Listening now: "Stella splendens"
STELLA SPLENDENS
Song and dance
on the pilgrimage
...the pilgrims, when they reach the cathedral of the holy Virgin, often start to sing and dance inside the church and in the streets. For this reason we have written down some devout canços so they may make good use of them.
The preface of the
Llibre Vermell de Montserrat
(14th c. Spain), one of
the most important collections of medieval music proofs that song
and dance inside a pilgrimchurch was obviously not unusual at that
time. Another Spanish manuscript, the Cantigas
de Santa Maria, collected
by Alfonso X, "the wise" , king of Castilia and León,
deals with hundreds of miracles done by the Virgin on pilgrims on
their way to Santiago de Compostela.
A musical pilgrimage
all the way through medieval southern Europe with all its legends
and tales.
Ensemble: min. 5 musicians
