| The Consort toured Spain in March 1992, returning for the third time to a country, a culture and an audience we're grown to love. We were particularly excited because we were bringing new music, a new bassist, and an amazing all-digital sound system with which we could record the concerts. Spain has become one of our favorite countries to tour. The audiences are truly simpatico, listening with a fervency that reminds us of those in Russia and Brazil. And the concert halls, in almost all of the 18 cities we've played, are superb. Often they are the classic old opera houses, with tiers of horseshoe balconies that seem to embrace the stage. These theatres feel intimate and grand at the same time, and, having been built for acoustic music, they are perfect for our instrumentation.
We have visited by now almost every corner of Spain, playing in regions of very diverse cultural traditions, and we are continually amazed by the universal response. We have wondered why, in this era when world media culture is still dominated by electronic and vocal music, young people all over Spain have such intense passion for music that is instrumental and acoustic.
I've thought of two reasons for some of the unique attitudes we encounter here: one is the cultural independence of the Spanish people and the other is that Spain has enjoyed a Renaissance of spirit, as well as an economic, boom, in recent years following the grim decades of the Franco dictatorship, and there is a refreshing openness in many of the people we meet.
Our anticipation for this third tour was fulfilled beyond our hopes, and the great bonus was to come home with these digital recordings of the entire tour. There was an added gift of revelation, for in listening to these tapes of our 'new" Consort-with-bass, I experienced a shock of recognition. I suddenly heard the lineage of the most seminal ensembles I've had in my 30-year bandleading adventure. I realized that after years of experimenting with different instrumentations, I'd come around again to a sextet of three "horns" (cello I've always regarded as on e of the horns) and a rhythm section of three: piano or guitar, acoustic double-bass, and percussion. But the familiarity seemed deeper than this.
I immediately went and listened to the live albums made by my earlier bands, which I had not heard in years. Beyond the parallels in instrumentation, I heard also a kindred nature in the compositions, and in the spirit of the music. Each of these three groups has been blessed by the work of prolific and lyrical composers and in each ensemble I've been privileged to collaborate with extraordinary players.
Immersed in the stream of all this music, time seems to disappear, and I feel a part of one grand, on-going community, celebrating life with sound. I am deeply grateful to the musicians, engineers, and audiences who made these albums possible, and to all the people who have enabled this long, rich and 'just begun' journey.
Muchas gracias.
Paul Winter |
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