Música de la cort dels hòmens (2020)

Winning work of the Rosa d'Or de la Pau de los Premis Castellitx 2021 (Algaida City Council, Mallorca). I have written "Música de la cort dels hòmens" based on a very specific part of Ramon Llull's "Llibre de les bèsties" (The book of the beasts). This is the fifth chapter of the narrative, entitled "Dels missatgers que el Lleó tramès al rei dels hòmens" (From the messengers that the lion sent to the king of men), where Llull hides, behind the great metaphor he has created, his true intention to reflect the organization of the courts of his time. Despite the title of the five movements, with which I have tried to contextualize the music and bring it closer to the characters and situations of the narrative, the "Música de la cort dels hòmens" is a musical work of purely abstract thought. The aesthetic context of the time in which Llull writes (the 13th century) led me to use a generally modal system to build the harmonic structure of the piece. Adding some melodic elements of clearly medieval influence and a more abrupt modern rhythm, I have moved towards a neoclassical style characteristic of the 20th century. The play begins with a pastoral introduction entitled "En una bella plana" (On a beautiful plain). These are the first words in Llull's book, which paints the scene where the action takes place. It is followed by "Marxa de Rei" (March of the King), with a markedly burlesque character akin to the rude monarch. The scene follows with "Los vuit prohòmens" (The eight minstrels) with a more bombastic and noble sound. Finally, the "Cantiga" and the "Juglaresca," which are performed without interruption and are a freer portrait of the scene where I have liberally explored this aesthetic of medieval coloratura that colours the piece.