Discography ~ Ay!!Amor... ~ Terra Nostra ~ De Castille à Samarkand ~ MANIA ~ Que le yable les emporte!!! ~ Carrefour de la Méditerranée ~ Terres Turquoises ~ Li tans nouveaus ~ Memoria sefardí ~ Constantinople ~ Jardin de la mémoire

Que le yable les emporte!!!

Our love for the music of our corner of the world is innate; its in the blood, as they say. The sources of the traditional songs and tunes of Quebec are the courageous pioneers who came from Europe to make this land their home. As well as traditions and beliefs, they brought with them songs and tunes that, once transplanted here, began slowly and steadily to evolve. Nowadays, this music is heard mainly on holidays and is generally festive and playful in nature. Its variety and beauty, however, remind us that it belongs in our homes, our concert halls, our lives, and that in another era it is was used to illuminate specific moments in history, to recall certain memories, to celebrate special events.

A growing love for the traditional music of Quebec has, little by little and discov- ery by discovery, given birth to this project. The lyrics of these songs, their stories and images, were the starting point for this marvelous adventure, the key source of our inspiration and motivation, and powerful stimulants when it came time for us to bring this music to life. The melodies that support these texts are gorgeous, too. Some sound modern, others medieval; some are brief, others languorous; but none are banal.

In undertaking this musical voyage we wanted to work with the traditional songs and music of Quebec in the way we approach traditions from other sources. To remod- el them we avoided taking the easy route of repeating well-used musical clichs. Instead, as usual, we improvised, manipulating modes and modifying rhythms, mak- ing this music come to life in our way on the instruments we usually play with, here and there, some little additions.

© Guy Ross

Bernard Simard, voice
Guy Ross, lute, ud, mandoline, smallpipe, voice
Ziya Tabassian, tombak, dayereh, def, dammam
Kiya Tabassian, setar
Matthew Jennejohn, recoders, cornettos
Elin Soderstrom, viola da gamba, viele




©2010 Constantinople info@constantinople.ca

428, Rachel Est Montréal (Québec) H2J 2G7 Canada