'The First Requiem of Montserrat' opens the Pyrenees Early Music Festival

BarcelonaThe Pyrenees Early Music Festival (FeMAP) kicks off this year's edition with its own production that rescues The first Requiem of Montserrat. "This composition by Joan March (Arbeca, 1582 - Montserrat, 1658) is the oldest funeral mass preserved in the archives of Montserrat, which does not mean that it is exactly the oldest, because much was lost in the fire of the War of the French," explains the director of FeMA. It will be performed tonight at the cathedral of La Seu d'Urgell (and at the church of Santa Cecilia de Molló and the sanctuary of the Miracle of Riner, on July 5 and 6), and will be performed by the Ensemble Joan March, which will complete the repertoire with works by other Montserrat masters such as Miquel López. They will also perform it in the autumn in Montserrat, at the events commemorating the millennium of the Benedictine abbey.

The festival has scheduled 54 concerts for July and August, featuring 25 different groups and soloists, including Núria Rial, Egeria, O Vos Omnes, and the children's group Maîtrise Saint-Joseph de Prades. "There's no turning back," celebrates the festival director. FeMAP, which began by scheduling concerts in nine towns in the Pyrenees, is now surpassing the quarantine limit and reaching five thousand attendees per edition. The 14th has added new towns—Molló, Ordino, Canillo, and Portbou—and will bring music to 41 municipalities in Catalonia and Andorra. "Last year there were also 41, and we broke the record. This year we've matched that number, and I'm confident that next year we can reach 42 or 43," says Dutrèn.

This July's program features the Manresa soprano Núria Rial, who will lead the recital To three In the church of San Cristóbal de Campdevànol and in the church of Santa María de Valldeflors in Tremp. Egeria, a female medieval music vocal group, will present Sanctum virum Isidorum in Tragó and Pesillà de la Ribera. In August, the festival will feature shows such as The Wig Society, the children's show Maîtrise Saint-Joseph de Prades, and La Ritirata. Le Grande Chapelle will close the festival with Misa Vidi speciosam, a concert that can be heard on August 23rd at Escaló and the following day in Camprodon.

In addition to the Concerts with Taste and the musical program, the festival offers complementary activities, such as visits to churches, local museums, nature walks, and tourist routes to discover the heritage of the participating municipalities. There will also be 25 concerts adapted to the needs of vulnerable people: the elderly, people with disabilities, and people with mental health disorders.