Nova Canco

The Nova Cançó (New Song) is the name by which the Catalan artistic and musical movement is known that, in the midst of Franco's regime, promoted the demand for normal use of Catalan in the world of song while denouncing the injustices of the Franco dictatorship. It appeared in the second half of the 1950s, when a group was created, formed on the advice of Josep Benet and Maurici Serrahima and made up of Jaume Armengol, Lluís Serrahima and Miquel Porter i Moix, who composed some first songs in Catalan, a fact that responded to a climate of cultural demand, not only at the university level, but also among the different Catalan social classes.

In 1959, a writing by Lluís Serrahima, published in the magazine Germinabit with the title "Ens calen cançons d’ara" ("We need songs from now") brought together authors and singers, and after a massive success at the Centro Comarcal Leridano, a homogeneous group was formed, called Els Setze Jutges, started by Remei Margarit and Josep Maria Espinàs, who were soon joined by Delfí Abella and Francesc Pi de la Serra.

In 1962 the first albums appeared, and trends began to diversify: musical ensemble, vocal ensemble, singer-songwriter, performer of hits by other authors, etc. A professional, Salomé, and a Valencian revivalist, Raimon, won first prize at the fifth Mediterranean Song Festival in 1963 with the song "Se'n va anar" ("Se fue"), precisely the authors of the song, Lleó Borrell (music) and Josep Maria Andreu (lyrics), were members of the cançó.

Despite the "administrative" restrictions; In radio and television broadcasting and in record production (the sixties and seventies were in the midst of Franco's regime), Nova Cançó gathered more and more followers and forced many performers to opt for authentic professionalization., demanded by critics and an increasingly demanding public. Important for the dissemination of these artists was the appearance of the Edigsa record company.

The professionals of Nova Cançó emerged in a different terrain than the so-called protest-singers and folk, both currents with a similar parallel to that of most European countries. In this sense, groups such as the Grup de Folk and later Esquirols appeared.

Artists of diverse personalities stood out, who contributed with their artistic contribution to the development of Nova Cançó, such as Salvador Escamilla, Guillem d'Efak, Núria Feliu, Maria Dolors Laffitte, Jacinta, Mercè Madolell, Josep Lluís Valldecabres or new members of Els Setze Jutges. Some achieved international triumphs. Later, bilingual singers and ideological positions appeared that seemed to distort the initial ideas.

Along with Raimon, other former members of Els Setze Jutges, such as Guillermina Motta, Francesc Pi de la Serra, Maria del Mar Bonet, Lluís Llach and, above all, Joan Manuel Serrat have obtained a fame that has gone far beyond the strict Catalan linguistic area. Later, Ovidi Montllor also stood out in Valencia.

In the image of this movement, parallel movements were born in Galicia, Asturias, Aragon, the Basque Country (Euskal Kantagintza Berria) and Castilla.