Perhaps the best way to begin this musical-literary celebration is by celebrating a song that has transcended its origin and its author to become an anthem. In The Broken and the Sacred (Liburuak), Alan Light traces the path of “unlikely ascension” effected by Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, a song that went unnoticed upon its first release in 1984, which was reborn in John Cale’s 1991 version and it emerged in 1994 sung by a young Jeff Buckley, whose tragic and early death in 1997 contributed to mythologizing the musician and the song. A theme not only halfway between the broken and the sacred but also between the sacred and the profane, between the spiritual and the sexual. A song of infinite rereadings that have been on the soundtrack of Shrek or the post-9/11 mourning.
Very different but no less interesting is Nine Songs for Yung Beef H
Another multi-faceted musician is Nick Cave, who together with journalist Seán O’Hagan has published Faith, Hope and Carnage (Sexto Piso), a conversation through which Cave, now in his sixties, reflects on tragedy and mourning. (his son Arthur died when he was fifteen), about love, about addictions and, of course, about music. Cave’s name also resonates in other books such as Above the City, Below the Stars (Liburuak), the autobiography of Barry Adamson, who was part of The Bithday Party and The Bad Seeds with the Australian. And he also resonates in Season of the Witch. The book of gothic rock (Contra) by Cathi Unsworth, a celebration – with a prologue by Ana Curra – of that rock that grew up in the late seventies in the wake of punk but with darker, more literary overtones. In addition to Cave, names like Siouxsie parade through its pages
Another form of celebration, especially of artists who have already disappeared, is biography. Of particular note is Ella Fitzgerald (Kultrum Books) by Judith Tick, an exhaustive review of the career of this queen of vocal jazz who sang like no one else the repertoires of great American composers such as George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter or Duke Ellington. A book that, even though they are inseparable facets, places more emphasis on the musical than on the personal aspects of a woman who reached the top fighting from her triple status as a woman, black and of humble origin.
Amy Winehouse participates in a different division with In Her Hands and Letters (Libros del Kultrum), more than a biography, this is a celebration of the ill-fated creator of Back to Black, who died at the age of twenty-seven at the height of success and controversy. who continues without abandoning her. While waiting for the film biopic about Winehouse to be released very soon, this album – prepared with family participation – has abundant graphic material and some texts – letters, diaries, lyrics… – from the artist herself and avoids her most self-destructive image to become a tribute.
Much closer to us are the lives of two other artists who died ten years ago and who also have new books about their lives. On the one hand, El enigma Paco de Lucía (Lumen) by César Suárez, a biography of the guitarist who perhaps justifies the description of flamenco genius better than any other. And on the other hand, The Great Peret (Larousse, in Catalan and Spanish), biography of the musician who, whether he invented the Catalan rumba or not, took it to its peak of popularity; a book that has the added value that its author personally knew the subject and is also a rumbero himself, the member of Los Manolos Rogeli Herrero.
In a radical change of register, we have the book by musicologist Miguel Ángel Marín, Mozart’s ‘Requiem’. A cultural history (Acantilado), a true milestone in this type of studies that offers a detailed investigation of the impact of this work by the Austrian genius on Spanish musical life in the 19th century. If, as the author says, “there is no curious listener who does not know Mozart’s Requiem,” with this book knowledge of the work goes up several notches.
Entering the field of the so-called classical, three titles that connect with each other – and complement each other – for those interested in 20th century music: The echo of time. The Second World War, the Holocaust and the music of memory (Paidós) by Jeremy Eichler; War and music. The paths of classical music in the 20th century (Siruela) by JohnMauceri; and Hitler’s Musicians. A common thread for 20th century Central European music (Berenice) by Pedro González Mira.
And if Sant Jordi is a genuinely Catalan festival, let’s also take a look at some titles focused on music made here. With a forceful phrase like “La Nova Cançó Catalana is one of the greatest artistic manifestations in the universal history of popular music” Antoni Batista begins La nostra cançó (Pòrtic), the personal contribution of this veteran journalist to a phenomenon that transcended the musical. and that, even though it was concluded a long time ago, it has surely not exhausted its influence on some of today’s music. And one of the protagonists of that song has new works that have appeared in some way as a culmination of his still recent retirement. This is Joan Manuel Serrat, about whom Jaume Collell’s vision is published in Serrat. The music of a life (Debate), and Luis García Gil, in Serrat. One makes a way by singing (Alianza).
Contemporaries of cançó but traveling along completely different paths were the group Màquina!, headed by Enric Herrera and Jordi Batista and whose story is collected by Àlex Gómez-Font in Màquina! Underground Quintessence (Millennium). The Machine thing! It was progressive rock, psychedelia and improvisation and, as Herrera says in the prologue, they neither sang in Catalan nor made political demands. So between the one and the other they were more of an anomaly of the time, but which, seen today, also had its significance.
In a more miscellaneous space we find a book like that of Àlex Torío –musician, but also physicist, teacher and radio music popularizer–, L’era dels àlbums (Columna), dedicated to celebrating those years of the 20th century –basically, the second half – when long-playing vinyl records reigned. Also as a tribute, Torío has selected forty albums ranging from Robert Johnson, Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley to Pixies, Nirvana, Jeff Buckley or Radiohead, commented from a perspective as personal as the selection itself.
A little less served – bibliographically – are movie buffs, but they also have options to celebrate Sant Jordi. A good way to celebrate the seventh art is to delve deeper into its creators. Clint Eastwood is possibly the oldest active director – he is approaching 94 years old – and could well be awarded the label of contemporary classic. Clint Eastwood. The Last Legend of Hollywood (Dome), by Ian Nathan, focuses especially on his role as a director, although in his prolific career his direction and acting are a whole, especially when it comes to outlining the filmmaker’s profile. As is also his success among the public and critics.
There are, however, other directors who do not attract such unanimity, such as Wes Anderson, with a filmography that is as peculiar as it is very personal. Anyone who feels attracted to it will do well to approach The Cinema of Wes Anderson. Keys to the Aesthetics of a Postmodern Author (Comares) by Rubén de la Prida, an in-depth study of the defining characteristics of this director’s cinema from his first titles, such as Academia Rushmore to his most recent ones such as Asteroid City.
And to reaffirm the variety of options, Each one for himself and God against all / Cadascú a la seva i Déu contra tothom (Blackie Books / L’Altra), the memoirs of Werner Herzog. Life and work of the author of Fitzcarraldo o Aguirre, the wrath of God for himself.
Whoever prefers to celebrate a specific film can do so with Pulp fiction. The 30th anniversary book (Notorius) by Quim Casas, José Luis Ordóñez and Adrián Sánchez, dedicated to one of the films that has contributed the most to Quentin Tarantino’s fame and that condenses a good part of the pillars of his filmography. Another contemporary classic, creator of some already mythical scenes in the history of cinema.
And to close, a book that transcends the world of cinema to delve into the whole of audiovisual narratives through the analysis of their various formats, their meanings and their connections. Jordi Balló and Mercè Oliva sign the essay The incessant image / La imatge incessant (Anagrama). From movies to reality shows or live broadcasts on social networks; and how the various formats draw, construct and transmit an image of the contemporary world and its values. An incessant, repetitive, captivating, illusory image… Understanding these formats is also a way of understanding our world.
