“The Manuscripts of Leyriath” is the vessel Ricardo Alves Pereira uses to gather and present his findings and creations around the folkloric, historical, geographical and ancestral lore of Northwest Iberia.
Leyriath Assemblage is the collective of Ricardo Alves Pereira and Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira as writers and investigators dedicated to creating musical and literary works. The content gathered from multiple sources are used in creating a collection of mythological tales which is an ongoing work; that is placed in the hands of Nunium, the Wizard of Leyriath, a personality resembling Merlinus Ambrosius of Geoffrey of Monmouth.

Ricardo Alves Pereira, creator of the concept of Musical Narratives, has been doing fantastical narrations and biographical storytelling throughout his career as a solo guitarist. After living for almost 10 years abroad and doing his master thesis on Musical Narratives, he had a calling to do research on his homeland and its surroundings, approached from a medieval and magical context.

Aside from being a musician and a producer, Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira is a three times published writer that sold thousands, with her first novel being published at the age of 12. So far her work was around fiction and fantasy novels and stories; and plans for the future include releasing retellings that are being prepared by Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira, next to poetry and lore in its raw format provided by Ricardo Alves Pereira.

Leyriath Assemblage is established to share these precious tales in various formats. Finding alternative ways of reaching to the curious ears, the Assemblage unites forces with The Wandering Bard and embed the myths and legends with repertoire that is easily associatable with the geography and realm; Medieval and Renaissance music from the Iberian peninsula.

Currently the legends and stories are told in the tone of medieval troubadours, with a touch of fantasy, during TWB concerts and in Retolds, and they are also finding themselves ground in the albums the ensemble releases.

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Premium Content Stories

(reading order not required to enjoy the works)

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Medieval and Renaissance music

(last track of each album consists the musical narrative that is presented between pieces in concerts)

Other Presentations

Performances and Albums

With The Wandering Bard, Leyriath Legends find themselves ground in an audible format that is lead by music from medieval and renaissance periods of the Iberian peninsula. 

During concerts the narrative is placed between the performed pieces, and in album format, the narrative can be heard at the end of each album, gathered together to create a unique musical and mythological experience. Repertoire selection done to build the Musical Narratives surrounding each tale are chosen to represent the spirit of the peninsula, in order to create a bridge between the tales and myths and the atmosphere where they belong.

In the first and third collaboration albums called “Leyriath: of Music and Legends” and “Leyriath: The Tale of Capricornus”, Galician Cantigas de Santa Maria are presented to symbolize the ancestorial connection of land, history, poetry and music. Cantigas de Santa Maria are a collection of of more than 400 poems with musical notation, commisioned to be gathered by Alfonso X the Wise (El Sabio), King of Castile, León and Galicia, known to be a high intellectual of astronomy, history and music; who was grandfather to the Denis of Portugal the Poet King (Rei Poeta) whose contribution to the Portuguese poetry was as important as his care for education and for the land. 

Second collaboration “Leyriath: The Song of Lumino”, includes repertory from Alonso Mudarra and Luis de Narvaez who are both famous composers and vihuela players from 16th Century Iberia. Both composers’ solo vihuela works are presented in an ensemble format in the album; the intertwine, share, unity and echo between the musical lines of the the vielle and the vihuela are to represent the friendship, connection, and separation of the two characters the narrative focuses on; while percussion is present to lay ground in the sonority to narrate the oceanic, the cyclic and the magic.

The arrangements done by The Wandering Bard on each album are carefully tailored to represent the historical authenticity in order to self-exist as musical works that can be heard with interest, yet to establish the connection with the texts to form the Musical Narratives; elements of each story are placed within the musical language that can invite the audience to imagine, encounter and enjoy the given storyline as well.

Readables

ESIN YARDIMLI ALVES PEREIRA

Notes on my travel: three

By the time I was supposed to set camp I encountered walls that seemed ages old, some mostly buried to the ground, others tall enough to hide sky. I distanced myself swiftly and went down the hill, since I could not check for tracks -night is starless- and I don’t want to trespass in case if this settlement is occupied. Apparently I set camp nearby a brooke, in the distance I hear its song—song? How funny! I am starting to write like they speak; I am beginning to notice music in every sound. 

My wound is healing. I applied some more of the capucha petals. Its been three days since I slept under roof, and I believe I lost trail because in the last inn they had told me I’d be hearing windmill of Meddhila by my thir— 

ENCOUNTER: Had furry ears-spotted neck-white dots over chestnut brown-

2996 words / 10-15 minutes

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Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira

Notes on my travel: two

—First night of waning gibbous, what I presume to be second harvest

The song of map that I heard from the mother of my family still in mind, I kept my destination to my promise and it has led me through the heart of an untamed woodland. The forest offered no path for a long time, but first the sun and then the stars she had mentioned guided me mostly. 

