Robert Gerhard: del Palau al Món

Robert Gerhard (1896-1970) turned his Catalan roots into a musical language of universal reach, understanding creation as a space of freedom, intellectual commitment and…

The exhibition traces the career of Robert Gerhard, who turned his Catalan roots into a musical language of international reach and regarded creation as a space of freedom, intellectual commitment and national construction. The Palau de la Música Catalana is the focus of the proposal: the building hosted some of his first works and was a key venue in his career in Barcelona.

Among the milestones covered by the route is the 1936 Festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music, of which Gerhard was one of the main driving forces. That gathering placed Barcelona at the centre of the European avant-garde. The exile following the Spanish Civil War interrupted that project, although from Cambridge the composer went on developing a work of international projection without losing his bond with Catalonia.

The exhibition is part of the Biennal Robert Gerhard, which takes place in Barcelona and Valls. It is a photographic proposal that places Gerhard's figure between the Catalan tradition and his universal projection.