El Cant dels Ocells

El Cant dels Ocells (Introduction, Theme and 12 Variations) (from Catalan, The song of birds) is a work composed by Oriol Cruixent for solo percussion and symphonic orchestra. The work is structured in the form of Introduction, Theme and twelve Variations on a traditional Catalan Carol.

Originally, the traditional carol "The song of birds" contains a total of fifteen stanzas that explain the joy of nature on the day of the birth of the child Jesus in the portal of Betlehem, starring a total of 32 birds (imperial eagle, sparrow, greenfinch, siskin, linnet, thrush, nightingale, redstart, stonechat, wren, canary, woodlark, blackbird, tit, francolin, hoopoe, turtle dove, rock dove, woodpecker, bullfinch, quail, cuckoo, partridge, magpie, mistle thrush, jay, goldfinch, chaffinch, scops owl, little owl, tawny owl and eagle-owl). The melody of The Song of Birds was popularized outside of Catalonia by the cellist Pau Casals who began to perform it in his concerts from the exile of 1939 until his death.

In the work El Cant dels Ocells (Introduction, Theme and 12 Variations on a Traditional Catalan Carol) Oriol Cruixent creates a spiritual journey through the twelve minor keys of the circle of fifths, where the harmonic and rhythmic rotary movements serve to frame the entire structure of the work. The graph below details this harmonic journey through the complete circle of twelve fifths, starting from the key of F minor in the Introduction, and ending in the key of E flat Major in Variation XII. The 32 birds that appear in the original text are embodied in Variation XI, where the soloist is responsible for playing a prepared recording, which must be heard throughout the variation and ends at the beginning of Variation XII. In this recording, the 32 birds are heard, respecting the order of appearance of the original text.

The composition El Cant dels Ocells (Introduction, Theme and 12 Variations on a traditional Catalan Carol) for solo percussion and symphonic orchestra, was completed by Oriol Cruixent in March 2024, commissioned by the Chilean percussionist Claudio Estay and dedicated to him.