The King's Singers and Sarband unite to explore an unusual unity between disparate composers

By Brian Wise

In a rare confluence of religious observances, earlier this month both Ramadan and Rosh Hashana -- the first day of the Muslim holy month and the Jewish New Year -- fell on the same day. While the two holidays seldom coincide, the religions do have some shared cultural traditions, and not just between themselves, but also with Christianity. One such connection inspired the music for Sacred Bridges, a new CD and concert program that British cappella ensemble the King's Singers and Middle Eastern early-music ensemble Sarband will bring to the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola on Sunday 23.

The project began in late 2003, when the two groups decided to make a recording of sacred music that would bridge Western and Eastern cultures. They settled on the psalms of David -- found in each of the three monotheistic as set by composers from the 16th and 17th centuries, and performed in Hebrew, French and Turkish. "This project demonstrates that the psalms speak to everybody and contain the full range of human emotion, from joy to deep sorrow to anger," says Robin Tyson, a countertenor in the King's Singers.

Tyson was particularly fascinated by the religious and cultural crossbreeding that took place during this era. Consider, for instance, the 17th-century composer Ali Ufki. Born Wojciech Bobowski, a Polish Christian, Ufki was captured at age 13 by Ottoman Turks and taken to Turkey, where he was converted to Islam. While working as a composer in the imperial court in Constantinople, Ufki took well- known French melodies and incorporated them into his own versions of the psalms -- only sung in Turkish. "This guy had a crazy life," Tyson says. "He wrote some wild improvisations and gives us a rare chance to sing some Turkish."

Also on the program is music by Salamone Rossi, Jewish singer and composer born in late 16th-century Italy and employed by the Duke of Mantua. While Rossi worked for a Catholic court, he was forced to live in the city's Jewish ghetto, where he also wrote music in Hebrew for the synagogue. His own religious compositions began to show influences from the court, and vice versa.

Tyson believes that while these composers seem to have led alienated, disconnected lives, music provided common ground. "People need to see how it's possible that music and religion can work in a symbiotic way and a much more peaceful way than people behave in the 21st century."

The King's Singers and Sarband perform at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola Sun 23.