Those who understand themselves and others
Will come to realize:
Orient and Occident
Can no longer be separated.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, West-Eastern Divan

And they never could, one might like to add. Jordi Savall is an artist who has long made this case—in his multifaceted work, he has repeatedly drawn connections between the music of the European Middle Ages or Renaissance and diverse Arab, Persian, and Northern African musical traditions, which influenced each other over the course of centuries in transcultural hubs across the Mediterranean. At the Pierre Boulez Saal, he is joined by oud player Waed Bouhassoun, leader of the ensemble Orpheus XXI, which was founded by Savall, and members of Hespèrion XXI.