Presentation of the book “HARCA, HARCA, HARCA! Músiques per a la recreació històrica de la Guerra de Successió” by Ferran Navarro i Soriano

Good afternoon to all those who wanted to join us today at La Intersindical.
I want to be brief because it is not my words that are of interest, but those of the protagonist of this call: FERRAN NAVARRO I SORIANO, born on July 29, 1965.
I will not expand on his musical career, broad and intense, nor his immense musical knowledge. You can find all this on the Internet and, above all, on the cover of this magnificent book that reveals so much information to us about our musical history in particular and cultural history in general.
First of all, I would like to quote the fragment of an interview I did with him for the Catalan magazine of cultural associations, TORNAVEU: «The book is the story of a war told from a musical point of view: how our soldiers sang, fought and paraded in the Civil War»
Secondly, I would like to briefly report on the content of the book.
There is a first part of a theoretical nature that allow us to understand the history of this compilation of music and lyrics and a second part dedicated to the SCORES.
As for the first part, it begins with an introduction by Josep Guia I Marín and a Prologue by J. Eduard Beneyto I Mateu.
Next, the author develops a set of topics necessary to understand the musical history of the book: historical background, use of double reed instruments, percussion, sound symbol of the Maulets, musical iconography, prohibitions in festivals and in music, musical ripostra, participation of Estrela Roja of Benimaclet in the Miquelets of the Kingdom of Valencia, other scores, musical and historical chronology and conclusion.
And I won’t say anything more about it because Ferran Navarro tells it much better in the book than I do…
That’s why I would like, after speaking to us himself, if you would let me ask you some questions. As a kind of «appetizer» of everything you want to know:
Why did you feel the need to write the book?
What characterizes you musically?
How did the project come about and how did it evolve?
Why has it been considered exceptional?
Who has participated?