Barcelona: Palau de Musica de Catalunya

There are three great Modernista architects of Barcelona.  Everyone has heard of Antoni Gaudi, mainly due to the fame of the church Sagrada Familia along with some of his houses in the center of city, Casa Mila and Casa Batllo.  Another is Josep Cadafalch who designed Casa Marti which became the Eis Quatre Gats (4 Gats), a cafe that was a center for progressive ideas, and Casa Amatller.  We had drinks in the first and hope to visit the second later this week.

Interior of 4 Gats

The third was Liuis Montaner who designed the Casa Lleo Morera.  I wrote a post on the CLM earlier in the Barcelona blogs.  He also designed the Palau de Musica de Catalunya (PMC). Montaner taught at the School of Architecture of Barcelona and counted Gaudi and Cadafalch among his students.  The PMC is indeed one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen.  Whereas Gaudi seems to love the fantastical, Montaner brings the beauty found in nature to life in his designs.

The large arches were so the carriages could enter and drop off their patrons.

Each balcony column is decorated with a different floral pattern

I promise there are plenty more pictures, but first I'll give some background. The Orfeo Catala, a choral society in Barcelona, was founded by Josep Clave.  Clave had founded the first choral society in Spain in 1850.  His desire was to bring music to the working class whom could not afford to attend concerts due to little free time and even less money.  He felt music would bring much needed joy to their lives and help build a sense of community.  He composed choral pieces,  some of which were based on folk songs, that became very popular and many towns formed choral groups (at this time the groups were restricted to men).  Clave was also a politician and took part in the Glorious Revolution of 1868, which hoped to establish a republic.  He died in 1874 at the age of 50.  What does this have to do with the Palau de Musica?  I'm getting there.

The Orfeo Catala was reestablished in 1898 during a resurgence of Catalunya identity.   By 1904 it was decided that a concert hall, as well as larger headquarters, were needed and it hired Montaner to design the building.  The building was completed in1908 but the Modernist movement fell out of favor and it was nearly demolished in the 1920's.  Fortunately for us, it has survived and has now been expanded and is used for concerts throughout the year.

Montaner's idea was to build a tribute to Clave, the tradition of Catalan music and the International music found in the likes of Wagner and Beethoven.  To accomplish this he used a great deal of symbolism. The proscenium arch has a sculpture of Josep Clave on one side standing under a Mulberry tree.  This is a reference to one of his most popular Catalan choral pieces. 

Clave next to Mulberry Tree with maidens sitting beneath

The other side of the arch has a bust of Beethovan and above that four horses carrying the Valkyrie from Wagner's operatic epic cycle, Der Rings das Nibelungen. I have inserted a you tube file (if it works) of the familiar piece.

Montaner also had sculptures of the nine Muses of Greek Mythology adorn the back wall of the performance area.  What is visually arresting is the way the muses 'emerge' from the wall to look down on the performers. 

Muses overseeing the performance

Montaner's use of mosaics and stained glass allowed light to be reflected in the concert hall that seats over 2,000.  Words cannot really describe the building and pictures do not do it justice.  Overall, the Palau is a wonderful and unified vision. 

The capitals of the columns are decorated in mosaics

Stained glass in a design of pink and green replace traditional walls

A large stained glass 'bell' hangs in the center of the concert hall

A close up of the design

This image of the concert hall I found online.