From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Raimon
Raimon
Sanchis,
Ramon Pelegero Sanchis who takes the stage name of phenomenon of little consequence, began to receive the
Raimon (Valencian pronunciation: [ˈrajmon]), is a Valencian attention of the censors and of the institutions of the
Spanish singer, one of the most important exponents of Franquistas, with the host of prohibitions that accompa-
the musical style of Nova Cançó and one of the most well- nied them.
known veteran artists in the Catalan language. Immediately thereafter, Raimon’s second EP ap-
peared, with Se’n va anar and three other tunes: the exis-
Biography tential Disset anys, Cançó del capvespre (Raimon’s first set-
ting of a poem of Salvador Espriu) and Ahir, quickly
known by its subtitle Diguem no, which would for many
Youth years be song with altered lyrics that softened its overtly
Raimon was born in Xàtiva in the province of Valencia, political message. Much later, Raimon confessed that he
Spain on December 2, 1940, at el carrer Blanc (White wanted to put Se’n va anar and Diguem no together be-
Street), which he references in some songs. In his youth cause, if they banned the disc, they would ban the both of
he worked for several years as a radio broadcaster in his them.
hometown, absorbing the music of artists as diverse as In 1964 a third EP appeared, which featured the songs
Juliette Gréco, The Platters, and Juanito Valderrama. D’un temps d’un país and Cançó de les mans. That same year,
At age 21, he moved to Valencia in order to study his- his first LP saw light, a live album containing versions
tory. It was there that he discovered Catalan culture, and of the majority of his previously released songs and two
read writers such as Ausiàs March, Salvador Espriu, Josep new tunes, Si em mor and Cantarem la vida. In 1965, Raimon
Pla, and Joan Fuster, among others. Prior to this, howev- sang for the first time in Barcelona without Els Setze Jut-
er, he had already written his first song, Al vent (To the ges or other singers: his first solo recital took place in the
wind). Aliança del Poble Nou. The same year he began his in-
In 1962, Raimon made his first public appearance at ternational activities at the university at Lovaina in Bel-
a literary prize ceremony. A little later, after entering a gium. He published an EP with four love songs dedicated
contest in Castelló, where Els Setze Jutges participated, to the woman whom would become his wife the follow-
he sang for them. Josep Maria Espinàs was impressed and ing year. The songs were En tu estime el món, Treballaré el
invited him to Barcelona for the Fòrum Vergés. His suc- teu cos, Si un dia vols and No sé com.
cess was immediate. Raimon surprised with the form and In 1965, his historic open-air performance at the In-
content of his songs. His urgent texts spoke of a rebel- stitut Químic de Sarrià took place, the first true massive
lious existentialism; his style departed from the "French act of Catalan song; he also made his first appearances
style" of Els Setze Jutges and offered a vision of the world in Paris and Germany. The album Cançons de la roda del
tied not to the life of the Barcelona bourgeois in which temps appeared that year, with a painting by Joan Miró
musicians like Espinàs, Delfí Abella, and Enric Barbat on the cover. The music was centered around the book
lived, but rather to the Valencian working classes. His El caminant i el mur by Espriu, twelve poems which recall
first EP appeared quickly on Catalan record label Edigsa the solar cycle and the life cycle of man, to which Raimon
in 1963; it included the songs Al vent, Som, La pedra, and A added a concluding song of character more civic than
colps, and became a great sales success. metaphysical, Inici de càntic en el temple.
In France he released an album recorded live on June
The dictatorial era 7 at the Olympia, which won the Francis Carco award
During this period of success, he received a surprising the following year for best foreign song, granted by the
proposal: to sing at the Festival de la Canción Mediter- Académie du Disque Français. Unreleased versions of
ránea with a song in Catalan. Initially reticent, Raimon some songs censored in Spain appeared on this disc.
eventually accepted "per voluntat de servei al país i a la llen- In 1967 he performed at the Teatre Romea, the first
gua" (as an act of service to the country and the lan- recital of a Catalan singer there. He also performed in
guage). Raimon, without a guitar, sang, together with Cuba, Switzerland, and other countries. A concert in
Salomé, who gave a feminine interpretation of the love Barcelona at the Palau de la Música Catalana on January
song Se’n va anar by Josep Maria Andreu and Lleó Borrell. 28 was released as a live album, Raimon Palau, with 12
The song, voted by the public, won first prize. From that songs. A last EP followed that same year.
