A biennial to honor Robert Gerhard
Barcelona and Valls will host the initiative promoted by L'Auditori and the composer's foundation
BarcelonaIn January 2026 it was made official the creation of the Robert Gerhard Foundation, dedicated to the dissemination of the work of one of the most relevant Catalan composers of the 20th century, born in Valls in 1896 and died in Cambridge in 1970. According to the president of the Foundation, Edmon Colomer, one of the purposes was that "the musical self-esteem of the country should be translated into cultural facts". The first translation arrived this Friday with the presentation of the first Robert Gerhard Biennial, promoted by the same foundation and L'Auditori, with the collaboration of Esmuc, the Museum of Music and the Friends of Music and Valls. The program will unfold in different spaces in Barcelona and Valls from September 30 to November 22.
As Colomer explains, the biennial arises from the desire to disseminate "the music of Gerhard and avant-garde Catalan music, always thinking about exploring new paths and with a look to the future". This is clearly evident in a program that combines concerts and conferences and provides enough elements to appreciate different aspects of Robert Gerhard, such as his relationship with Pedrell and Schönberg, his exile, the avant-garde collective Club 49, electronic music, and his common life with Poldi Feichtegger.
Gerhard's work will also be featured in two OBC programs at L'Auditori. On October 2nd and 4th, Ludovic Morlot will conduct the Concerto for strings (1929), as well as the Piano Concerto No. 2 of Chopin and the Seventh symphony by Beethoven. And on November 21 and 22, Colomer will conduct in the Symphony No. 4 New York, a commission that Gerhard received from the New York Philharmonic and which premiered in 1967; in this program, the will also be performed. Domestic Symphony by Richard Strauss. One of the most interesting concerts will be given by students and professors from Esmuc, who on October 27 will tackle Songs for soprano and guitar and Lament for the death of a bullfighter, both by Gerhard, and Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, by Schönberg.
