A forgotten jewel comes back to life: the unpublished oratorio by Carles Baguer resurfaces at Sant Felip Neri more than two centuries later

After recently announcing the recovery of a treasure trove of Catalan music, the University of Barcelona is once again playing a leading role in the enhancement of the Catalan sound heritage. In this case, it is participating in the modern premiere of The Return of the Prodigal Son, an unpublished oratorio composed by Carles Baguer in 1807, which will be heard for the first time in over two hundred years on 1 April in the church of San Felip Neri in Barcelona, as part of the Festival Llums d’Antiga. 

Baguer, popularly known as Carlets, is considered the leading composer of symphonies of Catalan classicism, but he also left a significant work in the oratorio genre that has remained virtually unpublished to date. The work now recovered — a musical dramatization of the biblical passage of the prodigal son — was postponed due to the French War and the composer’s death, and was not premiered until 1814. Since then, it had remained silent.

​​​​​​​The critical edition of the score has been prepared by Lluís Bertran, scientific coordinator of the Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales, with the collaboration of two professors from the University of Barcelona: Gaston Gilabert, professor of history of literature and director of the Aula de Investigación Teatral Metadrama, who has worked on the preparation of the text and the philological edition of the libretto; and Oriol Brugarolas, lecturer oh history of music in the Department of History of Art, who has worked with Lluís Bertran on the score and the rest of the musical aspects. This work will soon be collected in a volume that will include the historical text and the original score. However, as Professor Gilabert points out, “the most important thing about the recovery of heritage is that these historical documents are brought back to life and are not left in a museum showcase, but are available to everyone, to any reader, but also to spectators through their staging”. 

The orchestration will be provided by Vespres d’Arnadí, specialized in early music, conducted by Dani Espasa, and the Francesc Valls Choir, conducted by Carles Prat. The vocal cast includes Mireia Tarragó, Pablo García-López, David Alegret, Roger Padullés and Ferran Albrich. The opening concert is also part of the programme of the Festival Barcelona Obertura Ciutat de Clàssica, which aims to position the city as a European benchmark for classical music. As Professor Gilabert recalls, the fact that it will be premiered in the church of Sant Felip Neri “is of historical justice and constitutes a unique sensorial experience, because the spectator will travel back in time through the sound and stage space for which it was written”. 

The tour to recover this work includes two more dates: on 5 April at Tortosa Cathedral and on 7 June at the Museu del Barroc de Catalunya, located at the Museu de Manresa, as part of the Festival Espurnes Barroques. The Barcelona concert will be recorded for a future CD edition, which will be the first complete recording of a Catalan oratorio from the 18th and 19th centuries. 

With this initiative, the UB reaffirms its commitment to the research and dissemination of the Catalan musical heritage, and contributes to bringing to light a rich and, until now, forgotten legacy.