Gerhard as Composer in Exile

Roberto Gerhard’s early works reflect an advanced synthesis of Catalan elements and modern music, utilizing obvious markers of Catalan national identity; however, in 1939, because of the Spanish Civil War, Gerhard to fled from Spain to England. British nationalistic sentiments during and immediately after the Second World War drastically delayed due recognition of the composer in favour of British-born composers. While still living in Spain, Gerhard had composed for the BBC and the intended audience of his Albada, Interludi i Dansa was English—not Spanish or Catalan. At the time, interest in Spanish music was due largely to the events related to the Spanish Civil War. In exile in England, Gerhard’s compositional framework shifted from Catalan nationalism to moments of excursions of Spanish exoticism, composing an opera set in Seville, making arrangements of zarzuelas, while also making allusions to flamenco music. In exile, English institutions perceived Gerhard as a Spanish composer, which imposed an end to Gerhard’s overtly Catalan period.