Els Segadors

Els Segadors
Title in German	The reapers
country	Catalonia
Usage period	1899 - today
text	Emili Guanyavents
melody	Francesc Alió
Sheet of music
Audio files

Els Segadors (German: 'Die Schnitter') is an old Catalan folk song. For a long time it was an unofficial national anthem of Catalonia. Since 1931, by decision of the Generalitat (the self-government of the autonomous region of Catalonia), it has been the official national anthem of Catalonia, initially avoiding a commitment to one of the two common text variants. In 1937 the text was also made binding.

The song goes back to the revolt of the reapers (1640–1652) against the Habsburg-Spanish imperial family. It is a powerful call to all Catalans to defend their country, their people and their values. It is characterized by a serious and solemn style.

To the story of the song

The reapers (mountain mowers during a rising thunderstorm) , painting by Albin Egger-Lienz , around 1922

In a 2011 work, the ethnomusicologist Jaume Ayats identified the origin of Els Segadors in the adaptation of the popular erotic song Els tres Segadors i la Dama (The Three Reavers and the Lady), which was also known in other parts of Romance-speaking Europe. In the uprising of 1640 the melody was then superimposed on an anonymous ballad that documented the bad behavior of the Castilian troops towards the Catalan population.

The song addresses the " War of the Reaper " ( La Guerra dels Segadors ) in the form of a historical romance. This uprising was directed against the Habsburg King Philip IV of Spain and his prime minister, the Count of Olivares , and is one of the European peasant revolutions of the 17th century against absolutist monarchs. The song has been handed down in many text and melody variants over the centuries.

Gradually - especially in the wake of the romantically inspired Renaixença in the 19th century - the song took on the character of a Catalan national anthem, with two text versions competing:

• The ballad-like “historical” text was published in 1882 in the Romacerillos Catalanes by Manuel Milà i Fontanals . The music was published in the Recull de Cançons populars catalanes (collection of Catalan folk songs) by Francesc Alió in 1892.
• The "political" text was the winner of a prize competition announced by the Unió Catalanista in 1899 (composed by Emili Guanyavents ). This version provoked a huge public debate.

The political text finally prevailed and was specified and published in the Cançoner Revolucionari Internacional (CRI) 1937 by the Generalitat as the binding text version for the national anthem. Today it is the much better known text version.

El Segador was also the name of a picture that Joan Miró made as a mural for the pavilion of the Spanish Republic at the Paris World Exhibition in 1937 . With this picture he referred to the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939).

After the Spanish Civil War, singing the song was banned under threat of draconian penalties. It was not until 1976, with the beginning of the democratization of Spain, that the anthem was permitted again and generally accepted as the Catalan national anthem. In 1992 the Olympic Games in Barcelona opened with this anthem. By resolution of the Catalan Parliament on February 25, 1993 in Barcelona , Els Segadors was again officially declared the Catalan national anthem. The 2006 Statute of Autonomy for Catalonia expressly confirms this.

Text versions

Current text

Of the original six stanzas of the "political text", these three are now common and are officially sung as the national anthem of Catalonia:

Catalan

German

Catalunya triomfant tornarà a ser rica i plena! Endarrere aquesta gent tan ufana i tan superba.     Refrain:   Bon cop de falç, bon cop de falç   defensors de la terra, bon cop de falç! Ara és hora, segadors! Ara és hora d'estar alerta! Per quan vingui un altre juny esmolem ben bé les one! Que tremoli l'enemic en veient la nostra ensenya. Com fem caure espigues d'or quan convé seguem cadenes.

Triumphant Catalonia will be rich again and at its peak! Will leave these people behind, so ostentatious and so haughty.     Refrain:   A good blow with the sickle, a good blow with the sickle,   defender of the country, a good blow with the sickle! Now it's time to be your reaper! Now is the time to be vigilant! For when next June comes we'll sharpen the tools well! Let the enemy tremble when they see our flag. Just as we drop the ears of gold, so we saw chains when the time comes.

Historical text

The following is the traditional ballad-like text of the Catalan folk song with many stanzas:

Catalan

German

Catalunya, comtat gran, qui t'ha vist tan rica i plena! Ara el rei, Nostre Senyor declarada ens té la guerra.     Refrain:   Segueu arran!   Segueu arran,   que la palla va cara!   Segueu arran! Lo gran comte d'Olivar semper li burxa l'orella: “Ara és hora, nostre rei, ara és hora que fem guerra.” Contra tots els catalans, ja veieu quina n'han feta. Seguiren viles i llocs fins al lloc de Riu d'Arenes. N'han cremat un sagrat lloc, que Santa Coloma es deia. Creams albes i casulles, i caporals i patenes. I el Santíssim Sagrament, alabat sia per semper. Mataren un sacerdot, mentres que la missa deia. Mataren un cavaller, a la porta de l'església, en Lluís de Furrià, i els àngels li fan gran festa. Lo pa que no era blanc deien que era massa negre: El donaven as cavalls sols per assolar la terra. El vi que no era bo, engegaven les aixetes, el tiraven pels carrers sols per regar la terra. A presència dels parents deshonraven les donzelles i mataven els seus pares si del mal donaven queixa. N'hi donen part al Virrei, del mal que aquells soldiers feien. "Llicència els he donat jo: Molta més se'n poden prendre." A vista de tot això s'és esvalotat la terra: Entraren a Barcelona mil persones forasteres. A la plaça de Sant Jaume, n'hi foren les dependències. A vista de tot això s'és avalotat la terra. Comencen de llevar gent i enarborar les banderes. Entraren a Barcelona with persones forasteres. Entren com a segadors, com érem en temps de sega. De tres guàrdies que n'hi ha, yes n'han morta la primera. Hi mataren al Virrei, a l'entrant de la galera. Mataren els diputats i els jutges de l'Audiència. Aneu alerta, catalans! Catalans, aneu alerta! Mireu que així ho faran, quan seran en vostres terres. Anaren a la presó: don llibertat as presos. El bisbe els va beneir amb la ma dreta i l'esquerra: “On és vostre capità? On és la vostre bandera? ” Varen treure el bon Jesús tot cobert amb un vel negre: “ Aquí és nostre capità, aquesta és nostre bandera. ” A les poor catalans, que ens han declarat la guerra!     Refrain:   Segueu arran!   Segueu arran,   que la palla va cara!   Segueu arran!

