The Reapers

Els Segadors (originally, Los Segadors; in Spanish, Los Segadores) is the official anthem of Catalonia. The current lyrics are by Emili Guanyavents and date from 1899, although they are based on a popular ballad from the 18th century XVII that had been collected a few years earlier by the philologist Manuel Milá y Fontanals in his Romancerillo catalán (1882). These two texts of the anthem —the current one and the historical one— have been the most widespread. However, the current text by Emili Guanyavents is the most political and demanding, and he was the winner of a contest called for this purpose by the Unión Catalanista in 1899 and which provoked passionate public and journalistic controversy. The music is by Francesc Alió, who composed it in 1892 adapting the melody of an already existing song. You can see behind the anthem an old song born from the Catalan uprising of 1640 or the war of the Catalans against King Felipe IV —also known as Guerra dels Segadors—, in which the peasants starred in episodes relevant. From this war the music of what later, from the end of the XIX century, has become the symbol of Catalan identity.

By the law of the Parliament of Catalonia of February 25, 1993, Els Segadors was declared the national anthem of Catalonia. Likewise, article 8.1 of the Statute of Autonomy declares: «Catalonia, defined as nationality in article 1, has as national symbols the flag, the festival and the anthem. Article 8.4 establishes: «The anthem of Catalonia is Els segadors». The 2010 Constitutional Court ruling admits only, as legally valid and fully constitutional, that the qualifier national is derived from nationality —a term recognized in article 2 of the Constitution — and not of nation, which corresponds solely and exclusively to the Spanish Nation, literally saying:

The reference of art. 8 EAC [Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia] to the national symbols of Catalonia could induce such undue confusion if they intended to draw from the preamble mention to a certain declaration of the Parliament of Catalonia on the Catalan nation a contradictory constitutional legal consequences with the precise meaning of art. 2 CE in point to the sole and exclusive constitutional relevance of the Spanish Nation. However, according to the Constitution, it may be interpreted that with the qualification as "nationals" of the symbols of Catalonia, its status as symbols of a nationality constituted as the Autonomous Community in exercise of the right recognized and guaranteed by art. 2 EC, therefore expressly proclaimed in art. 1 EAC and reiterated in art. 8 EAC. In sum, it is the symbols of a nationality, without pretension, therefore, of competition or contradiction with the symbols of the Spanish Nation.

The official sound record was made and released in 1994.

Historical context

The Corpus de SangH. Miralles (1910).

The anthem has the characteristics of an appeal in defense of the freedom of the land. It collects the events that occurred during the so-called Corpus de sangre, a revolt led by around a thousand reapers on June 7, 1640, the day of Corpus Christi.

When the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) broke out, King Philip IV was forced to participate as a result of his relationship with the Roman-Germanic Emperor, his uncle Ferdinand II. As a result, the authority and reputation of the Spanish monarchy deteriorated and, in 1624, the Count-Duke of Olivares presented the king with his Great Memorial: a series of reforms aimed at reinforcing royal power and the unity of the territories it dominated, with a view to a better use of resources at the service of foreign policy. Some reforms that, in Catalonia, had the opposite effect. As if that were not enough, nine years later, Spain went to war with France and the feeling of grievance among the Catalans increased when the Count-Duke of Olivares declared that the Catalans were making little effort to defend their own territory.

In May 1640 there was a generalized uprising of the entire population of the Principality of Catalonia against the mobilization, and permanence on it, of the thirds of the royal army and against the claim that they were housed within the towns. By way of example, the inhabitants of San Feliu de Pallarols or Santa Coloma de Farnés refused to open the doors of their houses to accommodate anyone. On May 3, the reprisal took place in Riudarenas and eleven days later, another in Santa Coloma de Farnés. Both would unleash a rapid armed uprising of citizens and peasants that, from the Girona regions, spread towards Vallés and towards Osona and Ripollés.

