Set cançons a M. Mercè

This is a set of seven songs written by the beloved and admired Antoni Ros Marbà, using verses by Maria Mercè Marçal. Ros Marbà has chosen texts of varying length and with great content and depth out of all those present in the poet’s catalogue. Although they never met, through his readings, Ros Marbà “got to know” the spirit of a life activist who was able to change desires. Markedly left-wing, liberal and progressive, Marçal was a strong and cultured woman.

 

As regards the music, Ros Marbà has attempted to reflect the meaning of the text, maintain atmospheric coherence and ensure that the interpretation is not excessively technically difficult for singers so that the text is comprehensible. Keeping the intervallic relationship between voices, the language is timeless and very imaginative. Harmoniously speaking, the songs are practically tonal, with the occasional exception evolving in relation to the images the poems project. They are precious transcendental musical miniatures with melodic potential, characterised by modal grammar containing short dissonances that do not affect the coherence of musical discourse. The vocal part does not overlook the “melos” principle, however complex it may be, and this concept must be at the service of the text at all times. This condition has been self-imposed as the basis for what a song must be. Regarding the piano, more than merely a circumstantial accompaniment is needed. A very pianistic language is involved that, while clarity reigns, converses side by side with the singer (in fact, some parts can be sung by male voices).

A server of words, Ros Marbà seeks to explain the poems using a universal language that does not renounce boldness and stresses its sensuality. The composer’s unsatisfied desire therefore leaves open the possibility of creating a second cycle.

Víctor Garcia de Gomar