Children Choir and Mixed Choir
1 1 1 0 — 0 1 0 0 — tmp+1 — str
perc: tri, vib, cym
PARTS INCLUDED IN THE SALE OF THIS MATERIAL:
Woodwinds / Brass / Percussion: 1 of each
Strings: 6,5,4,3,2
THE PARTS FOR CHOIR ARE SOLD SEPARATELY
This material for Orchestra is sold independent of the general score. With the purchasing, it is mandatory for the ORCHESTRA or Group to sign a document of exclusive use and therefore is not transferable to third persons.
Of the four eras into which I have categorized my complete works, Cant de Nadal [Christmas Song] belongs to the one that I call my «current era» which began in 1987 and continues to the present.
In this era I left behind a period which could be termed my «post-Serial era». Beginning with Llibre vermell (1987) I began a new era during which there are still vestiges of the manner in which I was previously composing. I abandoned various ways of understanding musical creation that are reflected in my writing, such as the disappearance of many interpretive indications, along with abandoning some sonic resources that seemed to be unnecessary as well as some aleatoric fragments. None of these reappeared in my future works.
In Cant de Nadal (2006), along with much more ambitious works such as Llibre vermell (1987), Rèquiem a la memòria de Salvador Espriu [Requiem for the Memory of Salvador Espriu] (1989) or Te Deum (1993), I created music that was based on a text. This then lead to a long period in which the text, voice and music became completely integrated in the music.
Vocal music has always helped me to determine the formal aspect of my music. As commented by Tomás Marco: «...the voice is never only a color in the works by Benguerel, it is an expressive attribute».
Using the magnificent poem by Joan Oliver (Pere Quart), my treatment of the voices in Cant de Nadal is traditionally composed without seeking special effects or using the style of vocal writing that was so common in the final years of the past century. I have always believed that the voice should flow without any extreme sounds (such as those that I have used in instrumental music) and that the voice should always remain natural.
Xavier Benguerel
The Cantata de Nadal Collection
The Cantata de Nadal [Christmas Cantata] Project is based on the premiere of a cantata for children’s choir, mixed choir and chamber orchestra, composed by a contemporary composer based on texts of Catalan poets. This formula, which requires the integration of three different musical formations, brings together three differing values: the musical creativity, the intergenerational participation and the updating and modernization of our Christmas tradition.
In the various previous editions we have been privileged to collaborate with the actresses Carme Sansa, Marta Angelat and Mercè Arànega, who recited texts and poems to highlight the spoken Word combined with music in order to give the cantata a greater theatrical dimension.
For the children’s and youth choirs, the Christmas Cantata provides an opportunity to sing together with a mixed choir and an orchestra a choral symphony composition. This experience gives them an artistic challenge of working with a degree of difficulty and complexity greater than what they are used to, within an intergenerational framework.
We are convinced that the experience of interpreting this work will lead them to enjoy communicating emotions to the audience and at the same time will contribute to improve the quality of their choral family or choral school.
Xavier Baulies
Director, Camerata Sant Cugat and Coral Polifónica de Tremp
Artistic director of the Cantata de Nadal Collection
