Ad Mortem Festināmus is a monodic

Monody

In poetry, the term monody has become specialized to refer to a poem in which one person laments another's death....

 song (fol. 26v) from the Llibre Vermell de Montserrat

Llibre Vermell de Montserrat

The Llibre Vermell de Montserrat is a manuscript collection of devotional texts, containing amongst others some late medieval songs. The 14th century manuscript was compiled in and is still located at the monastery of Montserrat outside Barcelona in Catalonia.-The manuscript:The manuscript was...

, one of the oldest extant medieval manuscripts containing music

Medieval music

Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...

. Its lyrics talk about the inevitability of death

Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....

 and the need to stop sin

Sin

In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...

ning. It has been recorded by a variety of artists, including the electronic neo-medieval act Qntal

Qntal

Qntal is a German "electro-medieval" band founded in 1991 by Michael Popp and Ernst Horn. They later added vocalist Syrah to complete the band. It has roots in Estampie, a band of similar genre but different style; Michael Popp and Syrah are the principal members. Horn left the group in 1999, to...

, that gave new music to the lyrics and made it a club hit in 1992.

Lyric

Scribere proposui de contemptu mundano

ut degentes seculi non mulcentur in vano

iam est hora surgere

a sompno mortis pravo

a sompno mortis pravo

Vita brevis breviter in brevi finietur

mors venit velociter quae neminem veretur

omnia mors perimit

et nulli miseretur

et nulli miseretur.

Ad mortem festinamus

peccare desistamus

peccare desistamus.

Ni conversus fueris et sicut puer factus

et vitam mutaveris in meliores actus

intrare non poteris

regnum Dei beatus

regnum Dei beatus.

Tuba cum sonuerit dies erit extrema

et iudex advenerit vocabit sempiterna

electos in patria

prescitos ad inferna

prescitos ad inferna.

Ad mortem festinamus

peccare desistamus

peccare desistamus.

Modern recordings

• The New London Consort directed by Philip Pickett
  Philip Pickett
  Philip Pickett is an English musician, recorder player and director of early music ensembles, notably The New London Consort.- Student days :...
  
   (album Llibre vermell, pilgrim songs & dances, 1992)
• Jordi Savall
  Jordi Savall
  Jordi Savall i Bernadet is a Catalan viol player, conductor and composer. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for bringing the viol back to life on the stage...
  
  , Hesperion XXI
  Hespèrion XXI
  Hespèrion XXI is an international early music ensemble. The group was formed in Basel, Switzerland in 1974 as Hespèrion XX by Spanish musical director Jordi Savall , Montserrat Figueras , Lorenzo Alpert , and Hopkinson Smith...
  
   (album Llibre Vermell de Montserrat - siglo XIV, 1978)
• Ensemble Micrologus
  Ensemble Micrologus
  Ensemble Micrologus is an Italian group that performs vocal and instrumental medieval music, including both religious and secular pieces from the 12th to the 16th century in their repertoire....
  
   (album: In Festa, 1995)
• Companyia Elèctrica Dharma
  Companyia Elèctrica Dharma
  Companyia Elèctrica Dharma is a Catalan band. Many of its members are brothers, from the district of Sants, in the city of Barcelona. They have performed in Europe, North and South America and Africa....
  
   (album: Llibre Vermell, 2002)
• Capilla Musical y Escolanía de la Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos & Atrium Musicae
  Atrium Musicae de Madrid
  Atrium Musicae was an early music ensemble from Madrid, Spain, founded in 1964 by Gregorio Paniagua, a Spanish monk.-Background:Perhaps the group's most famous recording is Musique de la Grèce Antique , in which they performed ancient Greek music carefully taken down off scattered fragments of...
  
  , directed by Luis Lozano & Gregorio Paniagua (album: Canto Antiguo Español, 1994)
• Ensemble Alla Francesca (album: Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, cantigas de Santa Maria, 1994)
• Qntal
  Qntal
  Qntal is a German "electro-medieval" band founded in 1991 by Michael Popp and Ernst Horn. They later added vocalist Syrah to complete the band. It has roots in Estampie, a band of similar genre but different style; Michael Popp and Syrah are the principal members. Horn left the group in 1999, to...
  
   (album Qntal I
  Qntal I
  Qntal I is the debut album of the German Darkwave/Gothic rock/Industrial band Qntal.The album features a mix of medieval lyrics in languages like Latin, Middle High German and Middle French combined with electronic music of the late 1980s Dark Scene....
  
  , 1992)
• Gothart
  Gothart
  Gothart is a Czech World Music band started in 1993. At first they primarily interpreted medieval music . In the fall of 1998 their concert programs added world music, playing their own versions of Balkan folk songs and dances...
  
   (album "Stella Splendens", 1997)
• Studio der Frühen Musik directed by Thomas Binkley
  Thomas Binkley
  Thomas Binkley was an American lutenist and early music scholar.Thomas Eden Binkley studied at the University of Illinois and the University of Munich . He taught at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel...
  
   (album Secular music c1300, 1998)
• Companyia Elèctrica Dharma: "Festinamus (reprise)" (album: Llibre Vermell, 2002)
• Choeur de Chambre de Namur (album:Llibre Vermell)
• Lamia, (album: La Maquina de Dios, 2006)