The figure of Manuel Oltra (1922–2015) is one of the most deeply rooted in Catalan cultural heritage. This is because Maestro Oltra cultivated choral music, music for cobla, and music for traditional dances (esbarts, primarily) with remarkable dedication, creating a body of work that ranges from great complexity, aimed at highly skilled performers, to simplicity accessible to all. For this reason, he can be defined as a widely recognized and appreciated musician, especially within these pillars of Catalan popular music. However, it is true that his recognition has been less pronounced in the symphonic or chamber music realms (even though he also produced invaluable works in these genres), and, in some ways, his inclination toward choral and cobla music has confined him to a specific niche.

Furthermore, Manuel Oltra’s aesthetic placed him outside the dominant trends of recent decades and, therefore, outside certain circuits. His music is clearly classical, inheriting traits from French post-impressionist music with Béla Bartók as a frequent reference. On occasion, he was criticized for not composing atonal music, to which he would respond with a subtle smile that it wasn’t true–he had written one atonal work: Microbi, a piece from Bestiari. Perhaps what explains this unique idiosyncrasy of his career is that, in a sense, Manuel Oltra was born late. He truly belonged to a generation that was fading just as he began composing. This was the generation of composers who shone with Mediterranean light just before the darkness of Francoism: Eduard Toldrà, Juli Garreta, Joaquim Serra, Ricard Lamote de Grignon... all of them deeply connected to European music (particularly French) while rooted in Catalan music and art. When Manuel Oltra spoke of these composers, one could sense how close he felt to them (he referred to them as “el Serra” or “el Lamote”). Oltra had a particular fondness for Joaquim Serra, who was, in fact, the most contemporary and possibly the closest to him aesthetically. Thus, Oltra stands as the last representative of this generation, even though he was temporally detached from it. And he belongs to it at the same level as any of its members.

This album brings together some of Oltra’s most significant works for choir, featuring pieces based on major poems and poets such as Federico García Lorca, Joan Salvat-Papasseit, and Pere Quart. Though Oltra and Joan Oliver (Pere Quart) never met, the composer knew indirectly that the poet had heard some of his works set to Oliver’s texts and liked them. In fact, Oliver was the composer’s favorite poet, and his work forms a substantial part of this album. This collaboration resulted in one of the greatest Catalan choral works: Bestiari, a collection of short pieces composed over several decades (1954–1988) that demonstrate an extraordinary mastery of harmony and choral writing, never requiring more than four voices. The humor–sometimes sharp, sometimes tender–of Pere Quart’s poems finds its reflection in magnificent music, full of unexpected turns and surprisingly imaginative elements. Bestiari was considered by the composer as one of his most significant works, on par with the Rhapsody for Piano and Cobla or the Esparsa Symphony.

The collections of works with Lorca’s texts (Tres andaluzas and Tres canciones de amor) represent Manuel Oltra’s delicate approach to Andalusian-rooted music, which he had also explored in arrangements of traditional melodies. At the same time, they stand as Oltra’s most internationally recognized works, having been performed across Europe and the Americas. This album also includes Romance, with a text by Lorca, composed in 1963 and brought to light decades later, showcasing Oltra’s unique sensitivity and profound connection to poetry.

Manuel Oltra’s extraordinary choral repertoire owes much to the close collaboration he maintained with the conductor Manel Cabero and his Cor Madrigal, for whom many of these works were written. This partnership ensured that Oltra’s music was brought to life with the highest quality of performance, enriching the choral tradition and securing a lasting legacy. Through this album, we celebrate Manuel Oltra’s invaluable contribution to music, honoring his place as a central figure in the history of Catalan music.