Cançoner 14: Traditional Catalan Christmas songs for voice and piano

Christmas is a time for songs. For a number of weeks, these songs are plentiful in shops, exhibitions and various celebrations, but also in schools; at school Christmas concerts. Then, perhaps because we are full to the brim with biscuit rolls and nougat, they disappear until the following Christmas, when they return with the same strength. Christmas songs have been and still are the cornerstone of the musical repertoire of the concerts that are usually held as a prelude to these festivities and which are used to bid farewell to class before the start of the long-awaited holidays. Indeed, new songs occasionally emerge which breathe new life into concerts and it is also commonplace to modify long-standing Christmas songs with daring rhythms and harmonies, with the intention of lending them a modern twist.

In this compilation, the Christmas carols retain the traditional melodies without so much as a quaver being touched and are accompanied by a piano section that aims to be more functional than creative. This is because the protagonist, naturally, must be the song and those who sing it. Almost all of these accompaniments were written for Christmas concerts which my daughters Clara, Roser and Eulàlia took part in for a good number of years with Rodamón Choir from Sabadell. It wasa time when, as strange as it seems, there was no choral singing in music schools and fortunately there were organisations which, convinced of the formative power of the song and of singing being the best way of accessing music, put considerable effort into promoting and supporting choir ensembles for children and young people. Had I not had daughters, you would not be holding this book. So, allow me to dedicate it to them. But, it could also be dedicated to the teachers who, for so many years, put in so much effort to enable many, many boys and girls to develop great fondness for singing and music; therefore, this book is also dedicated to Àngels Olivella, Salut Vila, Montse Baldebey, Montse Bertral and Elisenda Durà, directors for a good number of years with Rodamón Choir.