moment, Catalan song, considered up to then a minority In 1968 he released his first disc with Discophon, the
song Indesinenter (a setting of a poem of Espriu). This
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Raimon
same year he had two more historic recitals, one at the The democratic era
Price labor movement festival and the other at the Facul-
The following year, during the optimism preceding de-
ty of Economics in Madrid. He also performed in Mexico,
mocratic rule, he sang in the sports pavilion of Real
Germany, Switzerland, and Cuba that year. The next year,
Madrid on April 1. This was originally to be the first of
he returned to the Paris Olympia, and another LP was re-
four concerts, but the final three were cancelled. The
leased solely in France.
performance was captured on a double album, El recital
After another single, which included his first setting
de Madrid. In the spring of this same year, he appeared
of Ausias March, Veles e vents, he released the disc Per de-
for the first and only time at the Sis Hores de Cançó in
struir aquell qui l’ha desert in 1970, arranged by Lleó Borrell
Canet de Mar. More than sixty thousand people filled
and with cover art by Antoni Tàpies. Side A was dedicated
the Pla d’en Sala de Canet. During Raimon’s performance,
to settings of 15th century Catalan poets: the poem Desert
while he performed the song Inici de càntic en el temple, a
d’amics (the original name, Presoner, was forbidden by the
crane elevated an enormous Catalan flag on the side of
censors), by Jordi de Sant Jordi; a fragment of the Llibre
the stage.
dels bons amonestaments, of Anselm Turmeda, titled Elogi
From this moment, Raimon dedicated much effort to
dels diners, and four poems of Ausiàs March: Veles e vents,
avoiding irrelevance as a resistance artist. Despite mak-
Així com cell, Quins tan segurs consells and Si com lo taur. Side
ing four appearances at the Palacio de los Deportes de
B featured Indesinenter and five songs written by Raimon:
Barcelona in 1977, he began to steer clear of large con-
Societat de consum (one of his few songs with an ironic
certs and stayed away from organized actions for politi-
treatment), Quan creus que ja s’acaba, De nit a casa, T’ho de-
cal parties. Also, he began to play accompanied by a dou-
via and Sobre la pau.
ble bass, before assembing a full backing group. Up until
In 1971 he released another LP with included 13 de
then, Raimon always had played solo, with his guitar.
març, cançó dels creients and the love song Quan te’n vas.
Before touring Japan for the first time in 1977 he re-
Other releases appeared in France, the U.S. and Uruguay,
leased the album Lliurament del cant, which combined set-
and he toured in Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina. The fol-
tings of Joan Timoneda (Bella, de vós so enamorós, Qui té an-
lowing two years he released further international discs
guila per la cua), Espriu (Potser arran de l’alba), and some of
and gave hundreds of live shows. In 1973 he published
his own texts: Qui pregunta ja respon, Un lleu tel d’humitat,
the book Poemes i cançons, with a prologue by Manuel
Tristesa el nom, Com una mà, Que tothom, A Joan Miró (not
Sacristán.
exactly a new song, but hitherto not released in Spain),
In 1974 the album A Victor Jara was released, collab-
and a studio version of Jo vinc d’un silenci.
orating with a number of avant-garde French musicians
Two years later, in 1979, a new album appeared, Quan
like Michel Portal. It includes some settings, of Ausias
l’aigua es queixa, assembled from six concerts in the Palau
March (No em pren així, Lo jorn ha por), Joan Roís de Corella
de la Música Catalana. It includes poems of Espriu (Nous
(Si en lo mal temps), Joan Timoneda (So qui so) and Pere
cants de llibertat and the ironic swing I beg your pardon),
Quart (Una vaca amb un vedellet en braços). Raimon’s orig-
Ausiàs March (Si em demanau and On és lo lloc), and his own
inals were T’he conegut sempre igual, a song about secrecy
texts: Als matins a ciutat, L’última llum, Un sol consell, No el
written as a result of his fortuitous encounter with the
coneixia de res, Fou un infant, Perquè ningú no em contarà els
persecuted Gregori López i Raimundo; Molt lluny, a nos-
seus somnis, I després de creure tant Andreu, amic, dedicat-
talgic revisitation of adolescence; Morir en aquesta vida, a
ed to the sculptor Andreu Alfaro. This album displayed a
rejection of suicide which contains a literal citation of
maturation in his poetic style.
