The Cor Francesc Valls, the stable formation of the Barcelona Cathedral, has not been content with rescuing from liturgical oblivion the Cant de la Sibil·la, so popular in the Middle Ages of southern Europe and then swept from the face by the Council of Trento, but has insisted on relaunching it into the future. A year after reinstating in Barcelona, in 2009, that pagan rite that announces the arrival of the Messiah just before midnight mass, the choir director, Pere Lluís Biosca, already thought about commissioning contemporary composers for his personal Sibil·la , a short piece based on the original spirit and melody that would be performed just before the a cappella liturgical drama.
The first to be invited was precisely Jordi Cervelló, in 2010, and after another dozen authors, it is now the turn of Benet Casablancas (Sabadell, 1956).
“I was very excited. The idea is to recover the oldest music, the living tradition throughout the centuries, based on the original material but according to the sensitivity of each person," says the composer and essayist, author of Humor in Music or Landscapes. of musical romanticism.
“The crux of the creative issue continues to be tradition and modernity for me. Or as the poet Foix said: 'I am exalted by the new and I fall in love with the old'! "He adds. “In this case, the context, symbolism, format and basic material are predetermined, a fact that spurs my imagination even more. Even though I respect it, I take it into the realm of my personal language and at the same time into the ears of a contemporary audience.”
Casablancas confesses that he loves choral writing – “for me it is a challenge” – and is grateful for the opportunity that Biosca offers him, while congratulating him for the initiative to revive and renew this long tradition.
“The voice is the fundamental instrument and the great classical polyphony, one of the pillars of our heritage, which should be more present in our musical life. Without the great polyphony –Ockieghem, Josquin, Lassuss, Victoria, Brudieu…– Bach would not be understood, but neither would Bruckner, Brahms, Stravinsky or Ligeti”, concludes the composer who has already delivered the piece for about a month and a half. four minutes long to the Cor Francesc Valls.
