Juli Garreta i Arboix (1875–1925)

[Ilja]

Lately, I've become very interested in Catalan and Galician culture for reasons not relevant to this forum. However, in the process I've become quite impressed by the music of a number of Catalan composers, and perhaps most unexpectedly by that of Juli Garreta. Primarily known for his Sardanas (a type of musical dance popular in Catalonia around 1900), he also wrote a number of very good orchestral works (in which Sardanas are often integrated).

Towards the end of his life, he appears to have gotten more ambitious: I would consider the symphonic poems Les Illes Medes (The Medan Isles, 1923) and the monumental Violin Concerto (1925) to be his finest orchestral pieces. These display a quality of melodic and rhythmic invention, craftsmanship, and sophistication not generally associated with such "provincial" composers, and frankly, they are my personal discovery of the year. Most of these works have been recorded, thankfully.

It is perhaps important to stress that although Garreta can be called a Catalan nationalist, Catalan nationalism around this time was primarily cultural rather than political (contrary to, say, Bohemia or Poland), also because of the absence, both in a practical and intellectual sense, of the Spanish state. So rather than explicit calls for a Catalan state, one sees references to either local Catalan culture or pan-Iberian themes (see also Cassadó's and Manén's works).


Orchestral Works

   
• La Cuna, for symphonic band (recorded)
• Symphonic Impressions (1907), for string orchestra
• Preludi Mediterrani (Mediterranean Prelude, 1918; recorded)
• Suite Empordà in G major (1921; recorded)
• Pastorale, symphonic impression  (1922; recorded)
• Les Illes Medes, Symphonic Poem (1923; recorded)
• Concerto for violin and orchestra (1925; recorded)

Chamber Music

   
• Scherzo for Cobla (Catalan ensemble using percussion, strings and (predominantly) wind instruments; recorded)
• Concerto for violin and piano
• Joguina (Toy), for cello and piano
• Mar Plana (Calm Sea), for cello and piano
• Piano Quartet
• Sonata in C major for piano
• Sonata in C minor (1923) for piano
• Sonata in F for cello and piano

N.B. The Forum's search function 403'd on me, so if there's already a thread on him, apologies but I couldn't check just now.

[Alan Howe]

Here's a link to a thread on his VC:
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,3902.msg41922.html#msg41922

...and to one on his Cello Sonata:
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,6901.msg73017.html#msg73017

But it's great to widen our perspective on Garreta - thanks, Ilja.