Voice and piano
SKU:
BO.B.3667
Composed by
J. Cassado/A. Mestre.
Published by Editorial de
Musica Boileau
(BO.B.3667).
The song cycle
Cancons dels mesos [Songs
of the months] was
written in 1919 to a set
of poems by Apel·les
Mestres (1854-1936).
There is one song for
each month and the poems
seem to look at the
months and seasons as
seen from the Catalan
Mediterranean where the
wine harvest and the
fields near the sea are
so typical. Mestres was a
writer, drawer and
musician; as a writer he
cultivated poetry,
theatre and prose, which
he often mixed in his
work. Most of his lyric
and dramatic work is set
music by composers like
Enric Granados, Amadeu
Vives, Enric Morera. His
use of the Catalan
language was important in
the renaissance of the
Catalan culture so in
style at the
time.
The songs of
this cycle, are
influenced by the
Mediterranean sea, the
coast of Cataluna and the
general vocal tendencies
in Europe around the turn
of the century, mostly
from the German school of
Wagner and Strauss. In
general there is little
folk influence in the
songs, but in two
occasions there is a
reference to the Catalan
songs, Desembre congelat,
and a direct use in one
of the songs of the
rhythm of the Sardana a
typical Catalan
dance.
