Wednesday, July 04, 2007

The Music Story

I said awhile back that I would recount the Music of Santiago story. Another moment in time that pushed me along this trail.

I read on one of the boards about the Codex Calixtinus. One descriptor lists it this way: "One example of this cultural communication is the use of the style of polyphony popularized in Notre Dame in the pilgrim hymns of the early twelfth century. The Codex Calixtinus is a collection of such songs recounting histories and legends of Compostela and the apostle Santiago. According to José Subirá, many of these songs, written in Latin, employ discant organum with two or three voices. (Organum is the addition of new melodic lines above the original chant. Discant refers to the use of measured rhythm in all of the voices.)" There is a Codex Calixtinus that were documents. I've looked into purchasing them (published photocopies) but it's too pricey for me to do before I go. Something I'll see about when I return.

I was working on a project in Minneapolis and we were given the day off. I was wandering around the city (met Davey Jones from the Monkees that day) and found a used/antique book store. I LOVE used bookstores and antique books. You never know what you'll find in there. I walked past a counter (not a bookshelf) and there was the Codex Calixtinus on CD. I turned it over in my hands for a few minutes. I hadn't researched how to find it, I hadn't done anything about what I'd read. There it was in my hands. I took it and my other treasures to the cash register. The guy rang up the books and looked at the CD set. "Where'd you get this?" he asked. I pointed to where I found it, knowing that if he said it wasn't for sale, I would have taken him out. There was no way that I wasn't leaving with that in my possession. He didn't know where it had come from, or why, even where it had been sitting, it wasn't priced. He popped out an exorbitant price and waited with a smirk on his face. No contest.

That was the day I KNEW I was going - it was just a matter of when. When is in 1381 hours.

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