Capella de Ministrers, group directed by Carles Magraner, will perform the Valencian version of the Song of the Sibyl, as a prelude to Christmas, on 27 November, at 19:30 at Valencia Cathedral, together with ASSAIG-Grup de Teatre de la Universitat de València and the Cathedral Choir. Free entrance for general public. At 19:00 is the turn of Matins, with the XV century bells, which is a strategy for the concert.
As fourth consecutive year, the Valencia Cathedral will host this prophetic song, a paraliturgical drama that until the XVI century was performed on Christmas Eve in different cathedrals of the peninsula, especially in the former Crown of Aragon. The Majorcan version of the Song of the Sibyl was declared in 2010 Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. Free entrance for general public.
In a concert celebrated in 2012 and with the aim to restore this tradition and reflect on the coming of Christ into the world and the Hereafter, Capella de Ministrers recovered the Song of the Sibyl of the Valencia Cathedral, a treasure of our musical and religious heritage lost for five centuries and that now returns in all its splendour to the Seo Metropolitana.
The celebration of this concert is supported by CulturArts, the Office of the Vice-Principal for Culture and Equality of the Universitat de València, the Valencian Council-Ethnology Museum and the Cabildo of the Metropolitan Valencian Cathedral. Furthermore, this concert is sponsored by the Fundació Bancaixa and the Fundació BancSabadell and collaborates with INAEM, the Comes Cultural Association, the Professional Association of Valencian Bell Ringers and the Theatre Group Assaig, among other entities.
The instruments in this concert are replicas of the musician angels of the frescos in the high altar of the Cathedral, from 1472. Additionally, Alejandro Estellés, the soloist kid from the Escolania de la Virgen de los Desamparados, directed by Luis Garrido, will sing in the pulpit interpreting the Sibyl. Furthermore, before the concert, at 19:00, the Professional Association of Valencian Bell Ringers will perform the Matins of the Consueta from 1527, also recovered in 2012 for the first time from the Council of Trent (1545-1563).
For their part, the Theatre Group Assaig of the Universitat de València and the Asociación de Amigos del Corpus will perform, supervised by the director of ASSAIG, Pep Sanchis, the Sermón de los Profetas (The Sermon of the Prophets), and a paraliturgical drama of Christmas which was performed before the prophetic singing.
After the Council of Trent, the performance of the Song of the Sibyl, which until today, stayed only alive in Majorca and Alguer (Sardinia). From the many versions there are, here the Valencian version is restored, influenced by the Toledan and Majorcan tradition.
The Song of the Sybil is one of the most representative performances around the birth of Christ, introduced by James I of Aragon after the conquest of Valencia. The sibyls were women who where believed to be inspired by the gods, all of them virgins and prophets. Among them, the Erythraean Sibyl was in charge of announcing the Last Judgement and the arrival of Christ into the world. Although the Sibyl is the figure par excellence of the Greek oracle, the Christianity appropriated it in order to terrify the population with her omens about the Apocalypse.
19:00: Matins.
19:30: Angelic music and the Song of the Sibyl.
Last update: 26 de november de 2015 11:20.
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