Mayakovsky; Amb tots els petits vicis, about being in one’s
In order to regroup all his work, in 1981 he re-record-
thirties; and the sober love song Com un puny. It was ded-
ed all his songs with new arrangements by Manel Camp
icated to Victor Jara, Chilean singer assassinated by the
and Antoni Ros Marbà. The result was a set of ten discs,
Pinochet government in September 1973.
whose songs were grouped thematically: Orígens, Cançons
This same year, two more albums appeared; the first
d’amor, Ausiàs March, Dedicatòries, Cançons de la roda del
in France, T’adores, amic, had several songs banned in
temps (Espriu), He mirat aquesta terra (Espriu), Poetes dels
Spain. The other, Campus de Bellaterra, was recorded live
segles XV i XVI, Amb els silencis i les nostres paraules and L
at a performance at the Universitat Autònoma de
’aigua del temps que vius. The tenth disc, Testimonis, is ded-
Barcelona. Many of the songs had strong social/political
icated to live recordings and includes a version of Al vent
overtones: Qui ja ho sap tot, A un amic, 18 de maig a la Villa,
sung in Japanese by a choir from that country. The only
No em mou al crit, Quan jo vaig nàixer, and the poem of
unreleased songs incorporated in Raimon. otes les cançons
Espriu, dedicated to Pompeu Fabra, El meu poble i jo.
were some settings of Joan Roís de Corella, Joan Timone-
In 1975, while Franco ailed, Raimon sang at the Palau
da, Ausiàs March and Espriu.
dels Esports de Barcelona, where he debuted one of his
In 1983 he released Les hores guanyades, which includ-
classics, Jo vinc d’un silenci.
ed his thoughts on the political scene (including the
failed coup d’etat of February 23), the life of the artist
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Raimon
and many other themes. From this moment, Raimon ap- the title Cançons de mai. Cançons de sempre, Raimon made
peared rarely in public and made few recordings. He re- appearances in Perpignan, Xàtiva, Majorca, and in the
leased a new album in 1984, Entre la nota i el so, with songs Palau de la Música Catalana. He also toured Britain. He
like Lluny de la pedra i de l’aigua and Al meu país la pluja. was heckled [1] at Madrid’s Plaza de las Ventas bullring,
The following album (Presències i oblit, 1987) marked where he sang a homage to Miguel Ángel Blanco, assassi-
a brief experimentation with electronic music and with nated by ETA. Some of the public criticised his singing in
instruments like a drum kit and a synthesizer (with Catalan, which he publicly avowed by singing Valencian
arrangements made by the percussionist Ezequiel Guillén dialect of Catalan, and the fact that the song País Basc was
Saki). On this disc are songs of a markedly intimate char- prohibited during the Francoist dictatorship. The act was
acter: Del blanc i el blau, La mar respira calma (written in the rebroadcast on TVE, and provoked great controversy.
style of Espriu), Primer parlaré de tu, etc. At the presenta- At the end of 1997 the CD Recitals al Palau was released
tion of the album at the Palau de la Música Catalana, Rai- and in 1999 he published a compilation of all his love
mon performed for the first time almost entirely without songs, Les cançons d’amor. In 2000, he published a new
using the guitar, gesturing to great effect during the con- Complete Works with many unreleased songs, settings of
cert. 15th century authors: Francí Guerau, Jordi de Sant Jor-
Raimon then took exactly a decade to record an al- di, Mossèn Estanya, Bernat Metge and Jaume Roig. The
bum of new songs, but this was not a time of inactivity; he new complete works also included the only two songs he
formed a stable group of accompanying musicians on the recorded written by other songwriters: Se’n va anar and
guitar, double bass, cello and accordion - and performed Amanda.
together with them as well as solo, under conditions he
found artistically preferable.
