Marco Polo – The Journey

the journeys of Marco Polo

The 13th century was the time of great political and economic expansion in the Republic of Venice. Marco Polo was a famous Venetian merchant traveler whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently met Kublai Khan. In 1269, they returned to Venice to meet Marco for the first time. The three of them embarked on an epic journey to Asia, via Mesopotamia, Kurdistan, Persia, Turan, the Pamir Mountains and Mongolia returning after 24 years (on his return he visited Indonesia, Singapore, India, Empire of Trebizond and Constantinople to find Venice at war with Genoa; Marco was imprisoned, and dictated his stories to a cellmate. He was released in 1299, became a wealthy merchant, married and had three children. He died in 1324, and was buried in San Lorenzo.

During Marco Polo's lifetime (1254-1324) itinerant artists performed dances which were passed on from generation to generation. Examples of these dances one can find in the Manuscript London Additional 29987. The 15 istanpittas preserved in this manuscript belong to the earliest instrumental dances of Italy, and even Europe. Also, an important part of the Medieval musical culture of Italy were laudas, the religious songs of praise that did not belong to the liturgy. They were written by anonymous Franciscan friars, widespread and usually sung in Italian by pilgrims during processions and festivals. On his journeys, Marco Polo stayed in Constantinople, where he could hear Byzantine chants. The Golden age of Byzantine music spanned the 13th and 14th century, the time of great Byzantine Maistores. He could also have heard secular Byzantine music and songs that belong to the Medieval Greek tradition. In the region of the Middle East he must have encountered the Persian and Arabic musical traditions, retained over centuries thanks to the constant care of the good musicians. On the far East, Mongolian city of Ta-Tu was the cultural and economic centre of China. As an important civil servant, Marco Polo was able to partake in the ceremonies of the court and thus listen to the ceremonial music played by huge orchestras with 100 or more musicians.

All tracks produced by Ensemble Renaissance

The following people contributed to Marco Polo - The Journey

• Vojka Đorđević – soprano
• Ljudmila Gross – soprano
• Dragana Jugović del Monaco – mezzo-soprano
• Dragoslav Aksentijević-Pavle – domestikos
• Miroslav Markovic – baritone
• Dragan Mlađenović – Chinese pipe, bağlama, domestikos
• Miomir Ristić – fiddle, percussion instruments, voice
• Vladimir Ćirić – rebec, psaltery, voice
• Georges Grujić – recorder, zurna
• Dragan Karolić – recorder
• Zoran Kostadinovic – rebec
• Svetislav Madžarević – bağlama, sanxian, percussion instruments
• Slobodan Vujisić – oud
• Boris Bunjac – percussion instruments
• Jovan Horvat – percussions

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