Els Mesos / The Months / Los Meses

SKU: 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.