Bernat Vivancos: "Rosalía and Jennifer López came looking for me."

PeraladaThe Peralada Festival is one of the institutions most committed to the premiere of new Catalan musical works. In this year's Easter edition, held from April 17 to 20, the composer Bernat Vivancos (Barcelona, ​​​​1973) presents the commissioned work Responsoría Hebdomadae Sanctae: A contemporary review of the lessons of darkness of Holy Week, written for the heart a cappella, which aims to bring new sounds to the original spirituality of the Christian liturgy. Vivancos is one of the most prolific Catalan composers of the 21st century, heir to the musical tradition of the Montserrat choir school, trained in Barcelona, ​​Paris and Oslo, with his own compositional style, eminently contemporary but at the same time eclectic and timeless.

What can we expect from these Responsories contemporary works that will premiere in Peralada?

— I respectfully follow the traditional canons of other composers who have composed responsories, and I use the original texts of the Holy Week liturgy on the death of Christ in the most typical way possible. It is, therefore, a sacred work and should be heard as such, but my music is open and not intended solely for believers.

Is Tomás Luis de Victoria your great reference for writing a piece like this?

— Yes, when I was a child attending the Montserrat choir school, I sang his responsories and was deeply impressed. I'm fascinated by how Tomás Luis de Victoria musically treats the text, each word, each phrase, with a very specific musical content. The passage says something, and musically the piece evokes that same thing. It's very difficult and a significant challenge, but this is what I've tried to achieve with my responsories.

However, from a musical point of view, his proposal has nothing to do with the harmonies and modes of the Renaissance.

— Of course, the harmonies, the style, and the way I construct the music are my own; it wouldn't make any sense to imitate Victoria to this extent. I propose a work that was also created centuries before, but in my own language, and that's the beauty of it: each composer maintains his own musical sincerity.

And how would you describe that unique musical language that identifies you?

— I wouldn't be the most appropriate person to define my music, but I would mention a phrase from my composition professor in Oslo, Lasse Thoresen, who said that mine is a "timeless music," that you don't know where to place it, whether 600 years ago, 400 years ago, or in the 21st century. I maintain that it is obviously music written in the 21st century, but I agree that it is quite unclassifiable, since it will remind some of ancient music, others will say that it is music New Age, spiritual music. I don't know...

Does the spiritual side of the Montserrat choir come from your childhood and adolescence?

— Of course, in Montserrat, there's a lot of singing, every day, during some very important years in a musician's life, and a very beautiful and interesting repertoire is sung. The voice is an instrument we carry within us, so using it so much during this age in Montserrat leaves a lasting mark on you and is the greatest gift you take away as a musician. I later studied in Barcelona, ​​Paris, and Oslo, but my mother's milk, what helped me grow from a young age, was the choir school.

Your music is timeless. But does it have a place? Is Catalan identity present in any way?

— I'm often told I'm a musician from the South who makes music from the North. And I certainly acknowledge that I have Nordic and Scandinavian influences, but at the same time, I'm 100% Mediterranean. The treatment of my vocal and orchestral music is reminiscent of Nordic music and the spectral school, with its reflection of cold, dark nature, centered on the physical law of sound. But in terms of coloration or the presentation of the material, I'm more Catalan, less cold and static, since I was immersed in Catalan folklore as a child. I now live in Catalonia, and our climate and much brighter nature also inspire me greatly.

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He has collaborated with Rosalía and Jennifer Lopez, creating arrangements and lyrics for her recordings. Are you interested in pop music?

— Interestingly, it was them who were interested in what I do; they came to me, and for me it was extraordinary. "Your music moves me," Rosalía told me. In these kinds of collaborations, what I believe is most important is the sincerity of each person and not betraying our principles. They do what they do, and I do what I do, and at no point do I want to be less than them to get closer to their style, or vice versa. If we maintain sincerity, the result is good.

In Peralada, he takes the testimony of Joan Magrané, who last year He also premiered a version of the responsories, and Raquel García-Tomás You've just premiered a piece at the Palau de la Música Catalana as a composer-in-residence. How do you see the current state of contemporary Catalan musical creation?

— We're in a moment of great wealth, since, especially after the creation of the Higher School of Music of Catalonia (ESMUC), composers of great quality are emerging, something that didn't happen before. This also makes it more difficult to find your place, but, as I said before, if you're sincere about what you want to do, then you'll be able to find your place in the world of contemporary creation. For me, that's what's important. Now, although we've improved a lot, we're clearly not Vienna, and we need more commissions, education, support, and proposals so that all this talent and wealth can make a living from music.