DEVOTA FECUNDITAS
AS FESTAS DO ANNO
CATHARSIS
The medieval repertoires which appear in these programmes (Cantigas de Santa María and Rondelli of the Notre-Dame School of Paris, both from the 13thc. as well as extracts of some liturgical dramas from the same period) were chosen for their rhythmic, melodic, thematic and formal similarities with the Spanish traditional music.
The traditional repertoire featured in these programmes is anchored in the pagan rituals prior to the christianization of the Iberian Peninsula, such as Las Marzas, which celebrate the beginning of the year in the Roman calendar, songs for processions , blessing of harvest, but also lullabies and love songs.
When both repertoires are combined, the line between old and new melodies disappears, and a new line of continuity connecting the modern and the Middle Ages emerges.
The last cantigas notated in El Escorial’s Codex Princeps are the focus of As festas do anno (The year’s holy days). These cantigas were sung at festivals and holy days throughout the year : Epiphany, Annunciation, Ascension, Assumption and in the month of May, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The traditional repertoire related to these Cantigas present songs of pilgrimages and offerings in honour of saints. (Read more)
Catharsis gives shape to one of the most important periods of the liturgical year: Easter time. Its importance is due to a repeating transformation: sorrow turns into happiness; grief into hope and sadness is replaced by joy. The program highlights this transformation with a repertoire that transports the listener from from lent to Easter Sunday, from winter to spring. The medieval repertoire selected comes from the Florence Manuscript, the most important source of the Notre Dame repertoire dated to the 1240s. This Manuscript includes a collection of monodic Conducti with text in Latin, known as Rondelli. (Read more)
Devota fecunditas is based on the rich traditional rituals of fertility and paraliturgic practices as well as on related traces we can find in the Cantigas of Santa María (Cantigas de Mai, of curse and blessing…) (Read more)