If we speak of proportions, there is one that is very easy to observe in Beethoven’s work: for each Symphony, the composer left us—approximately—two Quartets and four Sonatas. In his early years in Vienna, Beethoven used his piano sonatas as his calling card as a virtuoso: around twenty in just seven years, while his six Op. 18 quartets paved the way for his first two symphonies. In his middle period, the pace of the sonatas slowed to give way to his most famous symphonies (from the Eroica to the Eighth), and the three genres coexist in balance. In his later years, the symphony became a unique event (the Ninth), and the sonatas disappeared after Op. 111 as he devoted himself obsessively to string quartets as his purest form of expression.

Within the framework of the complete cycle of Beethoven’s Symphonies conducted by Daniele Gatti, Professor Carlos Calderón presents a cycle of six lectures with abundant audio and multimedia examples to explore what we have called the “Beethoven Laboratory”.

We will thus attend this “workshop” in which the piano serves as the experimental basis on a personal level; the quartet becomes a design space for a circle of friends; and the symphony, an act of public proclamation. At the end of his life, when he no longer had anything to proclaim because his deafness was almost total, nothing to share because his social isolation was nearly absolute, he stopped using the piano and the orchestra to remain solely with the quartet: four voices that were, in fact, in his mind, discussing the limits of beauty and of his own musical laboratory.

• The laboratory takes shape
• Various explosions
• Expansion
• Consolidation and freedom
• Humour and love
• Silence and beyond

Six sessions: 3 and 17 February, 3 and 17 March, 13 April and 12 May at the Petit Palau.

Schedule: from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Price: Subscribe to all 6 sessions for €125 / €25 (single session).

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The most emblematic artistic projects of the season are given a space to explore and share the keys to understanding the scope of composers, scores, and their context. With the help of renowned speakers, we will offer the essential tools to prepare for concerts and delve into the reality of must-see performances.

From Leipzig to the world: Bach’s Passions, from 1724 to today

In 1724 and 1727, in Leipzig, Johann Sebastian Bach presented two works intended for the Holy Week liturgy that would later become pillars of Western music: the St Matthew Passion and the St John Passion. These lectures propose a journey from their original context to their rediscovery and modern reception: how and why these works have moved from the church to the concert stage and continue to resonate with audiences today.

Oriol Pérez i Treviño (Manresa, 1972). Musicologist and essayist. He is the author of several books, some related to the Bachian universe, among which Bach in Time of Pandemic (Dinsic, 2022) stands out.

Activity related to Bach’s Passions in 2027.

Two sessions: 25 February and 4 March at the Orfeó Català Rehearsal Hall

Schedule: from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Price: Subscribe to both sessions for €10 / €6 (single session)

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With POLYPHONY, we approach the richness of choral singing in Catalonia from its very starting point: the Palau de la Música Catalana. The Orfeó Català Rehearsal Hall, where the first stone of the Palau was laid, is the place from which the institution’s founding purpose branches out: choral singing and the central role of its artistic and social practice.

Through a series of dialogues led by journalist and communicator Pere-Andreu Jariod, we will discover, through the voices of the protagonists themselves, the multifaceted perspective that allows us to conclude that choral singing is deeply rooted in Catalan culture and, more specifically, in the very raison d’être of the Palau de la Música Catalana.

• Singers
• The creative process
• Vocal coaches and accompanists
• Conducting a choir

Four sessions: 16 December 2026, 29 January 2027, 11 March and 2 June at the Orfeó Català Rehearsal Hall

Schedule: from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Price: Subscribe to all 4 sessions for €18 / €6 (single session).

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