The Religious Affairs Office

The programme began in 2022 with sessions such as the Qawwali (Islam), The Song of the Sibyl (Catholicism) and Beleganjur, and continued in the early months of 2023 with “Ukigumo: Jisei No Ku” and “Paths of the soul”. The new edition begins on 21 October with the first session “Licht der Sinnen: music of the Lutheran Reformation”.

RELIGION AND MUSICALITY

Music and sound have always been key elements of spiritual and religious practice. Historically, all over the world, they have been used as a vehicle and as an object of the liturgy, and music has been attributed the indispensable role of establishing a connection with the divinity or spirit, of being a form of transition. The history of spirituality and music spans the history of humanity since before we could even speak of history.

Music has become an integral part of culture and religion and has developed an array of varied and specific forms. Hindu mantras, Hebrew Cantillation, the Gregorian antiphon chants, the honkyoku of Japanese Zen Buddhist monks, the Islamic call to prayer, the okuyi ceremony practised by several Bantu ethnic groups in Cameroon and Gabon… The connections between music and spirituality are profound and infinite and, in some cases, impossible to separate.

ABOUT THE “TRÀNSITS: LES MÚSIQUES DE L’ESPERIT” PROGRAMME

The relationship between music and religion or spirituality is the connecting thread of the programme “Trànsits” [Transitions], which, as in the first edition, shines a spotlight on the liturgical and religious rituals and events that take place in the city of Barcelona in which music plays a fundamental role. It will focus on various rituals and acts connected with the religious calendar of each faith. So, for example, the programme will begin with a first session entitled “Licht der Sinnen”, with the celebration of Reformation Day, a date celebrated by the Lutheran community with a liturgy accompanied by various cantatas by Bach.

Similarly, “Trànsits” will also feature religious celebrations of the Philippine diaspora and the Murid community of Senegal, and will enable the audience to participate in a lila, a purification ritual, through the sonorous and corporeal transition of the Gnawa community. These are just some examples of what you’ll be able to experience from 21 October, when the first session of this new edition of the programme takes place.

LICHT DER SINNEN. MUSIC OF THE LUTHERAN REFORMATION

The first session of this edition of “Trànsits: les músiques de l’esperit” will take place on Saturday 21 October. It is called “Licht der Sinnen”, which will carry on the exploration of Evangelical churches started in the first edition. This session will feature the German-speaking Evangelical Community, which is Barcelona is formed of more than 500 members, and which has been present and active in the city since 1885.

For Martin Luther, a German teacher and a monk, who brought about the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, music was the vehicle of the faith and therefore, a key element of the divine service. Catholicism introduced the Latin chant to the liturgy and it was reserved for the priests and choirs, but Protestantism adopted the German language chant and in this way made it more accessible and took advantage of the emotive capacity and capacity to transmit the didactic and doctrinal content of the music through lyrics, to give way to a vast corpus of hymns and cantatas that were essential to the founding of the Lutheran Church.

“Licht der Sinnen”, a session organised in conjunction with the German-speaking Evangelical Community of Barcelona, will begin by opening up a space for discussion on the presence of Protestantism in the city and the faith’s relationship with music, in a talk in the church hall of the German Speaking Lutheran Evangelical Church, which will be followed by an open Divine Office in the same church, where the Salvat Beca Bach soloists and the Bachcelona Consort will perform, together with the community, two cantatas from the Lutheran liturgical calendar.

These will be pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, a selection of the more than two hundred cantatas that the composer created, mainly during his early years of service as a Kapellmeister, or chapel master, in Leipzig, corresponding to readings that the Lutheran liturgy prescribed for particular occasions.

CONVERSATION with Matthias Weinmann, cellist and coordinator of community activities; Oliver Spies, evangelical pastor; and Anna Clot, sociologist.

Limited places. Free admission with prior booking HERE.

• Time: Saturday 21 October
• Venue: Church Hall of the German Speaking Lutheran Evangelical Church (carrer de Brusi, 94)
• Time: 6.30 pm

CONCERT-DIVINE OFFICE. The service will be officiated by Oliver Spies, evangelical pastor, accompanied by Izumi Kando on the organ. The music will be performed by Salvat Beca Bach soloists (Rita Morais as soprano, Daniel Folqué as alto, Ferran Mitjans as tenor and Oriol Mallart as bass) and the Bachcelona Consort (Katy Elkin and Daniel Ramírez on oboe, David Gutiérrez and Clara Creus on the transverse flute, Ignacio Ramal and Cristina Altemir on violin, Núria Pujolràs on viola, Guillermo Turina on cello, and Daniel Tarrida on harpsichord and conducting).

Limited places. Free admission with prior booking HERE.

• Time: Saturday 21 October
• Venue: German Speaking Lutheran Evangelical Church (carrer de Brusi, 94)
• Time: 8 pm

Attention! You need to make separate bookings for the two activities

See you there!

See the content of the 2022-2023 edition of “Trànsits” HERE!