The Rhythm Divine

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Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain is the legendary resting place of the apostle St James the Greater (whose Feast Day is celebrated today), and along with Rome, Jerusalem and Mecca it's one of the world's most popular pilgrimage destinations. On our way there tonight we'll hear music from Galicia, the Celtic region that surrounds the city, with folk group Luar na Lubre. As well, there are pilgrims' anthems from the middle ages sung by The Chieftains and by Anonymous 4, and we'll hear from a modern-day pilgrim, Tony Kevin, who walked the Camino de Santiago in 2006.

Transcript

Tonight, it's time to put on your walking boots, grab your hat and your walking staff, because we're off on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain in a program first broadcast 2 November 2007. With the recent focus on Catholic pilgrims in Australia for World Youth Day, and the fact that today is the Feast Day for St James, I thought it timely to hear the thoughts of an Australian pilgrim making his way across Spain.

Santiago de Compostela has been a holy city for more than 1000 years, the legendary resting place of the apostle St James the Greater. On our way there tonight we'll sample music from Galicia, the Celtic region that surrounds the city, catch the Irish band The Chieftains, and we'll hear from a modern-day pilgrim or peregrino, Tony Kevin. Tony's just published a really informative and quite moving book about his pilgrimage to Santiago, called Walking the Camino.

We begin with a pilgrims' anthem from the middle ages by the group Anonymous 4 from their CD Miracles of Santiago celebrating today's Feast Day of St James and recounting some of his miracles, 'Gratulantes celebremus festum'.

We also hear some of the music of Galicia in northwestern Spain, the region surrounding Santiago de Compostela. It's a Celtic stronghold and you can definitely hear it in their music. 'Chove en Santiago', 'It's raining in Santiago', was based on a poem by the great Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca who travelled to the pilgrimage city in the 1930s. He wasn't himself Galician but he appreciated the uniqueness of their way of life. And sung by one of the most important folk groups in Galicia, Luar na Lubre from their 1999 album Cabo du Mundo, the end of the world, referring to the geography of the region. And we also heard from our pilgrim tonight, Tony Kevin who walked across Spain, by the less-travelled route south to north.

I haven't been on a pilgrimage myself, I have to say, but in a sense we're all pilgrims aren't we, shuffling along a path. Trouble is, most of us have our heads down, eyes fixed on the road, too busy to think about where we're headed.

This is your pilgrim network ABC Radio National and I'm Geoff Wood and tonight on The Rhythm Divine its music for a pilgrimage.

The Camino to de Santiago, is actually made up of many paths, roads leading from various cities in Europe usually passing through France and into Spain to Galicia and then to Santiago de Compostela. The Camino means the Way, expressing the truth that although the physical journey might vary, the real journey is spiritual.

As the Irish band The Chieftains discovered when they visited Santiago in the mid 90s. Here they are in the square opposite the cathedral of Santiago and another anthem, sung in Latin, popular with pilgrims in the middle ages, 'Dum Paterfamilias'.

We'll also catch a lovely jaunty piece from the middle ages with The Renaissance Players and Winsome Evans playing a cantiga, a secular song often with religious lyrics, from their album Of Numbers and Miracles.

As well, there's the Galician folk band Luar na Lubre with 'Romererio ao Lonxe', a song about the pilgrims and animals on the way to Santiago di Compostela, using the melody of Scarborough Fair, a tune that goes back to the middle ages. That's from their album Cabo du Mundo. And The Chieftains from their album Santiago, forging links between Celtic Ireland and Celtic Galicia.

And our weary but spiritually-recharged pilgrim tonight is Tony Kevin. If you'd like to read more about Tony's pilgrimage from Granada in the south of Spain to Santiago de Compostela in the northwest, which he did in 2006 I can recommend his book Walking the Camino, filled with snippets of history and fascinating characters as well as Tony's meditations on life and faith.

Til next time, take care and remember, that's the rhythm divine...

Guests

Tony Kevin
retired from the Australian foreign service in 1998 after a 30-year public service career during which he served in the Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister's departments, and was ambassador to Poland and Cambodia. He is currently an honorary fellow at the Australian National University's Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies in Canberra. Tony's book about his 2006 pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela is Walking the Camino (Scribe, 2007).

Further Information

The Confraternity of Saint James
The Confraternity of Saint James was established as a non-denominational association in 1983 by a group of 6 people who had made the pilgrimage, and wanted "to give something back", by giving help and advice to new generations of pilgrims.

Pilgrims
One of today's most popular pilgrim routes in Europe is the Camino, the road to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, where legend has it that Jesus' disciple James is buried. Brodcast on The Spirit of Things on ABC Radio National, 22 April 2007.

Publications

Title: Walking the Camino
Author: Tony Kevin
Publisher: Scribe, 2007

Music

CD title: Miracles of Santiago
Track title: Gratulantes celebremus festum
Artist: Anonymous 4
Composer: Anon.
CD details: Harmonia Mundi HUM 907 156
URL: http://www.anonymous4.com/

CD title: Cabo do Mundo
Track title: Chove en Santiago
Artist: Luar na Lubre
Composer: Federico Garcia Lorca/ A. Gambino
CD details: Warner Music 3984 26342 2
URL: http://www.luarnalubre.com/

CD title: Santiago
Track title: Dum paterfamilias
Artist: The Chieftains
Composer: Anon.
CD details: RCA Victor 09026686022
URL: http://www.thechieftains.com/

CD title: Cabo do Mundo
Track title: Romeiro ao Lonxe
Artist: Luar na Lubre
Composer: X.Cuba/trad. Arr Simon and Garfunkel/ Luar na Lubre
CD details: Warner Music 3984 26342 2
URL: http://www.luarnalubre.com/

CD title: Of Numbers and Miracles: Selected Cantigas de Santa Maria
Track title: Da que Deus mamou (Cantiga 77)
Artist: The Renaissance Players/ Winsome Evans
CD details: Celestial Harmonies 13091 2
URL: http://www.renaissanceplayers.info/

Presenter

Geoff Wood

Producer

Geoff Wood