a weekend walk in barcelona24, the muses of palau de la música catalana

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The Palau de la Música Catalana (Palace of Catalan Music) is a concert hall designed in the Catalan modernista style by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, built between 1905 and 1908 for the Orfeó Català, a choral society founded in 1891 that was a leading force in the Catalan cultural movement that came to be known as the Renaixença (Catalan Rebirth)

In 1997, the Palau de la Música Catalana was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with Hospital de Sant Pau. Today, more than half a million people a year attend musical performances in the Palau that range from symphonic and chamber music to jazz and Cançó (Catalan song)

Palau de la Música Catalana, former ticket box

allegoric mosaic by Lluís Bru that represents the members of the Orfeó Català

Former ticket box, in an entrance pillar.

The rich decoration of the façade of the Palau, which incorporates elements from many sources, including traditional Spanish and Arabic architecture, is successfully married with the building's structure. The exposed red brick and iron, the mosaics, the stained glass, and the glazed tiles were chosen and situated to give a feeling of openness and transparency.

The top of the main façade is graced by a large allegoric mosaic by Lluís Bru that represents the members of the Orfeó Català, but it is impossible to see it clearly from the narrow street below.

Central part of the allegoric mosaic by Lluís Bru that

represents the members of the Orfeó Català

The Foundation of the Orfeó Català-Palau de la Música, a choral society, founded in 1891 with 28 singers and 37 patron members, owns the Palau de la Música Catalana.

The Orfeó was a leading force in the Catalan cultural and political independence movement at the time of the hall's construction, an organization that gave a new direction to popular choirs. Then, at the turn of the twentieth-century, Barcelona was a cultural melting pot.Today, the musical adviser for the Orfeó foundation is Lluís Millet, whose grandfather was the founder, and father the director, of the Orfeó Catalá choir.

Detail of the allegoric mosaic on the exterior façade (by Lluís Bru) that represents the members of the Orfeó Català -left side

Details of the allegoric mosaic on the exterior façade (by Lluís Bru) that represents the members of the Orfeó Català -left side

Details of the allegoric mosaic on the exterior façade (by Lluís Bru) that represents the members of the Orfeó Català –central part

The allegoric mosaic on the exterior façade (by Lluís Bru) that represents the members of the Orfeó Català -right side

The concert hall of the Palau, which seats about 2,200 people, is the only auditorium in Europe that is illuminated during daylight hours entirely by natural light. The walls on two sides consist primarily of stained-glass panes set in magnificent arches, and overhead is an enormous skylight of stained glass designed by Antoni Rigalt whose centerpiece is an inverted dome in shades of gold surrounded by blue that suggests the sun and the sky.

The dominant theme in the sumptuous sculptural decor of the concert hall is choral music, something that might be expected in an auditorium commissioned by a choral society. A choir of young women surrounds the "sun" in the stained-glass skylight, and a bust of Anselm Clavé, a famous choir director who was instrumental in reviving Catalan folk songs, is situated on the left side of the stage, under a stone tree.

Seated beneath this statue are sculpted girls singing the Catalan song Les Flors de Maig (The Flowers of May)

On the right side is a bust of Beethoven

In a semicircle on the sides of the back of the stage are the figures of 18 young women popularly known as the muses (although there are only nine muses in Greek mythology). The monotone upper bodies of the women protrude from the wall and their lower bodies are depicted by colorful mosaics that form part of the wall

Each of the women is playing a different musical instrument, and each is wearing a different skirt, blouse, and headdress of elaborate design. In the early days of the Palau, many critics found these figures unsettling or even eerie, but today they are widely regarded as perhaps the best sculptural work in the concert hall. The upper bodies were sculpted by Eusebi Arnau, and the mosaic work of their lower bodies was created by Lluís Bru.

The sculptures of winged horses that enjoy a commanding position in the upper balcony are said to honor Pegasus, the horse of Greek mythology that is the symbol of high-flying imagination. Pegasus was ridden by the muses when called by their father Zeus to be by his side on Mount Olympus.

Text & pictures: InternetCopyrights of the photos belong to each photographer

Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanuwww.slideshare.net/michaelasanda

Sound: Montserrat Figueras - La folía - Yo soy la locura