Extraits du Livre vermeil de Montserrat (Abbaye de Montserrat, Catalogne, 14ème siècle)
Polorum Regina
Los set goyts
Maria Matrem Virginem
Stella splendens
Imperayritz de la ciudad joyosa
Ad mortem festinamus
Laudemus Virginem-Splendens ceptigera
O virgo splendens
Cuncti simus concanentes

Extraits du Lectionnaire de Barcelone (14ème siècle)
Antiphone "Christus natus est nobis"
Psaume 94/95 "Venite exultemus Domino"
Benedicto-Lectio-De homila Sancti Augustini
Responsorium "Verbum caro factum est
Benedicto-Lectio-Sermo Sancti Augustini in die Natalis Domini
El cant de la Sibilla

Ballade traditionnelle catalane
El comte Arnau

Mélodie médiévale traditionnelle
Ave maris stella

Pueri Cantores della Catedrale di Sarzana
Alessandra Montali, direction
Ensemble San Felice
Federico Bardazzi, vielle, direction

Que le titre ne vous induise pas en erreur : la manière qu’a Bardazzi d’aborder ces traces de la foi médiévale est à mille lieues des célèbres enregistrements de Jordi Savall et Montserrat Figueras. Autant ces derniers portaient un regard intellectuel sur la circulation des sources dans l’Espagne arabo-andalouse, autant celui-ci s’est donné pour but de recréer l’ambiance d’un "itinéraire imaginaire de pèlerins en route vers Montserrat pour la messe de minuit". Pour ce faire il convoque un instrumentarium multiculturel (viole, flûtes, luth, tambourins et clochettes, mais aussi cornemuse, violon chinois, tible catalan et vielle à roue), des voix variées (dont les instrumentistes eux-mêmes et les "voix blanches" des très jeunes Petits Chanteurs de la cathédrale de Sarzana), et mêle sacré et profane. Le voisinage de ce côté hétéroclite et un peu déglingué avec tout ce que cela suppose de science musicale et historique est un peu frustrant : autant les notices des enregistrements Auvidis étaient éclairantes, autant celle-ci nous laisse spectateurs du savoir et nous renvoie à un pur théâtre sonore. En cela le disque rappelle plutôt les expériences de René Clemencic autour des Carmina Burana et de la Messe des Voleurs. Très réverbérée et réalisée à un haut niveau sonore, la prise de son est fatigante sans un ajustement minutieux du niveau d’écoute. Un disque expérimental et difficile, mais très intéressant. (Olivier Eterradossi)

Who were the pilgrims who climbed the treacherously steep mountain to the monastery of Montserrat in northern Spain? And what kind of music would have accompanied their journey? This release imagines Christmas Eve in medieval Catalonia, built around the 'song of the Sibyl'. The tradition of the singing Sibyl was not unique to Montserrat, but it was covertly practiced there long after it had been outlawed by the Council of Trent in 1575. The Sibyl was a pre-Christian woman who prophesied the coming of Christ; during the Middle Ages, a boy would dress up as the Sibyl and, blindfolded, sing the famous verses, normally in the third nocturn of the Christmas Day matins service. This recording uses the Catalan version of the Sibyl's song found in the archives of Barcelona Cathedral. Another Catalan book from the same period, the Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, also informs much of this programme. It would have provided pilgrims with suitably religious music to sing on their approach to the cathedral, rather than secular songs and dances. The additional use of Gregorian chant sets the Cant de la Sibil·la in its original context of the early morning matins, before these were standardised into the Office of Readings. Finally, the addition of a traditional secular Catalan song – which tells the story of the doomed Count Arnau – marks the period in the night when the pious pilgrims, eagerly awaiting the opening of the monastery, would give the floor over to storytellers. This CD is the result of a unique project involving professional and amateur artists. The project was premiered as the first concert of a new annual festival in Florence run by Federico Bardazzi and Alessandra Montali, 'InCanto Armonico'. Established group Ensemble San Felice, who, under Bardazzi's direction, have previously made several successful CDs, were paired with the children's choir of the Cathedral of Sarzana, Pueri Cantores, who make up the 'voci bianche'. Featuring young soprano soloist Chiara Galioto, and performed on period instruments, this recording provides the listener with an enchanting aural portrayal of medieval Catalonia.