In this tense situation, on June 7, 1640, the day of Corpus Christi, a small incident in Ample street in Barcelona between a group of reapers, seasonal workers and some Barcelonans, in which a reaper was badly injured, precipitated the revolt known as the Corpus de Sangre. The rebels took over the city for three days. The reapers were not only moved by their fury against the demands of the royal government but also against the Catalan seigneurial regime, since, from the first moment, the rebels had attacked wealthy citizens and their property. This was, therefore, also a civil war between Catalans. The death toll was a total of between 12 and 20 dead, mostly royal officials, including the viceroy, Dalmau de Queralt, Count of Santa Coloma. This uprising marked the beginning of the uprising in Catalonia of 1640 or War of the Reapers (1640-1652).

Francisco Manuel de Melo, a Portuguese member of the royal army and an eyewitness of some of the events he narrates in his War of Catalonia, although not of the Corpus de Sangre, He described the extreme harshness of the violence that was experienced during the war:

Many, after the dead, were dragged, their bodies divided, serving as a game and laughing that human horror, that nature religiously left for the brake of our demises; cruelty was delightful; death, entertainment, one plucked the head (already corpse), took his eyes out, cut off his tongue and nostrils; then, throwing it out of one of the balls in other hands, leaving all of blood

Francisco Manuel de Melo, History of the movements, separation and war of Catalonia (1645), Madrid, Castalia, 1996, p. 125. ISBN 978-84-7039-747-9

The old folk song was adapted between 1892 (music) and 1899 (lyrics). In 1892 it was adopted by the Orfeón Catalán for its repertoire, although at that time it did not yet have any vindictive or patriotic connotation. font-variant:small-caps;text-transform:lowercase">XIX, who was then looking for some symbols for his national project. Little by little it became politicized, and by the end of the century many people were listening to it standing up and with their heads uncovered. Despite everything, its initial acceptance was scarce and was contested by various sectors of society, especially the working class; proof of this is that it was not incorporated into the Clavé choirs. Even a Catalanist like Valentí Almirall called the hymn in 1902 a "song of hate and fanaticism".

For a good part of the century XX Els Segadors was not fully accepted as an anthem by the Catalanism, and other alternatives were sought, such as the Cant del poble, with music by Amadeo Vives and lyrics by Josep Maria de Sagarra; the Cant de la senyera, by Lluís Millet and Joan Maragall; or the sardana La Santa Espina, by Ángel Guimerá and Enric Morera. Catalonia). With the reestablishment of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Els Segadors became the de facto anthem of the new autonomy, a fact that would be made official in 1993. The 2006 Statute of Autonomy He also defined it as a "national symbol".

Melody

The original music probably comes from a song with an erotic tone of the time, adapted in 1892 by Francesc Alió to musically harmonize an old Catalan popular song, probably from the XVII, which narrated the Corpus de Sangre of 1640. This popular song had been published by Manuel Milá y Fontanals in his work Romancerillo catalán (1882), thanks to Jacinto Verdaguer, who had heard it in the Vich or Las Guillerías area. With the help of Ernest Moliné i Brasés, Alió changed the melody and part of the lyrics, substituting the old chorus segueu arran, que la palla va cara («mow to the level, the straw is expensive») for bon cop de falç, defenders of the terra ("good sickle strike, defenders of the land").

In 2013 it was noted that the hymn's melody may have been inspired by a Jewish religious hymn called Ein K'Eloheinu ('There Is No One Like Our God'). dating from the 15th century.

Letter

The lyrics of the hymn were reworked by Emili Guanyavents in 1899, due to the excessive length of the original song, which was also full of religious references, being reduced to three stanzas plus the chorus.

The current text of the Catalan national anthem is as follows:

Old version

The original version is an old popular song from the XVIII century, which explains the events that occurred in the already mentioned revolt of the reapers or "Corpus de sangre". This was documented by Manuel Milá and Fontanals.
The old version is as follows: