Diades d'amor

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Diades d'amor (Great days of Love)
I started work on composing these Diades d'Amor on the words by Joan Maragall with the second song in the cycle, which came to me in one go on the bitterly cold afternoon of 28 November 1949 when I'd just come back from Paris, where I'd been studying with Nadia Boulanger. My teacher suggested included this song in the first concert of the UNESCO'S 'Banc d'Essai des Jeunes Compositeurs' (Test bench for young composers) on 1 February 1950, which was presented by Roland Manuel.
The other songs then followed: 'Amb la dolça'' ('With the sweet'' Paris 19/12/49 ' 23/05/50), 'Quin dia avui!' ('What a day this is!' ' Paris 25/03/50 ' Llucalcar 26/09/50) and 'Avui he vist' ('I saw today' ' Paris 27/01/51 ' 24/11/51). Those four songs were given their first performance by Conxita Badia on 20 April 1952 in Barcelona, in the setting of the association of friends and disciples of Joan Massià and Maria Carbonell. I finally completed the entire cycle, dedicated to Conxita Badia, with the last song 'Tot l'estiu' ('All summer'), composed on 4 July 1952 in Fontainebleau.
Today, over 50 years later, this first edition of those songs composed when I was aged 16-19 is now coming out, thanks to the enthusiasm of Francesca Galofré, the Manager of the DINSIC music publishers, and to my wife Hélène Giraudier, who thought fit to dust them off and make them known again, to whom the edition is dedicated.
Narcís Bonet