Classical music and Catalan roots
At the end of the 19th century, Spanish music, dominated for more than a century by Italian music, was given a new lease of life, inspired by the riches offered by its folklore. While the nobility and the bourgeoisie were interested in lyric art and bel canto, the people kept their traditions intact. Thus, the zarzuelas
(small musicals) still had their audience, a public quite different from that of the conservatories. The return to tradition was to assert itself in the last quarter of a century, to the detriment of academic art, which was too far removed from the soul of the country.Nationalism in music. The period between the Universal Exhibition in Barcelona in 1888 and the 1950s was a particularly important period in the musical history of Catalonia: the Palacio de la Música Catalana was completed, the lyrical and symphonic programming of the Gran Teatre del Liceu became a reference and new composers appeared such as Enrique Granados, Isaac Albéniz, Miguel Llobet and Pau Casals. They will be the best representatives of a musical nationalism based on a new way of conceiving the contribution of their native land. At that time, the whole society metamorphosed around music. Isaac Albeniz succeeded in proposing a refined art based on popularly inspired motifs, without weakening their meaning and making them "musically purified and morally ennobled. "With Iberia, Albeniz signed his masterpiece. Twelve technically innovative pieces of overflowing vitality and imagination, which pave the way for future 20th-century piano conquests by Messiaen or Boulez. As for Enrique Granados, he is best known as a pianist. He wrote many works for the piano in a post-romantic style in the image of Grieg, and his Danzas espanolas
gave him great popularity. He also founded the Granados Academy, a particularly renowned piano school. Without belonging to the register of folk musicians, Federico Mompou is imbued with the atmosphere of Catalan popular music, which he takes up in his works. His music, between consonance and dissonance, has been purified over the years to rediscover the spirit of the primitive composers, with themes of great simplicity.Performers of genius. Pianist emeritus, friend of Ravel, Debussy and Manuel de Falla, who dedicated his Night in the Gardens of Spain
to him, Ricardo Viñes was an ardent defender and disseminator of this French and Spanish musical avant-garde. He kept his diary for some twenty years, an important testimony to the musical and artistic vitality of his time, when the cultural capital that was then Paris was intoxicated with exoticism (Japanese, but also Spanish). Long after him, Barcelona's Alicia de Larrocha made numerous recordings of her elders, including Granados, Albeniz and Mompou, and enjoyed an award-winning international career as a performer.Influenced by flamenco music and popular songs, Miguel Llobet is known for his sophisticated guitar arrangements of the Catalan popular song and dance repertoire. He made the first recordings of classical guitar in 1925. Francisco Tárrega is another guitarist of genius who composed his most beautiful pieces after settling in Barcelona in 1885.
We should also mention Pau Casals, a cello virtuoso, but also a great defender of peace. He is an emblematic figure of Catalan culture and his memory is perpetuated in the Villa Casals (the artist's house, now a museum) in El Vendrell (Costa Daurada), his native town. A room in the Auditori is also dedicated to him.
Among the performers who cannot be ignored is the concert performer and teacher Jordi Savall. Armed with his viola da gamba, he has contributed to the revival of Baroque music, helped by the success of Alain Corneau's film Tous les matins du monde
, for which he recorded the soundtrack, and by the renowned interpretations of his wife Montserrat Figueras.Another great Barcelona diva, Montserrat Caballé, "La Superba", died in 2018 in his city, after having reigned on the lyric scene for several decades. The soprano was back on stage one last time at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, where she made her first public appearance in 1962.
First-rate halls.
The Gran Teatre del Liceu, inaugurated in 1847 and whose doors open onto the Ramblas, is one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world. It has survived two major fires, the last one in 1994, and has seen the greatest performers of lyric art perform on its stages.The Palau de la Música Catalana
is too often forgotten by tourists, yet it is a magnificent monument created by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, a Catalan modernist architect. The design of the hall has been particularly well thought out and the sound is of excellent quality. The hall can hold up to 2,500 people. It is designed to present all types of music, from jazz to flamenco, with a special emphasis on beautiful classical music posters. In the Auditori building, with its remarkable architecture and perfect acoustics, you will find top-level concerts in all genres, away from the usual tourist circuits. The Catalan College of Music is also located here.The sardana: a traditional dance
Another marker of the tradition and identity of an entire people, the Sardana is the traditional dance of Catalonia. Prohibited by Franco, it retains a strong political dimension to which an entire people are attached. It is danced in a closed circle, to the rhythm of an instrumental ensemble called cobla. The dancers hold hands and take a series of fairly simple steps, from front to back and from left to right. They are equipped with typical laced espadrilles, essential for the practice of the Sardana. To see a show, go to Barcelona Cathedral Square on Saturdays at 6pm and Sundays at 11:15am.
An accessible theater
Catalonia's theaters offer a particularly wide range of programming, from classical authors to resolutely modern works. Designed by Ricard Bofill, the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya is a large building in the shape of a Greek temple. Its programming oscillates between classical theater and contemporary drama, with the aim of developing culture for as many people as possible, and in particular Catalan theatrical heritage. Another emblematic venue, the Sala Beckett, focuses all its work on promoting contemporary playwriting, with a particular emphasis on Catalan authors. The venue is also renowned as a training center. A popular theater, Teatre Romea has hosted the greatest classical authors such as Rusiñol, Guimerà and Sagarra. Outside Barcelona, theaters in Granollers, Girona and Sabadell also offer quality programming.
