MEMORIES OF BARCELONA - GAUDI

I have finally finished the last section of Memories of Barcelona. It was inspired by the wonderful, fantastical architecture of Antoni Gaudi. This is the same Gaudi who conceived of the idea of the Sagrada Familia which inspired the second movement of Memories of Barcelona. Needless to say, I was very impressed with Gaudi.

As I was writing this piece I wanted to emulate the architecture that I saw in Gaudi park. the lines of the buildings and decoration have a certain baroque flowing quality . I wasn't going to try and imitate the Baroque style of composition, that would not be authentic, but I did want to capture the flowing ornamental feeling of Gaudi's work. That is what I tried to do in this composition.

Other than Bach, I can't think of another compose who I had in mind or listened to more while I was writing this piece. I listened to Bach's Well Tempered Clavier played on the guitar. I did listen to the music of Leo Brouwer. I don't how his playing and compositions influenced the piece but I did enjoy listening to his music.

Just as the middle section of Memories of Barcelona was slow and somewhat ponderous, I wanted the third section to be light and quick. I also felt that this feeling of lightness and quickness was more representative of Gaudi. The entire section is five minutes and thirty seconds ling long more or less. Again, I didn't want the section to be too long. I figure that when there is no more to say, a composer should just end the composition, so that is what I did. There is no resolution. There is no satisfying final cadence to let you know that the piece has ended. I just stopped. The funny thing is that I have a sense that the piece is still going on and I can hear in  my head that the piece is still playing. That is more in keeping with the sense of the piece than if I had used a more traditional ending. All in all, I am satisfied with the last section of Memories of Barcelona. All I need now is a highly skilled guitarist to play it!

Here is the link to the video https://youtu.be/bLGbsBv5LGQ

Memories of Barcelona – Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia is the second movement of my memories of Barcelona. The Sagrada Familia, or the church of the sacred family is truly one of the wonders of Barcelona and I would say one of the wonder s of the modern world. It is a must see for everyone who goes to Barcelona. If you see nothing else go to see the Sagrada Familia.

I wanted to create or recreate the memory of the Sagrada Familia in music, in music played on a classical guitar. When I started to think about what I wanted to say about the Sagrada Familia, its grandeur kept coming back to mind. I also wanted to express that fact that it has been a long time in the making and will probably continue to take a long time before it is completed. It is definitely a work in progress, a continuously evolving work of creation.

I thought I would go back and research Spanish medieval church music which I did. I found several examples or Spanish church music that dated back to the 10th through to the 14^th century that spoke to me in a way that seemed to express the ethos of the Sagrada Familia. In the end, I extracted a ground base which you can see in the first part of the piece. It is played very low and very slow. It is supposed to evoke the foundation, the roots of the Sagrada Familia on which the rest of the edifice is built. Structurally, the rest of the piece is built on this ground base in medieval fashion.

You could consider that the rest of the movement is a series of variations on the ground base that develop slowly but inexorably towards to the peak of the yet to be finished cathedral. The first iteration of the ground base is slow and ponderous, as would be the first layers of the foundation of a grand cathedral. Each iteration or layer of the movement is built up in this fashion. Each layer is a little higher in pitch. Each layer moves a little faster until the very end of the movement, the guitarist is playing quickly at the very top of the range of the guitar. I hope that I reasonably portrayed the sentiment that I was looking for.

There were several precedents that I had in mind when I wrote this movement. They are not classical guitar pieces but piano pieces although I have heard both pieces played on classical guitar. The two pieces that most clearly influenced me were Debussy’s La CathedraleEngloutie and Ravel’s Pavane Pour UneEnfante Defunte, two pieces which have always been close to my heart.  In La Cathedrale Engloutie, Debussy paints a wonderful tone poem of a legendary cathedral rising up out of water, sounds of chanting priests, chiming bells and an organ being played could be heard across the water. I have no problem visualizing the cathedral rising out of the water as I listen to the music.

With Ravel’s Pavane Pour Une Enfante Defunte, it is the ethos and sheer delicate beauty of the piece that I love. It is ancient and modern, tightly formal yet it gives you the feeling of being broad and expansive. My desire was to emulate these elements of these immortal pieces, even to a modest degree. The Pavane was a dance that was performed in the Spanish courts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. I felt that the pace and rhythm of the Pavane was expressed in the towering edifice of the Sagrada Familia. 

Here is the score for the second movement of Memories of Barcelona - Sagrada Familia.

Here is the link for the video and music. https://youtu.be/Mpnd821OIB4

BARCELONA - ANTONI GAUDI

To say that Barcelona is Antoni Gaudi and Antoni Gaudi is Barcelona would not be an overstatement. Barcelona is not only define by Gaudi's architecture but it is infused with the ethos of Gaudi's vision of art and architecture. Every building seemed to emulate Gaudi in some way. May it is just the Catalan world view. When you consider that Salvador Dali and Joan Miro are fellow Catalans you can see that there is a consistency to the way that they looked at the world.

On Saturday, May 16th we decided that we would devote the day to the works of Antoni Gaudi. In the morning we decided we would go toPark Güell. After consulting the travel guide we decided that best way to get to Park Güell would be to take bus number 24. You have to understand, Barcelona is situated at the base of a mountain and Park Güell is located near the top of the mountain. We were informed that bus number 24 will literally drop you at the front gate of the park. We realized the good sense of this after we left the park and decided that we would take the Metro back to our hotel. It took us over half an hour walking downhill to get to the metro. If we took the Metro to the park it would have taken us much more than an hour walking up the side of the mountain to get to the park. We would have been tired of walking by the time we got to the park. I would strongly advise anyone who is considering a visit to Park Güell to take bus number 24 or a taxi, don not take the Metro!


To say the least, Park Güell is a magical place. The architecture and ornamentation of Gaudi's designs are amazing.

I have never seen geometry like this anyway in the world.

The colors and motifs that Gaudi used are reminiscent of the middle east.

This is the high point of Park Güell. From this peak you have an amazing view of Barcelona and the rest of the park.

You also have an excellent view of the Sagrada Familia which is the cathedral that Gaudi designed. We went there in the afternoon. It looks like some quixotic imagining rising out of the city.

Some of Gaudi's structures look like minarets rising above the trees, elegant and beautiful.

There is a raw, visceral beauty in Gaudi's work that touches you in a way that ordinary structures do not.

Then he creates other buildings that seem to exude whimsy and humor.

This structure is the heart and soul of Park Güell.

Even the iron fence work is full of creativity and imagination.

And here is the king of iguanas! This critter which must be at least eight feet long is remarkable in its conception. It is probably the most phtographed object in Spain. Voila! Here is mine to add to the list.

The space underneath was heavily populated with hawkers who seemed to be from lands east of Spain.

And what would a public space in Barcelona be without its requisite Flamenco guitarist. Actually, he was quite good but I still did not buy his CD.

Everywhere you looked there were mosaics by Gaudi.

You have to love the organic feel of Gaudi's work. These series of arches reminded me of the rib cage of some terrible beast.

The crenelated flow of the balconies creates a beautiful and elegant series of lines and curves. 

I could not shake the sense that this building reminded me of a ginger bread house.

Yet another picture of the famous iguana. You can tell that I was impressed with this fellow.

This picture is not so much about the balconies as it is about the dog heads which are actually the water drains for the run off when it rains. I would have loved to see it rain and just what happens to the water as it gushes out of the mouths of the dogs.

Doesn't it look like these structures simply grew out of the ground. I guess that is the magic of Gaudi, his work, as weird and wondrous as it is, seems to have evolved organically from the earth.