"For at times the pilgrims, who keep vigil in the church of the Blessed Virgin of Montserrat, wish to sing and dance, and also in the daytime in the church square...." Thus the scribe of the Llibre vermell of Montserrat justified his instructions for dance music in a collection of mostly Latin songs in praise of the Virgin Mary. The Benedictine Abbey of Montserrat attracted large numbers of pilgrims to its shrine of the Black Virgin every year; the richness of their international cultures, and that of surrounding Catalonia (northwest Spain, near Barcelona), is reflected in the so-called "Red Book" of songs and dances in the Black Virgin's honor. Though only ten songs survive today in this late-fourteenth century manuscript, they give precious clues to the festal joys of the pilgrims' worship—including dancing. Polorum Regina, like three other songs in the Llibre vermell, carries the inscription a bal redon, Catalan for with a round dance. The monophonic song thus would have been sung with some kind of holy dance, either in the church square or even at the very altar. Its refrain form and the associated dance is distantly related to the later French and English Carol. The Latin verses of Polorum Regina follow the erudite virelai form of French secular poetry, and they expound the nascent doctrine of Mary's Immaculate Conception. She is "forever without stain" (semper inviolata); before her conception, during her conception, and after her conception she remains a virgin. The brilliant imagery of the refrain calls her queen of the heavenly bodies and star of the morning. The music of Polorum Regina appears in a rhythmicized chant notation, with a clear and memorable melodic profile that allows popular participation in the refrain.

© Timothy Dickey, All Music Guide