Radio Associació recovers two records recorded during the Civil War
The recordings include fragments of the station's symphony orchestra and a political speech from the era
BarcelonaRàdio Associació de Catalunya has recovered and digitized two acetate discs recorded in 1938 by the symphony orchestra of the station EAJ15 - Ràdio Associació, when it was conducted by the Barcelona-born musician Joan Pich Santasusana. The recordings were made in the midst of the Civil War, which is why the sound archive disappeared after the entry of Franco's troops into Barcelona. The discs, located by the Pich Santasusana family, were in poor condition and only part of the content could be recovered.
The material includes fragments of the musical works Iphigenia in Aulis, by Gluck; Serenata Española-Cádiz, by Isaac Albéniz, and Maruxa, by Amadeu Vives. The best-preserved side corresponds to the fragment of the Gluck opera, which, despite being unfinished, contains a total of five minutes of recording. The other great find is the discovery of a political speech by Bibiano Fernández Osorio Tafall, who was the High Commissioner of the Republican Army during the Civil War. The speech, in Spanish, refers to the defense of Madrid and Catalonia, after 22 months of war, and to the fight against fascism.
The disc had been intentionally scratched by the Ràdio Associació technicians and was not labeled. However, against the light, one could still read the inscription: "Disco malo para tirar, salvar la otra cara que es buena". The announcer Teodor Garriga explained in his memoirs that the station's "disc recording machine" allowed him to record speeches by personalities such as Lluís Companys, Josep Tarradellas, Carles Pi i Sunyer, Frederica Montseny, Manuel Azaña, and Juan Negrín.
The Ràdio Associació Symphony Orchestra was consolidated starting in 1935 and played a key role in the context of the Civil War. Important musicians of the era passed through the ensemble, such as Baltasar Samper, Joaquim Serra, Antoni Català, and Enric Casals, brother of Pau Casals. Pich Santasusana conducted a total of 187 concerts at the station's studios from the end of 1936 until January 21, 1939, when the last concert was broadcast, a few days before the entry of Franco's troops into Barcelona.