For the fourth anniversary of the Sacred Music of the World Meetings, the city of Grasse has prepared an exceptional program for you.
Friday, September 19 at 8 p.m. at the Grasse Theater:: MAVRIGI – UZBEKISTAN. Musical ensemble from Bukhara, conducted by Ovlyakuli Khodjakuli
After decades of Russian, then Soviet occupation, traditional Uzbek songs have undergone numerous mutations, and some even disappeared from popular practices, silenced by a government eager to impose its culture.
It is thanks to the incredible work of director Ovlyakuli Khodjakuli that we can now discover this unique musical and spiritual style, offered here in its purest form.
Accompanied by male vocals and instruments, magnificent dancers twirl and wander, extending their arms in incredibly supple movements, gradually entering a spiritual trance.
Saturday, September 20 at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. at the Fragonard Collection Museum EPI-MONGOLIA
Enkh Jargal, known as Epi, is originally from Northern Mongolia. A master of musical techniques specific to his country’s culture, he explores harmonic singing (xhöömei) and shamanic throat singing (kargyraa), accompanied by the merin khour, a traditional horse-headed fiddle of the Mongolian horsemen.
at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.: LINGLING YU – CHINA
A prodigious musician, Lingling Yu was already performing in concerts at the age of eight, before deciding to dedicate herself exclusively to the pipa (a four-string Chinese lute known for its technical difficulty) at thirteen. Now recognized as a master of ancient pipa music, supported by an exceptional mastery of her instrument, her interpretation is powerful, precise, warm, and creative. Characterized by a meeting of emotion and serenity, Lingling Yu’s playing brings together the two fundamental elements of Chinese philosophy: Yin and Yang.
at 5 p.m. at the TdG (Hall) OFRENDA, THE BREATH OF THE OLD AND NEW WORLD
An invitation to meditation and dreaming, Pierre Hamon offers a journey through the breath into the sound universe of the flutes of the ancient civilizations of humanity. A close collaborator of Jordi Savall since 1994 – recording and performing with him worldwide – he loves to showcase his flutes, direct descendants of those from Greek and Roman antiquity, the ancient civilizations of Mexico and Peru. Whether made of bone, ceramics, reed, or bamboo, hollowed out or turned, they are played to seduce the living or communicate with the spirits.
A concert as an inquiry into the primal power of music generated by the “primal” breath, which can lead to trance, meditation, and jubilation.
at 8 p.m. at the Grasse Theater SERENATA ALLA MADONNA Serenata Mandopolis, traditional Italian repertoire
The Serenata Mandopolitan Ensemble revisits a traditional repertoire reflecting the Mediterranean musical heritage. Here, the mandolins, adept in both the scholarly virtues and popular refrains, become the accomplices of generous and lively songs, dominated by the colors of Naples and Sicily. Not to forget the zampogna (bagpipe), the flutes, and the percussion which add a pastoral, magical, and festive touch. Dominated by the cult of the Virgin Mary, this “serenade to the Madonna” reveals the irresistible ambivalence of a popular tradition shared between fervent restraint and the generosity of celebration.
at 11 p.m. (hall) : MERAKHAAZAN
Bringing the double bass into contemporary electro-acoustic contexts, Jean-Christophe Bournine, aka Merakhaazan, presents a personal view of the string music recital. The listener is immediately transported into a stunningly complex melodic universe.
Technical and musical performance, the double bass transforms into a sound generator, “multiplies” in search of a new dimension. Between oriental pieces, painting a tableau with vivid and sensual colors, and electro-acoustic textures, subtly combining classical and contemporary music, Merakhaazan offers an intimate and astonishing musical journey.
Tuesday, September 23 at the Altitude 500 Cultural Space at 8 p.m.: D’UN SEUL SOUFFLE
SACRED MUSICAL TALE
For several years now, Francine Vidal, Jean-Jacques Fdida, and Jean-Marie Machado have collaborated together. Here, they invent a particular language where, in turn, the voice becomes music and the music speaks. A piano, a narrative, a voice around the breath that animates us, inspires us, and traverses us. The repertoire approaches this territory in a playful, whimsical, and spiritual way. Their complicity then opens the doors of our imagination, blending traditions and inventions. A program both joyful and profound, giving substance to the breath, so tenuous and essential, so fragile and powerful.
