At 23:00 on Christmas Eve, the Cathedral will host the traditional performance of this religious song, which was declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010.
Every town, village or region has its own Christmas traditions. In Mallorca, this privilege corresponds to the Song of the Sibyl, which is performed in the Cathedral on Christmas Eve at 23:00.
The Sibyl is one of the oldest and most long-lived religious traditions in Mallorca. This song about the Last Judgement has been performed for centuries at the Christmas vigil. It is a ceremony that is carried out in churches, but few of these performances are as important as the one in the Cathedral.
In 2021, attendees will be able to hear the Song of the Sibyl sung by Aina Verdera, singer and director of the Coral Polifònica de Bunyola choir. The celebration will be presided over by the bishop of Mallorca, Monsignor Sebastià Taltavull. Pedro Tomas from the Escolania dels Vermells choir will deliver the Calenda sermon.
History of the Sibyl
The cultural and historical weight of the Song of the Sibyl is enormous. This poem, which derives from the classical world started to be performed with a Gregorian melody from the Middle Ages. However, most performances of it ended after the Council of Trent. The Sibyl only survived in two specific locations in the Mediterranean: in the city of Alghero in the north-west of Sardinia and in Mallorca.
UNESCO declared the Song of the Sibyl Intangible Heritage of Humanity on 16 November 2010.
