Catalonia is today a part of Spain, but the distinctive culture of the region is testament to a past that saw it once as a proud Mediterranean nation, with a political history that saw it trade with the Byzantine Empire and clash with France and Castille.

The Castillian conflicts would have brought it into contact with the England of Edward III in the 1350s. Catalonia suffered a series of political and military defeats in the 17th and 18th centuries that have left an indelible mark upon its music and literature. Many of the songs on this CD are in a minor key, and the mood of the music is fatalistic, haunting and melancholic.

‘Victoria de los Angeles, an ideal choice for this appealing collection of imaginative but un-fussy arrangements by Manuel Garcia Morante’, wrote Gramophone, reviewing the original release in July 1992.

Contents:
1. El cant del ocells
2. Muntanyes regalades
3. El mariner
4. El mestre
5. Mariagneta
6. Muntanyes del Canigó
7. El rossinyol
8. El bon caçador
9. La filla del marxant
10. L’hereu Riera
11. Els estudiantes de Tolosa
12. La ploma de perdiu
13. Els fadrins de Sant Boi
14. Caterina d’Alió
15. La Margarideta
16. La Mare de Déu
17. Josep i Maria
18. El Noi de la Mare
19. El desembre congelat
20. La dama d’Aragó
21. El testament d’Amèlia
22. La muller del gavatxot
23. La filadora
24. La presó de Lleida
25. Cançó del lladre
26. Els pobres traginers
27. La filla del carmesí
28. Els tres tambors
29. Els segadors