Catalonia, you great county, who has seen you so rich and prosperous! Now the King our Lord has declared war on us.     Refrain:   Cut close to the earth,   cut close to the earth,   because the straw is very expensive at the moment!   Cut close to the earth. The great Count of Olivares is always at his ear: "Now it is time, our King, Now it is time to start the war." Against all Catalans, you can see what they have done. They went through all the cities and towns up to the Riu d'Arenes. They set fire to a sacred place called Santa Coloma. They burned albums and vestments, as well as corporals and paten. And blessed be the Most Holy Sacrament for all eternity. They killed a priest while he was reading mass. They killed a rider at the gate to the church, which was called Lluís de Furrià, the angels celebrate this in a big festival. The bread that wasn't quite white they said was too black. They gave it to the horses just to ravage this earth. They opened the taps from the wine that was not good . They poured it on the street to water the earth. In the presence of the relatives, they dishonored the girls. and killed their parents when they complained about it. They told the viceroy about the wrongdoings the soldiers had committed “I have given them a free hand! They can afford a lot more! " When they saw all of this , the earth was in an uproar. They went to Barcelona, thousands of people from abroad. They established their representation on the Plaça de Sant Jaume (Barcelona) . In the face of these incidents , the people resigned raised. the people rise and hoist their flags. It come to Barcelona thousands Foreign. they entered (the city) as reapers, because the time was the harvest. From three guards who were there, they have been the first killed. you Also killed the viceroy at the entrance to the galley. They killed the MPs and the judges of the court. Watch out! Catalans! Catalans! watch out! They'll do the same when they march into you. They went to jail and gave the prisoners freedom. The bishop blessed them with the right and left hand: "Where is your leader? Where is your flag?" They took out the baby Jesus covered with a black cloth. "Here is un Serious leader, this is our flag. ” To arms, Catalans! Because they declared war on us.     Refrain:   Cut close to the earth,   cut close to the earth,   because the straw is very expensive at the moment!   Cut close to the earth.

To the discography

Various recordings of this song exist as choir, soloist and instrumental versions. There are also many arrangements. The choral version by Josep Viader , the version for Cobla (sardana orchestra) by Francesc Pujol and the version for banda (wind orchestra) by Joan Lamote de Grignon are well known in Catalonia. For lovers of historical performance practice, the recording of Montserrat Figueras and the Capella Reial de Catalunya under Jordi Savall is particularly recommended. In 2005, Antoni Ros Marbà released a musically outstanding version for choir and symphonic orchestra.

Unofficial Catalan hymns

During the Franco dictatorship , three very different pieces of music achieved the status of an unofficial Catalan national anthem:

• the chanson L'Estaca ('The Stake') by the Catalan singer Lluís Llach ,
• the Marian hymn Virolai de Montserrat , composed by Jacint Verdaguer (also known as Rosa d'Abril ),
• the ancient Catalan Christmas carol El cant dels ocells ('The song of the birds') - the cellist Pau Casals opened each of his exile concerts with this song as long as his homeland Catalonia was politically suppressed.

literature

• Enciclopèdia Catalana: Els Segadors. Retrieved February 14, 2019 (Catalan). 
• Jaume Ayats: Els Segadors. De cançó erótica a himne nacional. In: L'Avenç . Barcelona 2011, p. 86 f .
• Florian Grafl: Remembered violence? The Catalan folk song Els Segadors and its role in the radicalization of Catalan nationalism at the beginning of the 20th century . In: Michael Fischer, Tobias Widmayer (Hrsg.): Lied und popular Kultur / Song and popular Culture. Yearbook of the Center for Popular Culture and Music . 59th year 2014. Waxmann Verlag, Münster, New York, ISBN 978-3-8309-3184-3 , pp. 95 ff . ( google.de ).

Footnotes

1. ↑ after Enciclopèdia Catalana.
2. ↑ Jaume Ayats, 2011.
3. ↑ June is the harvest time, but in this context it can also stand for war.
4. ↑ to: Cançons de la Catalunya mil·lenària , Barcelona 1991 (Auvidis-Astrée, E 8758).
5. ^ Antoni Ros Marbà, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Cataluny, Cor de Cambra del Palau de la Música Catalana: Els Segadors - Himne Nacional de Catalunya - 11th setembre. (Editor's note: September 11th is the national holiday of Catalonia), CD published by the Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona 2006.

Web links

• Els Segadors in the Wiktionary
• Generalitat de Catalunya: The National Anthem (official site in English)
• Els Segadors , the official anthem of Catalonia (YouTube), with overlay text and translation in four languages