Songs of Pilgrimage: the Llibre Vermell of Montserrat

Let the sacred sound of medieval pilgrimage draw near, carrying festivity in its step and reverence in its song. Come share in a celebration that bridges the spiritual and the human, reviving the harmony that once resounded through Montserrat’s monastery walls.

Amid the dark, candlelit nights of 14th-century Montserrat, voices sing in reverence—and in rhythm—guided by the Llibre Vermell (“The Red Book”), named for its crimson binding. Created not from the royal courts but for restless pilgrim hearts, the devotional songbook offered weary travellers visiting the Santa Maria de Montserrat Monastery in Spain a way to unite prayer with song. Its collection of pious and festive songs brought life to the otherwise solemn devotional landscape of the Middle Ages.

An unusual codex of 10 anonymous hymns and folksongs, the vivid melodies recorded within the pages of the ancient manuscript open a window onto a world that carried both the weight of spiritual practice and the warmth of community. Each note invites listeners to trace the rhythm of medieval devotion, where prayer became song and worship turned to dance.

Today, the same radiance lives on in performance. In this meeting of faith and festivity, share in a celebration that bridges the sacred and the human, reviving the harmony that once filled Montserrat’s monastery walls. Let the ancient music breathe anew, and discover how the spirit moves through song.

The music, the mountain, the manuscript

In an age when secular holidays did not exist and the only public holidays were holy days, the concept of travel for leisure was virtually unknown. Apart from business, the only real travel was religious—pilgrimage—and the pilgrimage industry was massive.

Pilgrims then, just like tourists today, needed food, drink, baths, souvenir shops, medical services, and so on. Not everyone who went on pilgrimage was purely devout, and these mixed motives are reflected in a special manuscript housed in the Monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat (of the “serrated mountain”) just outside Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. The monastery remains a major place of pilgrimage, as the shrine of the miracle-working image of the Virgin of Montserrat 

Put together in the 1300s, the anonymous compiler of the Llibre Vermell explains its purpose: 

“Because the pilgrims wish to sing and dance while they keep their watch at night in the church of the Blessed Mary of Montserrat, and also in the light of day; and in the church no songs should be sung unless they are chaste and pious, for that reason these songs that appear here have been written. And these should be used modestly, and take care that no one who keeps watch in prayer and contemplation is disturbed.”

In other words, bored pilgrims in the 1300s were blasting away the medieval equivalent of bawdy pop songs in the wee hours of the night in the church, and this collection was intended to set a holier tone. The 10 surviving works, in Latin, Catalan, and Occitan, are all anonymous, compiled for pilgrims to sing and dance as they kept night vigils before the Black Virgin. Ranging from monophonic chant to polyphony, they have the characteristics of both folk song and hymn. Their simplicity, catchy melodies, and dance rhythms have ensured their enduring popularity in performance and recording.