moving to Toledo or did you
discover these songs and tradition in Toledo?
AA: Yes, it was the fact of living in
Toledo what made me ‘encounter’ the Sephardic tradition. During many years I
lived in the Jewish quarter of the city, and I could feel all this influence in
the streets, in the stones, in the atmosphere around me. So I felt very
attracted of knowing more about it. I mainly did it because of aesthetic
reasons. For me, Sephardic music represents the beauty of simplicity.
WME: I love
the concept of taking traditional music to the everyday person on the street.
Was Toledo the first city where you played music on the streets? What inspired
this idea?
AA: The first place in which I did it was Copenhagen, many
years ago, with a group of friends. Toledo is a good place to play in the
streets, because is full of charming and lovely corners in which you actually
feel like playing there! Of course, I enjoy doing it. I like to share the music
and open it to everybody, to ‘serve’ people doing what you can do. Personally
is a very challenging experience. You have to ‘build up’ every single moment.
What you get from the people reflects how you feel and what you are in that
moment. I learn a lot from doing it, even though not always you feel in the
right mood to do it.
WME: You
mentioned in two interviews I've read that the Spanish government doesn't
support Spanish traditional or folk music. Is this a regional problem or
does it involved the entire country?
AA: Well, I don´t like to generalize. I also feel grateful
to all the support I receive. I would say that as an artist, it´s hard to get
support because there are not many open vías to do it. Specially, in the recent
years the situation has become harder.
WME:
I ask this question because as a music journalist, I have received Spanish folk
recordings from Galicia and the Catalan region that have cultural organizations
supporting them. Galicia has a strong folk music community with record labels
and music festivals featuring folk traditions. I can even begin to tell
you the number of Spanish folk recordings sent to me over the years, granted it
pales in comparison to the pop music industry, but I'm still impressed.
AA: I consider that Galicia, Catalunya,
also Basque Country, support their traditions in a more committed way. As they
feel to have their own cultural identity, they want to emphasize it. So all
cultural expressions emphasizing their particular identity is much supported, if
you compare it to what is done in other regions of Spain (of course, this is a
general feeling, I don´t want to generalize).
WME: I am
interested in your connection to Mexico. What types of music traditions did you
discover in Mexico during your time there? Did you fall in love with any of the
Mexican traditional instruments, mainly lutes and harps?
AA: Well, my connection with Mexico is more personal than
musical. I was studying Biology in Baja California for some months with a
scholarship, and later I visited the country for personal motivations. I feel
deeply attracted to their culture, and the connection was immediate, who knows
why? Of course I also enjoy it musically, the country is huge and they have so
many different traditions reflecting the spirit of the people. I really like
their vital happiness, and the way they understand and celebrate life and
death.
WME: You
recorded a tragic song, The Bitter Well which features a relationship
between a Jewish girl and a Christian boy. It reminds of Shakespeare's Romeo
and Juliet where two rival families destroy the love of a young couple
through their prejudices. This song is healing in that it provides a
moral tale of the destruction of prejudices. What inspired you to compose
a song based on this tragic story?
AA: In my last album I wanted to introduce a legend related
to the sephardic people, so I decided chose this one. It represents what you
mention and it´s actually one of the most well known legends of Toledo… perhaps
because it´s so dramatic? People like that! I also chose it because the bitter
well is a real place which you can actually pass through, it which gives name
to a Street of Toledo –you can find the place along the Street. It´s also very
close to one of my favourites spots to play in Toledo, very near the catedral,
so it also have a personal meaning to me.
WME:
When you composed the music did you already hear the musical arrangement that
appears on the album, La Cantiga Del Fuego?
AA:
Not in all of the songs. I mostly ‘listen’ the atmosphere I want to create
with each song. Even though the arrangements were clear, in some points it was
open to the musicians who collaborated -specially percussions- So there are
parts and sounds that were not exactly ‘planned’ like that. It was a very good
working experience with a big team of great musicians!
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