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The Palau de la Música Catalana, located in the Ribera district of Barcelona, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997.
The building is the headquarters of the “Orfeón Catalán”, founded in 1891 by Lluís Millet and Amadeo Vives, a musical institution financed by bourgeois and industrial Catalan music lovers.
We owe this magnificent work to the Barcelona architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, one of the leading representatives of Catalan modernism, who built the building between 1905 and 1908.
Like most Modernist buildings, the Palau is one of the best examples of the integration of all the arts applied to architecture.
The aesthetic play of heavy structural elements, iron and red brick, combined with delicate decorative elements, stands out: floral ornaments, sculpture, wrought iron, mosaics and spectacular stained glass windows.
The Palau de la Música Catalana is currently a cultural facility that hosts concerts, cultural events, conferences, exhibitions, etc and is one of the best examples of modernist art in the city of Barcelona.
How to get there
The Palau de la Música Catalana is located in the Ribera district of Barcelona, you can easily access the palace from the wide avenue Via Laietana, which connects Plaza de Urquinaona with the sea.
Public transport:
- Metro: L1 and L4 Urquinaona
- Buses: 17, 19, 40 and 45
History
The Palau de la Música is one of the best examples of modernist art in the world. Not only for its architectural style and decorative exuberance, but also for representing the much sought-after total work of art.
In the palace architecture, painting and sculpture are indissolubly linked to the applied decorative arts. Its architect, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, turned this musical equipment into a true manifesto of modernist art.
The suggestive effect of a global work of art is achieved through the application of diverse materials and technical innovations, together with decorative motifs that are intertwined with each other, imitating nature in its purest state.
Decoration and Rooms of the Palau de la Música
As the building is cornering, the architect looked for an aesthetic solution that would fit perfectly with the structure and aesthetics of the whole.
For this reason he placed a sculptural group in the form of a boat bow by the also modernist Miquel Blay, La cançó popular catalana (The popular song).
The façade, conceived in red brick and sculptural decorations, is particularly noteworthy for the ornamental ceramic details of the columns and the old ticket office of the Palau, which demonstrate the artist’s unlimited creativity.
The palace was renovated in the middle of the last century. In the year 2000 it was extended by means of an annexe, a modern construction that incorporates glass in its façade, designed by Óscar Tusquets.
The Lluís Millet Room on the first floor is a highlight of the interior. It has an impressive modernist lamp and spectacular glass doors, with the columns standing out notably, all different from each other, both in color and in their decorative motifs.
In the Concert Hall the acoustics of the auditorium are unbeatable. The stained glass windows located on both sides of the hall provide natural light, and the large central lamp made by Antoni Rigalt i Blanch floods the hall with a great theatrical effect.
All the structural elements have applied decoration: female busts, peacocks in spectacular colors, red and white roses on the ceiling of the great hall and much more.
At the mouth of the stage is the sculptural group of Diego Massana and Pablo Gargallo. On stage, eighteen muses of inspiration made in mosaic and relief that seem to be dancing.
Finally, the Petit Palau by Óscar Tusquets, in the new building. It has perfect acoustics for chamber music, and is equipped with the best technological advances.
The Palau also has a library that preserves old manuscripts from the 6th century, and a large number of valuable books, scores and musical repertoires.