The 37th edition of Tradicionàrius, the festival of folk and traditional roots music, arrives with the express desire to serve as a speaker for roots music from all Catalan-speaking regions, for which they recover the spirit with which Cicle was born of traditional music from the Catalan Countries. A festival that is also marked by the thirtieth anniversary of the CAT, the Center Artesà Tradicionàrius, which will host a good part of the more than 55 proposals with 19 presentations that will be held until March 22 with dance as the main protagonist, a reminder of the role ” functional” that traditional music has had throughout history.
“We return to the origins, to the struggle and vindication of the Catalan language and culture,” stated the artistic director, Carol Duran, at the presentation of Tradicionàrius this Wednesday at the CAT itself. A return to the most combative positions that responds to “the political situation that we are experiencing both in the Valencian Country and in the Balearic Islands”, and which is reflected in the festival’s logo, three united fists representing the three territories. For this they have a budget of 140,000 euros and the objective of bringing together between 10 and 12,000 people with performances that draw the map of traditional Catalan music across territories and generations, in addition to inviting those cultures “that have in common with “Ours is the will to fight for language and culture.”
The claim will be present from this Friday with the inauguration of the festival at the CAT, nerve center of traditional music throughout the year. There, the parade will conclude with Kabum’s drums and the bands of the Guirigall collective to give way to the show Les veus del CAT, a journey through the history of the Traditional Art Center through memories, images, protagonists and lots of music with artists like Quico el Célio, Urbália Rurana or Sicus Carbonell de Sabor de Gràcia. It will be a tribute to a space converted into a reference for the diffusion of folk and traditional music in the south of Europe, since in 1993 it will be managed by the Cultural Association for Musical Tradition (TRAM), responsible for organizing the Tradicionàrius since its first edition in 1988.
Groups such as Värttinä, references of the Finnish folk scene with songs that recover female vocal traditions, will pass through the Gràcia neighborhood space. Or Ali Dogan Gönültas, who will show the work carried out for more than a decade to vindicate the minority and persecuted cultures of Turkey, such as the Kurdish or the Armenian. The Galician duo Caamaño
From the Basque Country comes Korrontzi, which celebrates its 20th anniversary with a musical journey through the history of the group led by trikitilari Agus Barandian. A performance that will be accompanied by the presentation of Kepa Junkera’s new video album. Creatures is also celebrating its anniversary, 10 years researching the root camera concept that they started precisely at the CAT, where they are now presenting the album Fenaquistoscopi. In festive coordinates is Submersió Alfa, the project by Marcel Casellas with the Vella Clúndia based on traditional Catalan song. Trèvol, winners of the Sons de la Mediterrània contest, also drinks from this source. Without forgetting the concert that the Gran Conjunt de Música d’Arrel de la Esmuc will perform under the direction of Carles Belda.
And one more year – there are four – the Tradicionàrius will pass through the Palau de la Música with the show 4132314, in which the Tarta Relena, Los Sara Fontán and Cocanha are inspired by the sound and clothing patterns of the old textile factories as well as in the memory of its workers.
To dance, Tradicionàrius has organized six sessions for which it has traveled to regions such as Poitou, where the Ciac Boum trio originates, as well as Puglia, to invite Fabrizio Piepoli to show Pizzica, a new sound resulting from music popular from southern Italy. From even further afield will come Sukarije, a Bulgarian quintet that draws instrumental landscapes inspired by Balkan folklore. Les Violines will come from the Pyrenees to present their latest work, Tornades del Pirineu based on traditional collective dances, while La gravetat de Coulomb has taken gypsy dances as inspiration for the songs of L’efecte Doppler, where gallops, espolsades sound , polkas, chotis and jotas. And within the Foguerons of Sant Antoni, the Mallorcan Júlia Colom will give voice to the “ball de bot” in a day that will feature a workshop on this specialty, as well as a concert by the Martorell brothers, historical figures of Mallorcan folk.
The collaboration with the Barnasants festival will facilitate the connection with other spaces and performances by artists with one foot in author’s music and the other in traditional music. This is the case of Adolfo Osta, who will perform in the Casinet d’Hostafrancs, Carles Dénia, who will perform in the Auditori Barradas de l’Hospitalet or Alba Careta y Henrio, in the Auditori de Barcelona. The trumpet player and the singer-songwriter will present Udolç, an album that joins the initiative to recover singing, traditional lullabies from the province of Girona. In the CAT, but with the umbrella of the festival of the author’s song, Carola Ortiz will give voice to the singers, the women went to pour water at the fountain. Alidé Sanst will present Arraïtz, claiming Aranese culture, while the Valencian Miquel Gil will present his project where he mixes synthetic sound with guitar and tambourine. VerdCel, Alfons Olmo’s war number, will present the album Petricor, while the duo formed by Magalí Sare and Manel Fortià will do the same with reTornar.
And still missing are the performances of Glam Folk and La Cosina within the festivities of Santa Eulàlia, Wednesday Vespers in the CAT as well as the parallel programming in the territory, such as the Garrotxinàrius in Olot, the Violinada in Argelaguer, the Rubrifolkum in the Baix Llobregat, the Folkestoltes de Girona and the Robertíada de Torroella de Montgrí. An oceanic program to breathe new life into traditional music that will conclude on March 22 with the return to the stage of Mesclat 25 years later.
