top of page
  • "En Tartane"

“En Tartane” (L'arrivée en Cerdagne) is an evocation of what it was like to arrive in Cerdanya with the trot of the tartane (min. 0:48). That is why the sound of birds is heard before the first notes on the piano.

 

Although most of the piece is related to the imitation of this movement, the feelings that were awakened in Séverac upon arriving in Catalan lands is also present. To the theme of “Hope,” recurring in four of the five numbers, nostalgia for memories with his Catalan friends flourishes (Ex. 1 and min. 2:49); and the sonorous memories of the cobla emerge with the interventions of the flabiol. For this theme, which comes from “Les Fêtes”, written in 1908, Séverac was surely thinking of Albéniz, who was ill and died shortly afterwards, and for whom he was very concerned as his correspondence with his daughter Laura shows[i].

Ejemplo 1. “En Tartane”, cc. 146-149.Fuente: Séverac, Déodat de. Cerdaña: etudes pittoresques pour Piano. París: Rouart-Lerolle & cie, 1919, 11.

With the recordings that I have incorporated in this issue, I wanted to transfer the current soundscape generated upon arrival in Cerdanya, with sounds of trains, cars and airplanes. At the same time, it is a way to remember and raise awareness of the impact that these means of transport have on pollution. I have extracted them from free resources available on YouTube and from the BBC sound effects archive[ii].

 

The introduction of “En Tartane” contains characteristics of the sonority of the introduction played by the flabiol in the sardana (Ex. 2). It is not until the tenuto of the first bar that I launch a track with the start of a car, when the introduction is diluted towards the first theme, coinciding with upper mordents around the D3 and with moments of rest in which the discourse is uncertain (min. 0:36) [iii]. When the sound of the engine approaches, I continue my performance with the main theme, where it is easy to recognize the writing for cobla of two tenores and flugelhorn together with the ostinato of the accompaniment (Ex. 3 and min. 0:48).​​​​

Ejemplo 2. “En Tartane”, c. 1.Fuente: Séverac, Déodat de. Cerdaña: etudes pittoresques pour Piano. París: Rouart-Lerolle & cie, 1919, 5.

Ejemplo 3. “En Tartane”, cc. 3-7.Fuente: Séverac, Déodat de. Cerdaña: etudes pittoresques pour Piano. París: Rouart-Lerolle & cie, 1919, 5.

In many fragments Séverac incorporates other resources common to the cobla such as bass accents, pedal notes and repeated notes. There is also the tutti, with the open chords of the accompaniment in the left hand forcing the piano to arpeggiate them, a very frequent resource of Séverac (Ex. 4 and min. 1:09).

 

The sound of the plane appears twice coinciding with the same motive, as a leitmotif (m. 35 and 72, and mins. 1:09 and 1:35). In m. 106, coinciding with a fragment of repetition in the right hand and of extreme registers between both hands, a car horn sounds to accompany the moment of tension (min. 2:07). In m. 121 the only car is heard passing by, with a more noticeable engine sound than the latest models already offer. In this fragment the first theme is heard in f, clair, and very sharp, to gradually disappear in the theme of “Hope”. I thought it was appropriate here to give the opportunity to listen to the sounds of nature that welcome the arrival in Cerdanya, the sound of the river and the firm and slow step of some horses that accompany the theme of “Hope” (Ex. 4 and m. 146 and min. 2:49 river, and m. 213 and min. 4:53 horses). At this moment I imagine Séverac arriving in the valley and interrupting his way to listen to its sounds. In between, the sound of two trains (m. 176 and min. 4:11, and m. 181 and min. 4:25) intrudes on the appearance of a new theme with which he sets off again on the trot of the journey.

The number ends with a memory of the introduction and the sound of the birds, thus ending the journey undertaken at the beginning in a cyclical way.

Ejemplo 4. “En Tartane”, cc. 33-37.Fuente: Séverac, Déodat de. Cerdaña: etudes pittoresques pour Piano. París: Rouart-Lerolle & cie, 1919, 7.

[i] Séverac, Déodat de. s.d. Biblioteca de Catalunya.

[ii] The audio tracks with truck sounds in “Le Retour des muletiers” were also taken from these same sources.

[iii] I use the software LaneTrack, developed by Francesc Esteban for my doctoral thesis, where I configure playlists with the different tracks for each number, which are activated by myself with a Bluetooth pedal.

bottom of page