Lluís Llach i Grande was born in Girona on 7 May 1948 and grew up in Verges. His connection with the Verges Procession began long before his artistic directorship: Màriam Serrà explains that he had taken part as a manaja and as a member of the Jueus, before finding his place in the Stabat Mater choir, as one singer among the others.
This connection helps explain two different contributions: the concert that helped finance new manages equipment in 1976 and the renewal of staging and texts during his directorship in 2009–2011. Both reflect the same relationship with the village and a celebration sustained by its residents.
The 1976 concert and new manages equipment
According to Llorenç Cansell and Jordi Roca in the Crònica d’uns vestits, published in 2007, deteriorating cardboard equipment and a lack of funds led the Patronat to ask Llach for help. The singer agreed to give a recital, but government permission arrived only on the evening before the concert, held on 17 June 1976.
The authors explain that net proceeds of around 450,000 pesetas covered a substantial part of the budget for new equipment. The order with Carmaniu was formalised in September 1976, and the manages first wore the new equipment on Maundy Thursday in 1977. These figures come from the retrospective account, rather than original accounts consulted for this research. The full process is explained in the article on manages equipment renewal between 1975 and 1977.
From preparation to direction: 2008–2011
The book La Processó de Verges. Text de l’obra dates Llach’s changes to the texts and staging to 2008–2011. These dates for the work should not be confused with the public beginning of his directorship in 2009.
The 3Cat report of 8 April 2009 announced a three-year project involving professionals and gradual changes to staging, costumes and lighting. The Association also identifies 2009 as a period of renewal of the performance in the square.
The renewal therefore cannot be reduced to one change made on a single night. It involved preparation, artistic decisions and gradual implementation. Nor does it mean that the Dance of Death had survived unchanged since the Middle Ages: preserving its traditional character does not establish an unbroken history without alterations.
The work on the texts
Jordi Roca’s introductory study attributes to Llach the modernisation of the Soldier’s Repentance and the new versification of the Daughters of Jerusalem. On p. 25, it also explains the approach to revising expressions considered sexist or inappropriate for contemporary audiences, showing changes in the Samaritan scene and the centurion’s speech about war.
This intervention does not make Llach the author of the entire Procession script. He worked on a collection of older material, adaptations by the Perpinyà siblings, orally transmitted verses and other revisions. The 2011 edition was prepared by Jordi Roca, Lluís Llach, Dani Vivern and Lluís Muntada. The relationships between these layers are explained in versions and authorship of the texts.
Renewal as experienced by the participants
Interviews for the Memòria Viva La Processó project offer the perspectives of those who incorporated the changes into rehearsals and each year’s work. Pere Maspoch remembers Llach’s period as an impetus to planning, material coordination and control of transitions between scenes. This more carefully planned and coordinated way of working did not mean replacing popular participation.
Pere Fuster recalls the new music and lighting, explaining that Llach proposed that he move to the front of the procession in his role as Caiaphas. Josep Maria Llach i Grande also describes a rearrangement of the Jueus and the groups. These attributed memories complement the general documentation of the reform, without independently establishing a date for each adjustment.
Not every organisational or material change described in the interviews can automatically be attributed to Llach. Coordination, protocols and maintenance have their own histories and shared responsibilities. Artistic direction helps shape the whole, but the performance depends on the work of many participants.
Continuity after 2011
The ACN report published on 6 April 2012 confirms the first year without Llach as director and the successor team’s retention of the staging atmosphere, lighting and costumes.
This documents the immediate continuation of the renewal, rather than the survival of every element up to the present. Later editions require their own scripts, teams and decisions to be checked.
Sources and testimonies
Màriam Serrà, Verges i la Processó que no es veu (1998), pp. 50–51: Llach’s participation and connection with the village. Lluís Llach’s official biography: birth and childhood.
Llorenç Cansell and Jordi Roca, ‘Crònica d’uns vestits’, País Petit, July 2007, p. 33.
La Processó de Verges. Text de l’obra (2011): note preceding the script; introductory study, pp. 13 and 25; edition credits.
Project announcement, 3Cat, 8 April 2009; subsequent report, ACN/3Cat, 6 April 2012. Performance in the square, Associació La Processó de Verges.
Interviews with Pere Maspoch, Pere Fuster and Josep Maria Llach i Grande for the Memòria Viva La Processó project, analysed as part of this research. Specific observations about organisation and the rearrangement of performers remain attributed to the witnesses.
