Acompañamiento del Passio para el Domingo de Ramos

In the Iberian Peninsula, Spanish choir books from the 15th to the 17th centuries show great richness of monodic melodies. The Passió (the Passion) was also sung as a motet – i.e. the text, sung polyphonically. This practice was adopted by both Catholics and Protestants.
In Spain, enriched evolutive forms led to polyphonic Passions or passos – scenes – from Christ’s Passion.
From this manuscript from Montserrat, it might be conjectured that the singing of the Passio was also widespread out of the monastery of Montserrat, following the models of medieval, liturgical drama.
This would, of course, only be a presumption to be further studied in depth by musicologists and researchers of medieval drama.

 

Mª Lluïsa Cortada