L’Auditori de Barcelona presents Ullsclucs, the new album from its Educational Project, which looks at traditional music from a modern point of view and has been recorded on L’Auditori’s own record label. The album is the first part of the project, which will culminate in a family and school show to be held at L’Auditori de Barcelona in May and at the Fira Mediterrània de Manresa, which will be co-producing the concert, in the autumn of 2021.

The album, which you can listen to for free on the L’Auditori Digital platform, has been possible thanks to the Directorate General of Popular Culture and Cultural Associations of the Generalitat de Catalunya’s Department of Culture. The album contains twenty traditional Catalan songs that have remained unsung for a long time. Arnau Obiols has selected and arranged them based on the legacy of the Obra del Cançoner Popular de Catalonia, a historic institution the centenary of whose foundation will be celebrated during 2022.

The family and school show Ullsclucs, aimed at children from 2 years of age, will premiere on 11 May in L’Auditori’s Hall 2, Oriol Martorell. Like all the concerts from of the Educational Project, this is not just a show: it is a comprehensive educational event that, in addition to the live performances to be held at L’Auditori, includes training for both teachers and families, as well as teaching materials, which are also available at L’Auditori Digital.

Following the premiere scheduled to take place in May at L’Auditori de Barcelona, the Fira Mediterrània will co-produce the concert, which will be performed in Manresa in the autumn of 2021.

Ullsclucs has been illustrated by the artist Inge Nouws.


The music of Ullsclucs
The music for Ullsclucs has been selected by Arnau Obiols, who has also arranged it and conducted it based on the legacy of the Obra del Cançoner Popular de Catalunya, a former institution engaged in collecting our region’s traditional music between the early 1920s and the Spanish Civil War.

The repertoire is arranged so as to suggest a relaxing walk. Listeners are invited to close their eyes and listen to the sounds and noises around them, the sounds that give rise to music and make up this repertoire. The audio clips contain many recordings from natural surroundings, such as steps in the woods, leaves, birds, or the sounds of the sea or herds grazing.

To help introduce today’s audiences to the language of this music, both the arrangements and the instruments used combine tradition with very modern effects, such as synthesisers.

Performers
Music selection and conducting: Arnau Obiols
Stage direction: Sònia Gòmez
Educational consultant: Anna Farrés

Carles Belda: melodeon, guitar, percussion instruments* and vocals
Alba Careta: trumpet, percussion instruments* and vocals
Juliane Heinemann: guitar, synthesisers, percussion instruments* and vocals
Arnau Obiols: drums, percussion instruments*, synthesiser, rebec and vocals
Pep Pascual: musical saw, coyok, conches, whistles, percussion instruments*, toys and vocals
Manu Sabaté: baritone saxophone, clarinets, tenora, flabiol, percussion instruments* and vocals

* square tambourine, tambourine, splintered stem, anisette bottle, trico-traco percussion idiophone, tabor, sleigh bells and clogs