About This Item
This musical presentation by Capella de Ministrers leaps out from it's origins in mediaeval myths and literature to give listeners a direct connection with the true meaning of the Grail. It is a journey encompassing the various musical traditions along the path taken by the Grail through the centuries, from the Holy Land to Brittany, from the Pyrenees to San Juan de la Peña until it's ultimate arrival at Valencia Cathedral. The Grail is both legendary and mystical, a holy relic that appeared in stories during the middle part of the mediaeval period. It is a precious and mysterious object in the shape of a plate full of Christian symbolism, like the bloody lance which is reminiscent of the lance thrust into the body of Christ on the cross - the mystery of redemption and eternal life. From Crusade songs, chants sung in pilgrimage centers, mediaeval literature reflected in music, to the emblematic symbolism the Grail acquired with Alfonso the Magnanimous. Towards the end of the Middle Ages when the Turks were circling Constantinople, it seems that the ideal of the Crusades disappears like a dream and only a vague memory of the Grail endures, while Alfonso the Magnanimous proudly displays the Perilous Chair as a heraldic device which glorifies his deeds. Virtud apurar no'm fretura sola (My virtue will not falter until I reach my goal). Capella de Ministrers has gathered together music and poetry from the Middle Ages by authors and composers such as Chre´tien de Troyes, Robert de Boron, Wolfram von Eschembach and He´linand de Froidmont. The music and poetry is all linked to the subject of the Grail and encourages us to discover it's meaning through our own personal quest, based on our knowledge of the past and through the recreation of the music.
