A collection of anonymous medieval Spanish Marian devotional songs may seem a bit out of place among the works for choir and large orchestra that follow. But such songs stand at the beginning of the long Western musical tradition, and that is what makes them so interesting. They are such fresh, vibrant songs that I fell under their spell and could not let them go.
The "Llibre Vermell de Montserrat" is a collection of medieval texts gathered around the shrine of the Black Madonna of Montserrat, located near Barcelona in Catalonia. The manuscript, written between 1396 and 1399, is a compilation of liturgical, informational and instructional texts that focus on the devotion to Mary in Montserrat. It originally consisted of 137 folios, of which about 30 have been lost over time. The book is called the "Llibre Vermell" or "Red Book" after the red velvet binding that has held the folios together since the 19th century. The book is best known for the part of its folios which contain a series of (anonymous) songs, including musical notation.
The Benedictine Monastery of Montserrat had become the most important monastery in the Kingdom of Aragon, a center of European culture in the Middle Ages, in the 13th and 14th centuries. Stories of miracles that took place there made the wooden statue of the Black Madonna (La Morena) a major attraction. The monks collected prayers, sermons, liturgical texts, accounts of miracles and songs related to the Black Madonna. Twelve pages contain music for the pilgrims: songs from the popular to the very sophisticated, some of which can be sung in canon. Most, however, are round dances.
Why would the monks have collected such songs? Because of the chronic shortage of lodging in Montserrat, many pilgrims had to spend the night in the church, transforming the liturgical space into a pilgrims' hostel. The songs of the Llibre Vermell seem to have been collected with the intention of replacing the traditional secular songs and dances of the pilgrims with devotional ones. The monks and musicians probably used melodies from popular dance songs and added Marian lyrics.
There are ten songs in all: canons or caças, songs for several voices, including one for three voices, and five round dances.
Text and translation.
Listen to: La Capella Reial de Catalunya with Hespèrion XXI, direction Jordi Savall
Choral Masterworks