The Robert Gerhard Foundation is created to promote the work of the composer from Valles

BarcelonaThe creation of the Robert Gerhard Foundation, dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge, was officially announced this Thursday at an event in the Levante Room of the Library of Catalonia. the work of one of the most important Catalan composers of the 20th centuryBorn in Valls in 1896 and died in Cambridge in 1970. The choice of location makes perfect sense: Gerhard worked as a librarian in the music section, and this is one of the institutions that houses his works, along with Valls and Cambridge, as noted by the director of the Library of Catalonia, Eugènia Serra, who was delighted with the initiative to promote the "recognition and dissemination" of Gerhard's work.

The event, hosted by journalist and writer Xavier Bosch, began with a brief speech by musician Edmon Colomer, president of the Robert Gerhard Foundation. Colomer gave a concise biographical sketch of the composer, the son of a Swiss wine merchant and Maria Ottenwaelder from Alsace. His parents sent him to study in Munich, an adventure cut short by the outbreak of the First World War. Upon returning to Catalonia, he found his first great teacher, Felip Pedrell, and began to forge a unique musical personality. As the poet Carlos Duarte said, Robert Gerhard "represents heritage but also a commitment to modernity," an aspect he reinforced as a disciple of Arnold Schoenberg. The Spanish Civil War, first, and then World War II, which caught him in Cambridge, also marked Gerhard's life and work, yet he managed to create an outstanding body of work. The foundation, says Colomer, was also created so that the country's musical self-esteem "translates into cultural events." "Our musicians and the music of our composers need recognition, they need to be played. That's why we want to contribute to its dissemination and promotion in collaboration with those institutions, programs, and musical venues that share this desire," said Colomer.

The event also included the participation of the secretary of the Robert Gerhard Foundation, Xavier Muñoz Puiggròs, who announced that the €30,000 required by law for the foundation's establishment had been raised; the executor of Gerhard's estate, Rosamond Roughton, who traveled from the United Kingdom; and the mayor of Valls, Dolors Farré. In addition, there were performances by some of the up-and-coming musicians on the Catalan music scene, who have performed half a dozen of Gerhard's pieces. These included pianists Jordi Massó, Daniel Ruiz, and Miquel Villalba; clarinetist Oriol Estivill; and tenor Roger Padullés, who is currently rehearsing the role of Melot in the opera. Tristan and Isolde, which premieres on January 12 at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.