Llibre Vermell de Montserrat

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A page from the Llibre Vermell

The Llibre Vermell de Montserrat ( Catalan for "Red Book of Montserrat") is a collection of late medieval songs and liturgical texts. The 14th century manuscript is still kept in the Montserrat Monastery near Barcelona in Catalonia to this day .

Handwriting

The manuscript was written around 1399 and originally contained 172 leaves ( folia ), 36 of which were lost or destroyed over the centuries. Of the 137 preserved folia, 12 contain songs and notes (fol. 21v to 27r). The current title of the manuscript refers to the red cover in which the pages were bound in the 19th century.

background

The Benedictine monastery on Montserrat was an important place of pilgrimage for devotion to Mary around the time the manuscript was created . The Llibre Vermell contains songs and poems that served Marian piety. It contains, for example, the first example of the goigs (popular poems about the seven joys of Mary) that have been handed down to the present day , Los set gotxs recomptarem .

Song collection

The songs are mostly provided with Latin , partly also with Catalan or Occitan texts. The anonymous editor describes the purpose of the song collection contained as follows (fol. 22):

Quia interdum peregrini quando vigilant in ecclesia Beate Marie de Monte Serrato volunt cantare et trepudiare, et etiam in platea de die, et ibi non debeant nisi honestas ac devotas cantilenas cantare, idcirco superius et inferius alique sunt scripte. Et de hoc uti debent honeste et parce, ne perturbent perseverantes in orationibus et devotis contemplationibus ...
Since it happens that the pilgrims who keep vigil in the church of St. Mary in Montserrat want to sing and dance, even during the day in the church square, and they are only allowed to sing moral and devout songs there, some are written down here. These should be used with caution and moderation so as not to disturb those who wish to pursue their prayer and spiritual contemplation ...

Since there was no overnight accommodation in Montserrat, the pilgrims had to spend the night in the church. In doing so, they transformed the liturgical space into a pilgrimage hostel . The songs of the Llibre Vermell were intended to replace the traditional secular songs and dances of the partying pilgrims during devotion . To achieve this, some of these songs have a folk sound. The melodies of traditional songs were probably used for this, while the secular texts were replaced by religious ones.

Although the texts themselves were not written down until the end of the 14th century, due to the style it can be assumed that the songs themselves are older. The motet Imperayritz by ciutat joyosa contains two different texts that can be sung at the same time. This style was no longer in use when the song collection was put together.

Received songs

A total of ten songs have been preserved: three canons or caças , two polyphonic songs and five dances

  • fol. 21v-22r: O virgo splendens "Oh shining virgin" (two to three-part canon)
  • fol. 22r: Stella splendens "Shining Star" ( round dance / Virelai , two-part)
  • fol. 23r: Laudemus Virginem "We praise the virgin" (two to three-part canon)
  • fol. 23r: Splendens ceptigera "Radiant Ruler" (two to three-part canon)
  • fol. 23v: Los set gotxs recomptarem "The seven joys report" (round dance / ballad)
  • fol. 24v: Polorum Regina "Queen of Heaven" (round dance / Virelai)
  • fol. 24: Cuncti simus concanentes "Let's sing together" (round dance / Virelai)
  • fol. 25r: Mariam, matrem virginem, attolite "Praise Mary, the Virgin and Mother" (polyphonic / Virelai)
  • fol. 25v: Imperayritz de la ciutat joyosa / Verges ses par misericordiosa "Empress of the joyous city / Virgin of Mercy" (motet / polyphonic)
  • fol. 26v: Ad mortem festinamus "We hurry towards death" (dance / Virelai)

literature

  • Samuel Rubio: Historia de la musica española, 2: Desde el "ars nova" hasta 1600 . Alianza Editorial, Madrid 1983, ISBN 84-206-8502-X
  • a cura de Francesc Xavier Altés i Aguiló (ed.): Llibre Vermell de Montserrat. Edició facsímil parcial del manuscrit num. 1 de la Biblioteca de l'Abadia de Montserrat . [Without publisher] Barcelona 1989, ISBN 84-87307-00-0
  • Maricarmen Gómez Muntané: El Llibre Vermell. Cantos y danzas de fines del Medioevo. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Madrid 2017, ISBN 978-84-375-0767-5

See also

Web links