Eminent singers such as Supervia and de los Angeles have essayed
some of Toldrà’s songs in their recitals and indeed, in the
case of both these singers, on disc, but a collection of the
complete songs is very rare to find. The songs, and the collections
from which they derive, are presented chronologically in this
two disc set - with texts but no English or other language translations
by the way - and thus begin with Menta i farigola of
1915 and end with his 1960 settings, though the real end is
a kind of appendix of his popular Spanish song arrangements
of 1941.
This allows us a broad sweep of the composer’s songs, though
those looking for stylistic changeability will, by and large,
look in vain. Toldrà was a consistent composer and at his best
the artless simplicity of his settings, and their affirmative
qualities, inevitably leave a happy impression.
It helps that the singers in this set, Assumpta Mateu (soprano)
and Lluís Vilamajó (tenor), who either sing small batches or
alternate within sets, have unfussy, well focused voices. They
never try to inflate the ingratiating lyrics, always identified
- Toldrà was particular about whom he set - and sing with warmth
and discretion. If this sounds a little on the small-scale sound,
then I would say that this approach suits the temper of many
of these songs. Certainly Supervia could be relied on to sing
with insinuating panache, but she never sang a complete recital
of the composer’s music. Heard in bulk, these performances work
very well.
The piano writing is invariably alive, not merely subservient.
In Els obercocs i les petites collidores one can hear
the debt Toldrà owed to Granados. Francisco Poyato plays with
taste and imagination and the triumvirate certainly make a fine
case for even the earliest of the music. I’d draw your attention
to the ripely romantic Matinal - a brief two minute setting
- or the ultra-rich Cancó d’un bell amor with its hints
of Hahn. It’s not all clement weather. Canco de grumet,
from the 1923 collection called L’ombra del lledoner,
is turbulent, dramatic and unselfconsciously extrovert and unbuttoned.
Elsewhere we can find the occasional drifting, impressionist
harmonies, and also guitar and harp evocations - these last
in La vida de la galera from the 1923 collection already
cited, an unusually (for Toldrà) old school style. Toldra’s
own brand of Barcelonan populism included a kind of updated
Neapolitan song, but this was a proudly Catalan affair with
nobility and defiance as well as charm. Try Cororococ!
for example. He was a witty composer too, as many a song attests,
and clearly listened to Richard Strauss amongst other contemporaries
- the late 20s setting of Cancó de l’oblit strongly suggests
that influence.
The dual influence of Debussy and de Falla seems to have persisted
in his songs into the late 1930s and probably beyond. The wartime
settings are mellifluous and lyrical, the occasional teasing
caesuri attesting to his still intact sense of wit. After the
war there were only a few remaining songs, none memorable. The
song arrangements set ends on a high with a duet of droll charm
from the two singers.
Freshness and clarity are two of the qualities specifically
noted by booklet writer Manuel Capdevila i Font as necessary
to perform a song like El giravolt de maig, one of his
best songs. These qualities actually infuse the singing of all
of these songs, which is wholly admirable. The recording quality
is also unproblematic.
Toldrà wrote 71 songs, of which 21 were harmonisations of popular
songs. At his best his melodic gift raises him high, and indeed
pre-eminent among Catalan composers. Heard in small groups,
they still evoke a time and place with vivid immediacy.
Jonathan Woolf
CD 1
1915-1927
Menta i farigola (1915) [0:48]
El rei Lear (1915) [1:47]
Els obercocs i les petites collidores(1915) [1:40]
Romança sense paraules (1915) [1:00]
Festeig (1915) [2:25]
Matinal (1916) [1:54]
L'hort (1920) [2:30]
Cançó d'un bell amor (1920) [4:09]
Abril (1920) [1:45]
Maig (1920) [2:50]
Canticel (1923) [1:45]
El gessamí i la rosa [2:25]
L'ombra del lledoner (1924); A l’ombra dell lledoner
[3:40]; Cançó de comiat [3:20]; Cançó de grumet [2:18]; Cançó
de bressol [4:52]; La vida de la galera [3:35]
Romanç de Santa Llúcia (1924) [1:43]
Les garbes dormen al camp (1923) [2:00]
Vinyes verdes vora el mar (1924) [1:50]
Cançó de l'amor que passa (1925) [3:50]
El gessami I la rosa (1925) [1:20]
Recança (1926) [1:50]
A muntanya (1926) [2:02]
Camins de fada (1926) [1:35]
Cançó de vela (1926) [3:05]
Cocorococ! (1926) [1:50]
Garba (1927-29) Cançó incerta [3:05]: Anacreontica [2:18]:.
Cançó de l'oblit [2:12]: La mar estava alegra [0:53]:Cançó de
passar cantant [1:50]: Platxèria [1:23]
CD 2
1929-1960
Garba (cont.): Esplai [1:53]; Floreix l'ametller [1:55];
Divendres Sant [3:25]
La rosa als llavis (1936); Si anessis tan lluny [1:50];
Mocador d’olor [1:25]; I el seu esgaurd…[1:45]; I el vent deixava
dintre la rosella…[1:45]; Seré a ta cambra amiga [2:25]; Visca
l’amor [1:30]
Seis canciones (1940-41); La zagala alegre [2:45] Cantarcillo
[3:30]; Madre, unos ojuelos vi [2:25]; Mañanita de San Juan
[2:27]; Nadie puede ser dichoso [2:02]; Después que te conocí
]3:25]
Muntanya d'amor (1947) [3:00]
As floriñas dos toxos (1951) [2:20]
Aquarel·la del Montseny (1960) )2:35]
Harmonització de cançons populars - Nou cançons populars
catalanes (1933); Matinet me'n llevo jo [1:06]; El pardal
[3:55]; De Mataró vàrem venir [1:37]; Flor d'olivar [1:38];
El rei n'ha fetes fer crides [1:06]; Ai, minyons que aneu pel
món [1:19]; Sota el pont d'or [1:26]; La quadrille [0:53] ;
L'Alabau [1:04]
Doce canciones populares españolas (1941): Con el picotín
[1:02]; La panaderita [1:25]; No llores, niña [1:34]; Els tres
tambors [1:22]; La "bamba" (El columpio) [1:34]; La
perrita chita (cançó de bressol) [1:52]; El pájaro era verde
[0:44]; Nit de vetlla [2:14]; Lorenzo y Catalina [1:28]; Yoan
nintzan merkatura [1:10]; Clo, clo [1:18]; Tengo un arbolito
[1:34]
Assumpta Mateu (soprano), Lluís Vilamajó (tenor), Francisco Poyato (piano)
