Homenatge a Xirinacs (Tribute to Xirinacs) (symphonic band)

Homenatge a Xirinacs was originally written for piano in one of the Sis Dedicatòries, Op. 112, in 2009. Eight years later, the composer orchestrated this piece for symphonic band.

Dedicated to the memory of his admired friend Lluís M. Xirinacs, a great humanist and defender of national justice and freedom, the piece glosses “El cant de la senyera” (popular Catalan hymn) in a gradual process that, at its culmination, acquires great drama.

After an epic, polytonal beginning, the clarinets present a theme in the lower register that hints at the “Cant de la senyera”. This is followed by a development that gradually grows in orchestration and dynamics, reaching a high point of tension. It also gradually returns to the initial atmosphere with echoes of the song, fading into the lower register with the dramatic echo of the tam-tam.