1492: The Fall of Granada

In February 1492, in the gardens of the Alhambra Palace, Granada, a Moorish musician named Ayaya Fisteli bows before the thrones of the newly installed Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. Only weeks earlier, the Emirate of Granada had formally surrendered, ending more than seven centuries of Muslim rule in Iberia. Now Fisteli stands beneath the intricate domes of the Hall of the Ambassadors, waiting to learn whether he may continue as Warden of the Minstrels and jongleurs under the new regime – a moment that opens a wider story about cultural exchange, upheaval and the musical life of late medieval Spain.

Gillian Moore is joined by a roster of distinguished historians for this major new BBC Radio 3 series, charting a course through 1000 years of classical music history. For the first eight programmes, historian Michael Wood is in the chair, as together they explore the bold new sound worlds of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Producer: Amelia Parker
Academic Consultant: Professor Laura Tunbridge, University of Oxford
Story Consultant: Kate Leys
Series Editor for BBC Audio: Emma Harding
Key Changes theme tune composed by Joseph Howard and performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Kerem Hasan.

MUSIC DETAILS:
Luys de Narváez: Paseabase el rey moro
Capella de Ministrers
Carles Magraner, conductor

Anon/al Khatib: Lamma bada yathathana
Lena Chamamyan, soprano

Cantigas de Santa Maria – Des oge mais
Ensemble Obsidienne

Juan del Encina: El que rige y el regido
La Capella Reial de Catalunya
Hespèrion XXI
Jordi Savall, conductor

Cornago: Mappa mundi
Euskal Barrokensemble

Gaspar Fernandes: Xicochi conetzintle
BBC Singers
Owain Park, conductor

Juan de Araujo: Aquí, valentones
Ex Cathedra
Jeffrey Skidmore, conductor

Albéniz: Zambra granadina
David Russell, guitar

Camaron de la Isla: Yo vendo pescaito – Bulerías
Camaron de la Isla

Traditional Andalusian, arr. Lorca: Tres morillas
Hirundo Maris
Petter Udland Johansen, tenor
Arianna Savall, vocals

Debussy: La puerta del vino (from Preludes, Book II)
Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano