Cobla Mediterrània - Antoni Ros Marbà - la Rambla (Festa a Ciutat & Sardanes) (2022)

A new CD of works for Cobla composed by Antoni Ros Marbà has been recorded with the production of Josep Maria Serracant. Each of these musical pieces has been performed by Cobla Mediterrània, under the direction of Santiago Serrate. Antoni Ros Marbà's vast work in the field of La Cobla also touches closely on the Sardana in its most musical aspect. Thanks to his association with Cobla Barcelona in his professional beginnings, Mestre Ros Marbà began to write for this instrumental formation both in terms of the sardana form and in the symphonic aspect. In an interview with Albert Fontelles-Ramonet, the Master explains that "the first sardana I wrote was Isidrenca. When I finished it, I went to Joaquim Serra's house, in Carrer del Notariat, and asked him if he could play it for me." Finally, it would be Narcís Paulís who accepted the request to instrument this sardana, with the recommendation of Joaquim Serra.

Among the first sardanas composed by Ros Marbà we can mention Barcelona 1957 and Intimitat. In those that follow, already in his artistic maturity, Alimara, Porta Ferrada and later Homage to the classics (2010), From Calonge to Palamós on the old road (2010), From Figueres to Port Lligat (2016), Calonge, 50 years ( 2017) or his latest sardana to date: Twenty Four Times (2018). In the field of symphonic composition for couplets, Mestre Ros Marbà made his debut at a very young age with Impressions de la Cerdanya (1955) and the symphonic print for couplets and percussion Festa Ciutat (1957). As a result of the collaboration with Esbart Verdaguer, he was commissioned to compose several ballets, among which La Rambla (1967) stands out, based on a script by Joan Valls-Volart and with choreography by Salvador Mel·lo and which he wrote for augmented couplet and percussion. Also in his stage of creative beginnings, Antoni Ros Marbà made arrangements for singers of the Catalan New Song, such as Joan Manuel Serrat, Marina Rossell or Raimon among many others.

In this new CD of works for cobla the figure of Antoni Ros Marbà stands out as a composer. In the words of Santiago Serrate, “Is Maestro Ros Marbà a composer? Surely you are wondering... well, yes! He is a composer and very good! Some time ago, I read an interview in which he was defined as -"a composer who conducts", concludes Serrate. In this very special CD we find the interpretation of the Cobla Mediterrània conducted by Santiago Serrate of Festa Ciutat, a symphonic piece for cobla and percussion, the sardanas Homage to the classics (2010), De Calonge a Palamós pel camí vell (2010), De Figueres a Port Lligat (2016), Calonge, 50 years (2017) and Quatre paix vint (2018) and La Rambla, symphonic suite for augmented couplet and percussion, taken from the ballet of the same title. The recording of this CD was carried out at the Espai Montserrat Camps de la Casa de la Cobla, in Sabadell, on February 2 and 3, 2019. The recording took place under the supervision of Master Antoni Ros Marbà , the musical production of Jesús Ventura and Josep-Maria Serracant and with David Casamitjana as sound technician.