All month we’ve been enjoying the remarkable voice of Montserrat Figueras, & today we have a ten minute extract from one of her most splendid pieces, “El Cant de la Sibil-la.” According to the Wikipedia entry:
The Song of the Sibyl (Catalan: El Cant de la Sibil·la is a liturgical drama and a Gregorian chant, the lyrics of which compose a prophecy describing the Apocalypse, which has been performed at some churches of Majorca (Balearic Islands, Spain) and Alghero (Sardinia, Italy), and some Catalan churches, in Catalan language on Christmas Eve nearly uninterrruptedly since medieval times. It was declared a Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO on November 16, 2010.
The original form of the Sybil’s prophecy was a Greek acrostic poem written by the Arian bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, & later incorporated by St Augstine in his The City of God. The song itself dates around the 10th or 11th century in a Latin form named “Judicii Signum” (“Sign of Judgment”), & then was translated into both Provencal & Catalan by the 13th century. Montserrat also performed “Judicii Signum,” & you can listen to that here.
Wishing all of you who observe the holiday a joyous Christmas.
Image of the the Virgin of Guadalupe links to its source on Wiki Commons; it is in the public domain. The Virgin of Guadalupe is associated with the woman mentioned in the Book of Revelation, 11:19—12:1-18
Have a good peaceful holiday. I'm sorry I've been too busy to stop by here in the past month.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I haven't heard of Montserrat Figueras - seriously a beautiful voice. Thanks for sharing this.
Hi HKatz: & I'm sorry I haven't gotten to your project yet either--I mean to remedy that soon! Thanks for the good wishes. There will be one more post featuring her singing, next Sunday!
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