Nadales arreu

Christmas is celebrated around the world with varying devotion, and one of the essential elements of the rituals are Christmas carols. These songs have the peculiarity of effortlessly combining the religious, mystical and spiritual tradition with the popular, profane and festive legacy. This confluence of human and sacred elements was already alluded to by Saint John of the Cross when he described the birth of Jesus with these words, 'Men sang songs and angels melodies'. According to him, the very first carols were sung at the Holy Crib, with humans contributing the words and God providing the music.

The record you are holding in your hands includes a number of compositions based on popular Christmas carols. Each composer chose a bunch of songs and orchestrated or paraphrased them to create his own Christmas suite.

1.Nadales catalanes, op. 76 Salvador Brotons (Barcelona, 1959) 12:01

Ulrike Haller, soprano

2.Nadales arreu Manuel Oltra (València, 1922 – Barcelona, 2015) 24:53

Instrumentació per a banda simfònica de Jordi León

Ulrike Haller, soprano

Jordi Ricart, baríton

3.Nadalenca Joan Alfonso (Barcelona, 1916 – 1995) 11:37

4.Càntics nadalencs, op. 33 David León Fioravanti (Palma de Mallorca, 1972) 13:33

5.Nadales íntimes Joan Casas (Berga 1947) 10:25

6.Santa Nit. Glosa sobre la cançó nadalenca Manuel Oltra (València, 1922 – Barcelona, 2015) 4:20

Banda Municipal de Barcelona

Salvador Brotons, director

Coral Cantiga (Josep Prats, director)

Ulrike Haller, soprano

Jordi Ricart, barítone