Ca' Foscari remembers Cervantes for the 400th anniversary of his death

Four hundred years after his death, Ca’ Foscari (Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies) remembers Miguel de Cervantes (1616-2016), the most famous Spanish writer of all time, with an international convention which will take place on October 5th at Ca’ Dolfin. This event will bring together people from various European universities, prestigious specialists of Cervantes' thought and work. During the celebrations, a concert of music from the time will take place, in collaboration with Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista brought to life by the great harpsichordist Javier Núñez.

Cervantes was considered by critics as the creator of the modern novel and his most famous work, Don Quijote de la Mancha, has been translated into every language around the world and is the best-selling book after the Bible.

Writer, novelist, poet, soldier; he had a very eventful life and is considered the father of Spanish-language literature, which is rightly called the language of Cervantes.
This is an author who had strong ties with Italy, both in his personal life and through his work: for example, he lived in Italy from 1569 to 1575, experiencing things ranging from the service of Cardinal Giulio Acquaviva of Aragon, to participation in the Battle of Lepanto (1571), "the most memorable occasion - according to Cervantes himself - that was seen by past centuries and which future centuries cannot hope to see." In the legendary battle Cervantes lost his left hand, from which he also derived the nickname of "the one-armed man of Lepanto".

Therefore, Venice and its University, in particular, could not go without devoting ample attention to this author, joining in with the wide range of celebrations taking place across the globe. In particular, the convention will seek to reflect on the fundamental points of Cervantes' writing which are the basis of the modern conception of literature. A conception that emphasizes the essential difference between literature and life, but also their intimate con-fusion: fiction is that which pretends to be reality, one that is expressed through a construction and a representation that seems real (or probable); the other, however, is also something that illuminates readers or viewers on its fictitious character, like the game of an illusionist. A literary game that creates confusion, but at the same time amplifies the reality represented and puts the recipient in a position to communicate critically with it.

The concert program will also reflect on Cervantes personality, a tireless traveler: it invites you on a journey through the music of some of the greatest artists around at the time of the great writer, with particular reference to the repertoire for keyboard in both Italy and in Spain.
For Italy, it is a repertoire that involves cities that differ greatly among themselves, and one which precisely reflects this variety: the stylistic differences stand out strikingly between the works composed in Venice, Ferrara, Rome or Naples - all cities that were visited by Cervantes.
As for Spain, there are two personalities who dominate the period. First is Antonio de Cabezon, the most important and influential composer of the sixteenth century. He traveled intensively around Italy and other countries of the continent despite being very busy at the service of the royal court (up until his death in Madrid half a century before that of Cervantes), and as an organist of Charles I and Philip II. Most of his productions were reserved thanks to his son Hernando, that published them posthumously in 1578. In second place the Sevillian Francisco Correa de Arauxo, the most significant among authors of the first half of the seventeenth century. In fact, his only preserved opera, Facultad Orgánica, published in 1626 in Alcalá de Henares, is a tribute to tiento: a typical form of Spanish keyboard music, very dear to Cabezon.

Here is the programme for the celebrations.