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Listening now: "Per troppo fede"

Frederic II: A German emperor grown up in Palermo. In 1198 he renounced to the German crown to become king of Sicily, and later king of Jerusalem. He was the last of the Staufer-dynasty, excommunicated twice by Pope Gregor IX, and an extremely controversal figure at his time. Until 1060 Sicily was for dominated by Islam for nearly two centuries. He succesfully made it a christian empire again conserving the courteous manners and language wich was Arabic. This programme offers a rich assortment of music at a time of great changes in European culture. An encounter of medieval German songs and oriental rhythms, of the Italian Trecento -and sacred Sûfi-music.