Renowned theater companies include La Fura dels Baus, a multidisciplinary, avant-garde company that has been blending theater, opera, technology and experimentation since the 1970s, producing grandiose shows that are recognized the world over.
The Catalan Rumba
Music in Catalonia is also Catalan rumba, the result of the fusion of flamenco and Afro-Cuban music. The guitar plays a major role with blows, such as percussion, on the body of the instrument while blocking the strings. Manu Chao has, for some years now, been planning an album of Catalan rumba whose songs have already been composed. What is nowadays called Catalan rumba all over the world is a musical style invented at the end of the 1950s by the gypsies of Barcelona's poor neighbourhoods. By becoming familiar with the new sounds of salsa and the rhythms of the Caribbean and Latin American islands, they adopted these new sounds, while preserving the hoarse complaint and oriental vibratos inherited from flamenco. The mixture has given a new style of song, easily memorable, which now extends far beyond the gypsy sphere and reaches the general public. The consecration came at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992. On this occasion, the whole world discovered, the scathing rumba version of All My Loving (by Los Manolos) and the gypsy song of Peret Barcelona Tiene Poder, treated as important as the song "Barcelona" of the duo formed by soprano Montserrat Caballé and Queen Freddy Mercury's singer.
La Nova Cançó (new Catalan song)
Catalans are very attached to their cultural differentiation from the rest of Spain and when artists sing in Catalan, it is a way for them to claim their identity. In the 1960s, Nova Cançó relied on the use of Catalan, despite the Franco context. From this movement came great figures of Catalan song, Maria del Mar Bonet, Raimon, but above all Lluís Llach, an author and performer who was very committed at the beginning of his career. His songs became more popular as their themes became more poetic. He set many Catalan poems to music. His most famous song is L'Estaca, which became the unofficial anthem of the Polish trade union Solidarnosc, but also the official anthem of the rugby club USAP Perpignan. Between 2015 and 2017, he was also a deputy in the Parliament of Catalonia after running for the pro-independence coalition Junts pel Sí.
Another celebrity, Joan Manuel Serrat, known in Spain, but also throughout South America, does not confine himself to a specific style: Catalan folklore, tango, bolero or popular songs from Latin America. His popularity goes far beyond the Spanish borders and Cuban artists have even dedicated a record to him.
The Catalan rock scene
Most countries have seen the emergence of rock bands that have influenced a whole generation. What makes Catalonia different from other regions is the close link between the development of Catalan rock and the political metamorphosis of the country after the end of Francoism. For a long time, rock was written in English or Spanish, but not in Catalan. When local bands took the gamble of singing in their own language, they immediately enjoyed tremendous public success, encouraged by the Catalan government. Today, pop and indie rock sung in Catalan have a prominent place in the musical panorama, with the pop-folk of Manel, the pop of the Mallorcan band Antonia Font, or Mishima, who began by producing two albums in English before writing exclusively in Catalan. Rock music of Catalan origin has its own identity, despite all the risks involved in writing in a vernacular language
The local music scene is dense and many Catalan bands are topping the local charts. Sopa de Cabra, for example, made their mark with their song L'Empordà, which has become the anthem of an entire region. Likewise Sau and their song Boig per tu was taken up by a whole generation. Nowadays, many pop-rock bands have taken over, such as Els amics de les arts, a Barcelona folk-pop-indie band with electronic reminiscences, appreciated by the public as much as by the critics. As for Txarango's music, it is a fusion between reggae, punk and Latin music, heir of the Cuban rumba. They have already received two gold records. In the same vein, the group Estopa successfully mixes genres, drawing its sources between Catalan rumba, rock and flamenco. The success of the latter has crossed the borders, since the group has had great success in Latin America. Kaya Malayo is a ska band with a festive music, full of rhythm and energy. The group Sangtraït is the major representative of Catalan heavy metal. The members of Els Pets had formed their group in the 1980s thinking that the adventure would not last. They are still active today and their music with pop accents, always seduces a large public. The Razzmatazz or the Sala Apolo are primarily nightclubs, but each of them also offers live music. So keep an eye on their programming, you'll find international artists as well as local talents. For jazz lovers, Jamboree and the Harlem Jazz Club, two clubs located in the heart of the Barri Gòtic, are a must.
The whole new Catalan scene also gets to perform at the big summer festivals, among the biggest international stars at Primavera Sound in Barcelona or at other artistic proposals. Every year in September, Vic hosts the Mercat de Música (Live Music Market), where you can listen to and discover emerging artists during five days of concerts. The VIDA Festival (in Vilanova i la Geltrú) differs from other events of the same kind in that the festival is not only dedicated to music, but also offers the opportunity to discover audiovisual productions or crafts in the most beautiful places in the city, such as the Masia d'en Cabanyes and the Molí de Mar.
If you don't have enough time or don't feel like going to one of these festivals, make a detour to the Mariatchi, a bar located in the old town of Barcelona, on the corner of Carrer dels Còdols and Carrer d'en Rull. A large, colorful guitar decorates the wall, festive music blares and a Che Sudaka banner is proudly displayed on the wall in honor of the group made up of Argentine and Colombian musicians. This small and colorful bar is very popular with musicians in Barcelona, and you might even run into Manu Chao who regularly performs here when he's not on tour.
