THE MUSICAL TRADITION
Catalans are very fond of music. The Barcelona Opera House -El Gran Teatre del Liceu- was opened in 1847 and is one of the most important opera houses in the world. Unfortunately, most of the building was destroyed by a fire in 1994. It has been rebuilt and will be reopened soon.
Montserrat Caballé, Victòria dels Àngels and Josep Carreras are 3 Catalan opera singers highly-esteemed the world over.
"El Palau de la Música Catalana" is a famous concert hall well worth a visit if you happen to be in Barcelona. Designed by architect Domènech i Montaner (b.1850, d.1923), "El Palau" is the headquarters of a famous Catalan choir: "L'Orfeó Català".
Pau Casals (b.1876, d.1973) was in his lifetime a highly-acclaimed musician and his music is still admired today. He was a great cello player and composer. On one occasion he gave a speech at the United Nations headquarters in the USA. Among other interesting things, he said: "I´m a Catalan. Catalonia is an oppressed nation." Casals often played the tune "El Cant dels Ocells" as a homage to his country.
Back in the 60's, a group of Catalan singers started a new style of singing, called "La Nova Cançó". They sang their own songs and expressed their feelings and beliefs in them. Lluís Llach, Raimon and Maria del Mar Bonet are still popular today.
Maria del Mar Bonet. Lluís Llach.
The latest fashion in music is "Rock Català". There are lots of bands. "Els Pets", "Lax'n'Busto", "Sau", "Sangtraït", and "Sopa de Cabra" have lots of fans. Incidentally, the latter got their name from a Rolling Stones album: Goathead Soup.
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