El Cant de la Sibilla

Since medieval times and to this day, the mysterious “Song of the Sibyl” has been sung in churches of Catalonia and the Languedoc along the western Mediterranean. It is performed on Christmas Eve and intones the prophecy of the female oracle, the Sibyl, who foresees the apocalyptic days of the Last Judgment.

From the lyrics:

On the day of judgment … Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, man and true eternal God, from Heaven will come to judge and to everyone will give what is fair.

Great fire from the heaven will come down; seas, fountains and rivers, all will burn. Fish will scream loudly and in horror losing their natural delights.

Before the Judgment the Antichrist will come and will give suffering to everyone, and will make himself be served like God, and who does not obey he will make die.

His reign will be very short; in these times under his power will die martyrs, all at once those two saints, Elijah and Enoch …

Provençal version:

The original Greek poem was included in Latin by Saint Augustine (4th and 5th centuries) in his The City of God. Its performance was later forgotten and even outlawed by the 16th-century Council of Trent but survived in secret through traditions in the Catalan and Provençal languages. On the island of Mallorca today, it is dramatized in almost all of the island’s churches, and the whole village participates.

This Music of the Week offers a deeply meditative recording by Jordi Savall and the great Montserrat Figueras, an exceptional musical team of husband and wife, and provides all three of the extant versions (Latin, Catalan, and Provençal).

Catalan version:

We also want to mention the Catalonian version recorded by the cult band Dead Can Dance, featuring the unique Lisa Gerrard, who can very much be seen as a modern-day sibyl.