Helena Sabaté is our landlady's daughter and the pictures above are from a concert she and three friends gave to benefit the church. We didn't video the concert but it was spectacular. Helena has an incredibly beautiful voice. She sings with such wonderful pitch, purity and texture we were completely knocked out! She should probably move to New York but seems happy enough here. I'm sorry she doesn't have any professionally produced recordings for you to hear. When she gets one, I'll post it.
Festa Major kickoff
The Festa Major kicked of with a parade through town by the young people and their band. This is a slightly different group than plays with the traditional instruments. They ended up at the pool after marching through town and stopping for drinks along the way. This video was taken as they were leaving the pool and on their way for more drinks at the community center across the street.
Festa Major Dance
This video will give you an idea of what goes on at the dances we have for Festa Major. It was taken at about 1;30 a.m. when things were getting into full swing. The band plays covers of popular songs from the past 40 years or so. Please notice the professional light show in the background. A lot of people dance and everybody from babes-in-arms to great grandparents shows up. I missed filming a rousing cover of Tom Jones' famous song, It's Not Unusual, because we were dancing. You'll have to come someday and see it for yourself.
Sardana
One morning of the Festa Major is devoted to drinking vermut (vermouth) and dancing Sardanas. The Sardana is the traditional dance of Catalunya and has special music. Each piece begins with a soliloquy by a traditional recorder-like instrument that was once used by shepherds. Another instrument you can hear is the "Gralla" which is a double reed instrument similar to an oboe or English horn. Double reed instruments are very difficult to play. The band you hear is a professional Sardana band that travels around to different Festas. The intonation problems you hear may be attributable to too much vermut too early in the morning.
The next John Bonham
I had to film this kid because he was playing his heart out through the entire Diablo parade. His mom was a trooper and helped him carry the drum. He was having the time of his life and, you'll have to admit, he's got talent.
Catalan traditional band
This is the band that turns out for most of our community events. As you can see, all the members are young people. It's wonderful that the young folks are keeping the traditions going. All the villages around here have a band like this although I think ours is the best. These bands are exclusively made up of drums and grallas. They play mostly Catalan songs but our band can play "When the Saints Come Marching In" when they feel like it.
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