# Jordi Savall at Herbst Theatre, May 3, 2018

[San Francisco Performances](http://sfperformances.org/performances/1718/JordiSavall.html) presents _Celtic Universe_ featuring [Jordi Savall](http://www.alia-vox.com/) with [Carlos Núñez](http://www.carlos-nunez.com/) and friends  
[Herbst Theatre](http://performances.org/)  
[Veterans' Building, San Francisco War Memorial Performing Arts Center, 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102-4522 USA](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Veterans'+Building,+San+Francisco+War+Memorial+Performing+Arts+Center,+401+Van+Ness+Avenue,+San+Francisco,+CA+94102-4522+USA&hl=en)  
7:30 PM, Thursday, May 3, 2018

[[2018-05-01|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2018|Up to the 2018 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2018#May_events|Up to the 2018 event list!]] ☸  [[2018-05-04|On to the next event!]]

## Open Rehearsal

* [4:30 PM, entrance to an empty house with about 30 or 40 other patrons;  
I wedge into C3FlrR3 -- the first row open to us, and sit directly in front of the maestro's position onstage]
* [4:33 PM announcements from Melanie Smith,  
band out after a few minutes, entering by ones and twos, getting themselves and their instruments set up]
* [4:40 PM long bit of tuning, first AL, then JS, then AL again.
* JS takes a few minutes to back-announce the tunes of the first set that they practiced, but I'm far too slow: I've guessed things below by comparison via the program, but there's no guarantee I'm right!

And the "set list" for this section, such as I recall:

01. [4:59 PM] Practising the _Irish Landscapes_ set  
[discussion and practice of one of the intertune transitions]
02. [5:13 PM] One or more dance tunes from the _Basque_ set
03. [5:18 PM] unidentified set featuring the psaltery
04. [5:27 PM] unidentified set featuring the pipes
05. [5:34 PM] Possible repeat of the _Irish Landscapes_ set? (not introduced)  
[set ends 5:48 PM]

## Set One

[7:36 PM lights down, announcements, band out]

01. [7:40 PM] _Air for the Bagpipes_  
   
The Caledonia Set
02. [7:45 PM] _Archibald MacDonald of Keppoch_
03. [7:m PM] _The Musical Priest/Scotch Mary_
04. [7:m PM] _Caledonia's Wail for Niel Gow_
05. [7:m PM] _Sackow's Jig_  
[7:56 PM comments from CN]  
   
Celtic Universe in Galicia
06. [7:58 PM] _Alalá_
07. [7:m PM] _En Querer_
08. [8:m PM] _Maruxiña_
09. [8:m PM] _Diferencias sobre la Gayta_  
   
The Lord Moira Set
10. [8:06 PM] _Abergeldie Castle Stratspey_
11. [8:m PM] _Regents Rant—Lord Moira_
12. [8:m PM] _Lord Moira's Hornpipe_ (featuring Lyra-viol, the bag-pipes tuning & Bodhrán)  
   
Flowers of Edinburgh Set
13. [8:14 PM] _The Hills of Lorne_
14. [8:m PM] _The Flowers of Edinburg_
15. [8:19 PM] _Lament for the Death of his Second Wife_
16. [8:m PM] _Fisher's Hornpipe_
17. [8:m PM] _Peter's Peerie Boat_  
[set ends 8:30 PM]

## Set Two

[8:51 PM lights down, band out]  
   
The Donegal Set

01. [8:53 PM] _Tuttle's Reel_
02. [8:m PM] _Lady Mary Hay's Scots Measure_
03. [8:58 PM] _Carolan's Farewell_
04. [9:m PM] _Gusty's Frolics_
05. [9:m PM] _Jimmy Holme's Favorite_  
   
Carolan's Harp Set
06. [9:09 PM] _Ane Groundel_
07. [9:m PM] _Dumbarton's Drums Beat Bonny_
08. [9:m PM] _The Reel of Tullochgorum_ (Irish harp & psaltery)  
   
Celtic Universe from Brittany to Basque Country Set
09. [9:21 PM] _O Soñjal_
10. [9:m PM] _Kunplitzekoa_
11. [9:m PM] _Aurtxo txikia negarrez_
12. [9:m PM] _Biribilketa_  
   
Irish Landscapes Set
13. [9:39 PM] _The Lamentation of Owen Roe O'Neill_
14. [9:m PM] _The Hills of Ireland_
15. [9:m PM] _The Morning Dew_
16. [9:m PM] _Apples in the Winter_
17. [9:m PM] _The Rocky Road to Dublin_
18. [9:m PM] _The Kid on the Mountain_
19. [9:m PM] _Morrison's Jig_  
[set ends 9:49 PM]  
   
**1st Encore**
20. [9:53 PM] _Planxty Irwin_
21. [9:55 PM] _Carolan's Concerto_  
[all done 9:57 PM; bows, then all off]
   
**2nd Encore**
21. [9:58 PM] _Peter's Peerie Boat_  
[show ends 10:00 PM]


## Performers

* [Pancho Álvarez](http://www.panchoalvarez.com/en/): viola caipira, soprano viol;
* [Andrew Lawrence King](http://andrewlawrenceking.com/): harp, psaltery;
* [Frank McGuire](https://www.linkedin.com/pub/frank-mcguire/10/a2/859): bodhrán;
* [Carlos Núñez](http://www.carlos-nunez.com/): gaita, ocarina, irish whistle, whistle, low whistle;
* [Xurxo Núñez](http://www.xurxonunez.com/): Galician pandiero, tambourin, percussion.
* [Jordi Savall](http://www.alia-vox.com/): treble viol, lyra viola.

## Notes

First off, it was a real treat to be invited to the open rehearsal this afternoon, and to watch the bandwork things out: as commented by JS: because the ancient manuscripts that they work from seldom offer more than a chord structure or single melody line, their performances involve a huge amount of inspired improvisation, thus the flavor of the pieces can change on a daily basis.

Secondly, it's a good thing that Ting texted me, asking if I wanted a ride home, because otherwise I wouldn't have realized that the show started at 7:30 PM instead of a more typical 8. Good catch, sweetie!

At the end of the rehearsal (answering a question), AL mentioned that the transition from the humidity of Europe to the dry air conditioned air of the USA always plays havoc with his harps.

Each of the sets above was performed more-or-less without interruption, though at times the band paused a moment or two to acknowledge particularly boisterous applause from the audience.

While Frank stuck to the bodhran for the whole show, Xurxo played a really wide array of percussion instruments: several different drums, rattles, bells, bones, and so on. I was especially impressed with Xurxo's use of large scallop shells as castanets: I think I'll try bring a pair of shells to add to the mix at the next acoustic house party!

Steven Winn posted a review of the show for [SFCV](https://www.sfcv.org/reviews/san-francisco-performances/jordi-savall-and-bagpiper-explore-the-celtic-world).

{{tag>music Jordi_Savall Carlos_Núñez Herbst_Theatre Pancho_Álvarez Andrew_Lawrence_King Frank_McGuire Xurxo_Núñez}}

[[2018-05-01|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2018|Up to the 2018 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2018#May_events|Up to the 2018 event list!]] ☸  [[2018-05-04|On to the next event!]]