Friday, September 26 at 8 p.m. at the Cathedral : VIVALDI SACRÉ
Invited to some of the most renowned concert halls and international festivals, Café Zimmermann is recognized as one of the gems of the current baroque scene. Under the direction of harpsichordist Céline Frisch and violinist Pablo Valetti, the ensemble brings together soloists dedicated to reviving the artistic emulation fostered by the establishment of Gottfried Zimmermann in 18th-century Leipzig. Since 1999, Café Zimmermann has collaborated with artists like Gustav Leonhardt, Sophie Karthäuser, Roberta Invernizzi, Dominique Visse, and choirs Les Eléments and Accentus.
at 11 p.m. on the Forecourt of the Tourist Office : DJ CLICK MEETS THE HAMADCHA OF FAS
The famous Dj Click, known for his extraordinary musical creations, is at the end of the third installment of his project Click Here, which had led him to explore the musical traditions of India, Romania, and Spain.
This time, he has met the Hamadcha of Fas, dervishes of the renowned and ancient Moroccan Sufi brotherhood Hamdouchiyia. The bond born from this exchange is a way to introduce the widest audience to astonishing spiritual and artistic practices, where trance is never far away. Everyone stands up to dance to the sound of this encounter: electronic and traditional music.
Saturday, September 27 at 5 p.m. at the TdG (hall) : MUSIC OF THE LODGES
Silvia Peneva, viola / Alessandra Magrini, harp
Only Art, a bridge to universality, and especially music, can suggest the inexpressible and enrich the perception of the sacred. Freemasonry could not do without this essential unifying element that is music. From the early years of the 18th century, orchestras – sometimes with singers – were present in the Lodges and accompanied the rituals to great effect. A beautiful program for this duo of excellent musicians: Mozart, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Boccherini.
at 8 p.m. at the Cathedral : MARONITE SYRIAC CHANTS – LEBANON
Ghada Shbeir, vocals / Imad Morkos, qanun
“A voice of gold charged with emotion,” they say of this international artist, who is also a professor of liturgical singing and oriental theory at Saint Joseph University in Kaslik, Lebanon. Ghada Shbeir specializes in Arab-Andalusian singing and, naturally, Syriac sacred singing, a culture of a Christian people speaking Aramaic established from Iran to Syria and Lebanon. The singer thus restores with extreme sensitivity a music and Syriac and Maronite prayers that have spanned the centuries, and which she has collected into a corpus of half a thousand melodies. For this concert, she has chosen chants that were performed at Easter on the theme of the Passion.
Sunday, September 28 at 5 p.m. at the Cathedral: ORGAN AND SACRED SINGING
Claire Gouton, soprano / Laurent Fievet, organ
Claire Gouton and Laurent Fievet, well-known to music lovers in Grasse, invite us to discover the poetic and spiritual universe of French liturgical and paraliturgical hymns from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, revisited by some great composers of the time.
Whether inspired by poetic texts in French (Cantique de Sainte Cécile, Les Angélus) or more simply composed on usual prayers (Pie Jesu, Panis Angelicus, Lux Aeterna), these pieces marry apparent simplicity with great subtlety of writing, evoking a sincere emotion and profound faith.
at 8 p.m. at the TdG (hall) SUFI STORY AND RITUAL
Brotherhood of the Hamadcha of Fès – Morocco: Alongside the Gnawa and the Aïssawa, the Hamadcha are among the three most important “popular” Sufi brotherhoods in Morocco. Founded by the Saint Sidi Ali Ben Hamdouch in the 17th century, the Hamadcha brotherhood has distinguished itself throughout its history by the originality of its repertoire, its captivating dances, and the therapeutic qualities of its members as trance-inducers.
Musical peculiarities in the Maghreb, their instruments, and their rhythmic and melodic modes are found only within the brotherhood and are of rare complexity. This astonishing music is the support of an age-old ritual where praises to the founding saint and trance sessions are intertwined.
