[Gocamino] CD of Pilgrim Music

[Eldor Pederson]

Ensemble für Frühe musik Augsburg. 2003. Auf Jakobs Wege: Medieval Pilgrimage to Santiago. Heidelberg, Deutschland: Christophorus. CHR 77264. Distributed in the US by Qualiton Imports Ltd.



Browsing through a music store the other day, I found a recent CD from a German group previously unknown to me. The disc is a fine collection of medieval pilgrim songs with an emphasis on the ones sung by German pilgrims or encountered by them on their long march to Santiago. It is divided into sections: songs sung as the pilgrims left home, those sung on the route in France and Aquitaine and finally those sung while in Spain and at Santiago itself. Most of the music is from the 11-13th centuries, though a little later music is also included. The songs are in Latin and an old German dialect. The booklet insert gives translations of both the Latin and old German into modern German (but not into English, French, Italian or Castellano as is often the case). The album is strongly recommended to anyone interested in medieval music, some of the earliest music linked to the pilgrimage, or looking for some traditional pilgrim marching songs to listen on their walkman, IPOD or MP3 player on practice walks. Many of the songs are clearly ones sung while walking, and through its inclusion of music from German speaking areas, this CD is a rarity amongst Camino music albums.