Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
Galley slave Aurelio Scetti: 1565-1577
The music is Morisco music, found on Iberian Garden, Vol. 1 by
Altramar. The piece is Muwashshah: Mā li-l-muwallah, 1113-1198.
This music takes place at the beautiful gardens along the Guadalquiver, near Cordoba.
This is during the "convivencia" under Alfonso X (El Sabio - The Wise), the time
before Granda fell: when Christians, Moslems and Jews lived at peace with each
other. Muwashshah are songs in poetic form, with instrumental interludes in the
form of Ibn Bājja (Avempace): 1470-1520. This is Morisco art.
Many Morisco men as well as Huguenots were sentenced (to death) as galley slaves.
Huguenots were placed in chains (typically 150 pounds of chains per person) and
marched hundreds of kilometers to Marseilles, regardless of the season. If lucky,
these chain-gangs of people might be kept overnight in Inquisition prisons. The
bodies of the dead marked the chain-gang paths.
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