The choirs of the Monastery of El Escorial and Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos will be recognized as assets of cultural interest in their category of intangible heritage. The news, announced by the Minister of Culture, Mariano de Paco, aims to enhance the value of these choirs, due to “the importance they have in relation to our culture,” said the councilor. At the same time, it is a way of adding pressure on the central government to protect the Cross of the Fallen, which is outside the regional competition.
The choirs on which the processing of the B declaration will begin are recognized for their ability to transmit oral traditions, or their fundamental role within religious communities. They are composed of about 40 children each, who receive a complete academic and musical training specialized in each case in medieval polyphony or Gregorian chant.
Protecting them is, in a way, putting the spotlight on both monuments. In the case of the Cuelgamuros Valley, regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso had been looking for a way to protect the Cross of the Fallen from “any attempt at aggression” for some time. She finally did so thanks to the new regional heritage law, which establishes the possibility of protecting, according to technical criteria, crosses and decorative elements related to religious architecture. This means, de facto, that the door is open to the possibility of protecting the Cross of the Fallen, as long as the technicians deem it so.
When the law was approved, the regional government pointed out that until now the Community had its hands tied on this issue, since the entire Cuelgamuros Valley has protection at the state level, which left the regional executive without power to act. Now, thanks to article 73 of the Cultural Heritage Law of the Community of Madrid, they obtain support to protect this element, and this, also at the level of law.
Yesterday, the Minister of Culture, Mariano de Paco, once again called on the Spanish government to “exercise its responsibilities and powers” and urged it to “care about the monumental heritage of the Valley of the Fallen”, which is fully within its powers.
Now, the Ministry of Culture is taking steps to recognize these two choirs that have been responsible for preserving oral tradition over time and have played a fundamental role in the development of their religious communities, explain sources from this department.
The Escolanía del Escorial is one of the most prestigious choral formations in Spain and was founded in 1567 by Philip II with the aim of contributing to the liturgical celebrations of the newly built monastery. Linked since then to the Augustinian order, it has become over the centuries one of the most recognized in the world. In this framework, 45 children from all the autonomous communities, aged 9 to 18, receive a complete academic and musical education, specializing in Renaissance religious polyphony.
For its part, the Escolanía de la Abadía de la Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos also enjoys great international prestige. It was created in 1958 by the Benedictine fathers and currently has 40 children aged 8 to 16. Its repertoire ranges from medieval monody, especially Gregorian and Hispano-Mozarabic chant, to sacred and secular polyphonies from different periods in the history of music.