I am rather afraid of starting a bonfire, because so far I have not seen signs of any. What if the trees are sacred and some are not to be burned? Given they don’t even wear animal, I expect a high level of respect towards nature from this society, and I don’t wish to taint an encounterer of mine’s perception with unintentional misfeasance.*

I have found myself a hollow chestnut…

2929 words / 10-15 minutes

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Retold by Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira

The Song of Arva

Magic comes in different forms. It can be smelled in the sap of a tree, it can be tasted in the juices of berries, it can be felt in the flutter of a fairy’s wings or sensed in the glistenings over the sea. On a sunny day magic is warm to touch on the shinestones, and in winter it blossoms in winterblooms. Of course some are keen to hear the Whisper of the Breeze and some keen are talented enough to carry the Word whispered by her, and thanks to them and their words and their music, magic can be heard by the rest of the dryland folk too. 

But the dryland folk, who are created in corporeal forms resembling the Starborns in honour of Queen Nead, could not see magic until Nunium, the Wizard of Leyriath created the first Vision. And this is the story of how it came to be…

7748 words / 25-30 minutes

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Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira

Notes on my travel: one

-Day 3
The beginning is always the hardest. Three days it’s been since I arrived at this farm – of a small community, possibly familial -I began seeing resemblances in their facial expressions since I am gaining back my eyesight. So far I figured out how to say the essentials; the food and drink names, basic words like thank you, sorry, warm, cold, good, bad*; as I write this down the youngest one seems to be curious of my alphabet. He brought me the medicinal tonight, it’s nice to finally be able to look him in the eye and say ‘thank you’ in his tongue. They are friendly and their speach has a strong emphasis on melody, much different than many I heard; it sounds warm, kind and beautiful with variations of musical motives that sound unfamiliar to my ear -but I must put my quill down now. I don’t know when will I be able to find a supplier or what to make ink from in this realm yet, for the time being, so my logs will be short….

3050 words / 10-15 minutes

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Retold by Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira

The Path of Moonlight

When asked about her powers and whether one could learn the power of words as well as she did or not, the Mistress of Words would smile, nod her head “yes”, and she would say that it was pretty easy. With enough curiosity, one could learn anything easily. And then she would tell this story:

Once upon a time, there was a girl. She had olive skin, curly and flame colored hair and a mighty curiosity for figuring how things worked. For her, magic was in the mechanics, not in the songs and spells. She liked studying all gadgets, tearing them into bits and pieces to really learn how they were made. She could fix all her friends’ toys before she could reach a tavern’s counter; she could even mend the toys that needed winding up that came with all sorts of wheels and gears. And even though she was too short to reach, she loved to be by the counter in the tavern; the tavern in the center of the village by the river Liz on one’s way to Ervarya, for folk of the village would always meet there and they would pass on stories and lore to each other while merrymaking…

8475 words / 25-35 minutes

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RETOLD BY ESIN YARDIMLI ALVES PEREIRA (AND HER FAVORITE SO FAR!)

The Tale of Capricornus

This is a story with a happy ending, and like many other stories with happy endings, it starts with a sad beginning. A beginning so old that it had lost its age in time; countless autumns drizzled rain and dust over it and buried it alive. This beginning reaches us, collected and translated by generations of bards, out of whispers of breezes over the mountains Ayr i Kandir. And sang by the bards too, many a times, to the Capricornus itself, back then trapped and chained to the giants that stood still, shadowing the edges of the Kingdom of Leyriath.

This beginning is of pain and separation, when Ayr i Kandir, twin sons of Terreon rose during the Great Tremor, destroying the Ancient Leyriath and dragging the Children of Maaré away from her aquatic womb, forcing them to the dry lands. The titans rising from their realms, passing through seas of Ancient Maaré, had pulled with them at least one of the Portals of Zodiac, the mighty Capricornus itself, and many of the offsprings of Capricornus.

Few might not know but the Zodiacs, of magic and yet formless, in the times of Ancient Leyriath when…

5320 words / 15-25 minutes

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Retold by Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira

The Song of Lumino

Nobody powerful had actually wished to be powerful but they wished to become powerful; because no power is realized unless needed. They stay still. They rest. They sleep. They wish not to be called upon, because great power can only awaken under grave danger. 

Ask any true hero, they will all say the same. They would all rather the circumstances that proved their unbelievable capacities to not happen in the first place. Great power asks to be needed so strongly that it appears out of nowhere and overrules everything. Great power belongs to heroes and heroines born to misfortunate lifelines; to destinies full of obstacles that need ambition to navigate through, bravery to face fears and powers to overcome deadly tragedies.