In 1992 he toured Japan again, and also sang in vari-
Discography
ous universities in the United States. The same year, he • 1964: Disc antològic de • 1977: Lliurament del
surprised many by making an appearance on Literal, a les seves cançons cant
program on TVE-Catalunya dedicated to the world of lit- • 1966: Raimon a • 1979: Quan l’aigua es
erature. l’Olympia queixa
On Saint George’s day 1993, a large concert took place • 1966: Cançons de la roda • 1981: Totes les cançons
in the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, before some eigh- del temps • 1984: Entre la nota i el so
teen thousand spectators, to celebrate the thirtieth an- • 1967: Raimon al Palau • 1985: Raimon canta
niversary of the release of Al vent. Raimon sang many • 1967: Raimon música • 1987: Presències i oblit
songs, but also on stage were many artists who had sola • 1989: Canta Ausiàs
shared experiences with him over many years: the • 1968: Raimon en directe March
Uruguayan Daniel Vigiletti, the Basque Mikel Laboa, the • 1969: Raimon a • 1993: Integral
Portuguese Luis Cilia, the American folk singer Pete Montserrat • 1993: Cançons
Seeger, and others. Catalan guests included Serrat (a for- • 1969: Sobre la pau. • 1995: I després de creure
mer rival, but reconciled friend), Ovidi Montllor, and Pi Contra la por (Olympia 2) tant
de la Serra. Also in attendance were the Japanese group • 1970: Per destruir aquell • 1997: Ausiàs March /
Warabi-za, the Coral Sant Jordi directed by Oriol Mar- qui l’ha desert Raimon
torell and the band La Lira Ampostina. • 1971: Raimon • 1997: Cançons de mai
The same year a new Complete Works was released, • 1971: Raimon en • 1997: Recitals al Palau
this time on CD. The work, which won the Palmarès des Montevideo • 1999: Dotze cançons
Palmarès given by the Nouvelle Académie du Disque • 1971: Raimon. • 1999: Les cançons d’amor
Français, collected a total of 121 songs divided into the Catalonian protest • 2000: Nova Integral 2000
following: Orígens i dedicatòries, Cançons d’amor i de lluita, songs[2] • 2003: Clàssics i no
Cançons de la roda del temps i d’altres poemes de Salvador • 1972: En vivo • 2003: Raimon-Espriu
Espriu, Ausiàs March i alguns poemes dels segles XV i XVI, • 1972: Diguem no Poesia cantada
Aquest cant vol ser plural and Coincidències, dissidències, in- • 1972: La noche • 2006: Raimon a
decències i algunes rareses, the last being dedicated to live • 1974: A Víctor Jara l’Olympia (1966–2006)
recordings. • 1974: Campus de
In early 1997 a new album finally appeared, Cançons Bellaterra
de mai with arrangements by Manel Camp. It consisted of • 1974: T’adones amic...?
seven settings of Ausiàs March and six of his own poems, • 1976: El recital de
including the ironic Soliloqui solipsista, which was accom- Madrid
panied by a video clip.
That same year he was granted the Gold Medal
(Medalla de Oro) of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Under
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Raimon
Bibliography References
• Mainat, Joan Ramon: Tretze que canten. Editorial [1] El País, 11-9-1997. "El público abucheó a Raimon
Mediterránea, 1982. por cantar en catalán, y a Sacristán, por
• Pomar, Jaume: Raimon, colección Los Juglares, comunista". [1]
Ediciones Jucar, Madrid, 1983. [2] Raimon: Catalonian Protest Songs at Smithsonian
• Pujadó, Miquel: Diccionari de la Cançó. D’Els Setze Jutges Folkways
al Rock Català, April 2000. Persondata
• Escamilla, David: Raimon. L´art de la memòria. Editorial
Name Raimon
Planeta, 2004.
• Batista, Antoni: Raimon. La construcció d´un cant and Alternative names
Raimon. La construcción de un canto. Ediciones La Short description
Magrana. RBA, 2005. In Catalan and Spanish. Date of birth 1940
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Raimon&oldid=468575599"
Categories:
• 1940 births
• Living people
• People from Xàtiva
• Spanish singers
• Catalan musicians
• Catalan-language singers
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