“As Catedrais Silenciadas”, third album of the Galician folk musician Xabier Díaz, has just been released. This new album is a wake-up call about the ongoing rural depopulation and its effects on galician communities’ loss of identity. This work is backed by his well-received first single “No salón das cereixas” that reached more that 150.000 views on digital media.
This new work is a complex project, which goes beyond music. It talks about the part of Galicia, mostly its interior, that has been abandoned and all the tangible and intangible heritage that has been left behind. Xabier Díaz is also inspired by the poet Xesús Rábade, who uses an ancient form of poetry, the Tríada, to express himself on Twitter. Another inspiration is Carme Toba Trillo, a Galician researcher who takes contemporary photographs of abandoned villages.
As in his previous albums, Xabier Díaz is accompanied by As Adufeiras de Salitre, a group of people – exclusively women- who are in charge of percussion and vocals. Thanks to this, his concerts are always emotional and have a lot of impact in the audience. At least twelve musicians are on the stage. In As Catedrais Silenciadas, Iván Costa’s skills with zanfona (hurdy-gurdy) and violin, and the mastery of Roberto Grandal on the accordion are also remarkable .
In this album, the Galician folk music that Díaz has been rediscovering for years in small villages in Galicia, is combined with instruments of ethnic music and modal harmony. In short, as in his previous works, Díaz updates old forms of traditional Galician music. Altogether, 10 songs that bring fresh new air to the tunes he collected in different places in Galicia.
article posted by:José Carlos Quintana Álvarez, Xabier Díaz Carro