But even if some might not have an ending, every lifeline has a beginning, where powers are all resting within, and growth needs time and becoming needs a story. Surely there was a time when Lumino did not know of his powers. And surely there was a time when Lumino had to find out about…

4388 words / 10-20 minutes

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RETOLD BY ESIN YARDIMLI ALVES PEREIRA

The Wizard of Leyriath

All must hold hands when in need. Need can change, as the hand. All must create when the end is inevitable. Creation can change, as the end.

Creation can not be done alone, this is to be, at least for most of us. Creation of one needs two. Creation of mind can not be of one either, as it is of all that is in the mind, beyond the one itself. This is why we all look for inspiration out there. May it be the life that we create, or the story of it, it is always out there, and no creator is alone, since it can not be. It is said that Nunium did not only have more than one in his mind, but also in his heart. It is said that he carried two heart beats instead of one.

This is the story of how that came to be.

Nunium, the one that we know today as the Disciple of Lumino and Adamante, Hermit of Ervarya, Guide of Capricornus and the Wizard of Leyriath, was once not shouldering all the names we know of him today. He was to carry them one day alright, he was to travel to worlds far beyond Leyriath, but not that day.

That day, Nunium, titled of no one of nowhere, was wandering by the banks of the rivers Liz and Lena, in search of the…

5320 words / 15-25 minutes

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Retold by Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira

The Birth of Lumino

It is assumed very naturally of course, that when there is a glorious act, there is a bard present. Because it is a bard’s duty to turn one’s destiny into a legend for all. A bard bends time and emotion and makes the story real by making their audience feel the heartbeat of the hero, the cold of the dawn, the smell of the monster, even in a tavern’s warmest corner. 

But who could tell how it all began for Lumino, the Song of Hope? Which bard was to be present at the ends of the waves, facing beings that once lived through the Great Tremor? Not even the most talented of the Bards of Salyr could swim to the horizon to experience the birth of the greatest hero ever. 

So was thought for thousands of years. Nobody knew how Lumino came to life. Nobody knew how Lumino began his journey, or how did he get to be followed by a shadow larger than his own, on each step he took. 

Generation upon generation, dryland folk and the Salyrians alike, wandered about it, but no bard dared to tell the story. It would be…

2252 words / 5-10 minutes

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Audibles

IBERIAN Medieval

Leyriath: the Tale of Capricornus

The sixth album by the TWB Ensemble (The Wandering Bard) is an exhilarating journey through sound, a musical marvel that breathes new life into the medieval Cantigas de Santa Maria, attributed to Alfonso X, the Wise, a visionary Iberian king of the 13th century. The album features musical arrangements crafted from this historical repertoire after years of dedicated research by the ensemble’s co-founders, Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira and Ricardo Alves Pereira. These rich melodies were meticulously transcribed from original manuscripts, including the renowned Códice de los Músicos. The commitment of these two pioneers to resurrect this invaluable Galician-Portuguese heritage resonates with every note.

Arrangements capturing the essence of the narrative reflect on the mythological tale that has been previously published with the same name in the “Retold by Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira” format. Now the auidence can enjoy the Tale of Capricornus not only by reading, but by listening as well.

IBERIAN RENAISSANCE

Leyriath: The Song of Lumino

With the 5th album of TWB Ensemble called “Leyriath: The Song of Lumino – Vihuela Works by L.Narvaez and A.Mudarra (and Monteverdi’s Ritornello from L’Orfeo)”, the audience can hear the eternal works of Claudio Monteverdi, Luis de Narvaez and Alonso Mudarra in a way that was never heard before. The majority of the repertoire was originally written for solo Vihuela, an Iberian plucked string instrument from the Renaissance Era, with an addition of the prologue being Italian Baroque; all of which TWB Ensemble executes with a historically informed style.

After the success of their previous release, TWB Ensemble presents yet another legend from the “Manuscripts of Leyriath”, which can be musically experienced through the music from Renaissance Iberia, as well as listened in a storytelling style by the end of the album.

“The Song of Lumino” tells of companionship, magic, beauty and most importantly, power of music; and what it can bring, as much as take away.

IBERIAN Medieval

Leyriath: of Music and Legends

TWB Ensemble’s 4th album is the first of many that will come as the result of a collaboration between the Leyriath Assemblage and the TWB Ensemble. “Leyriath: Of Music and Legends – Cantigas de Santa Maria (Alfonso X)” is released in order to celebrate te 800th year since the birth of King Alfonso X El Sabio. The musicians are celebrating this occasion by bringing the audience to the medieval times.

At the end of the album, a surprise awaits the audience, since it will be the first time one of the rare uncovered chapters of the Leyriath legends will be heard embraced by the repertoire the ensemble performed during the album with a perfect balance of historical accuracy and authenticity.