A new arrangement of Els segadors will receive its world premiere in Barcelona during La Mercè. Bernat Vivancos wrote the version for band, and the Banda Municipal de Barcelona will perform it on Saturday 26 September at Plaça Major de Nou Barris. The programme pairs Catalan music and new work with pieces linked to Pau Casals.
The concert is part of the festival Lletres al vent. It starts at 20.45 h, conducted by José R. Pascual-Vilaplana. The programme also includes Suite Furera by Marc Migó and Per la flor del lliri blau by Joaquín Rodrigo, plus Peace, Peace, so Sing the Birds (Pau, pau, així canten els ocells) by Yasuhide Ito, a tribute to Pau Casals.
Two sardanas will close the concert: Sant Martí del Canigó by Casals and Heroica by his brother Enric Casals.
The Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya will perform in the same square the evening before. The OBC takes the stage at 20.45 h on Friday 25 September, conducted by young Portuguese conductor Miguel Sepúlveda.
Its programme connects symphonic music with dance and popular tradition. The concert opens with the Danzas polovtsianas from El príncipe Ígor by Aleksandr Borodín, followed by Béla Bartók’s Danzas rumanas, which draw on Transylvanian melodies. Sepúlveda will close with a selection from El lago de los cisnes by Piotr Ilich Chaikovsky.
La Mercè 2026 runs from 23 to 27 September and features 109 free concerts across 16 venues in Barcelona, information from the festival programme. The wider programme comprises 235 cultural events: 109 concerts, 55 popular culture performances and 180 street shows. Events are spread across Barcelona’s ten districts, Ultima Hora reports.
Both performances are free and bring large orchestral and band works beyond L’Auditori. For Nou Barris residents, the concerts take place outdoors at the same central location on consecutive evenings. La Vanguardia’s guide to La Mercè 2026 presents the spread across neighbourhoods as a central part of the festival, rather than a one-off outdoor event.
The Museu de la Música will add to the festival beyond its stage performances. On Thursday 24 September, it will open from 10 to 21 h. Admission to the permanent collection and temporary exhibitions will be free. Commented visits are scheduled for 11 h, 12.30 h and 17 h. Festival guides also include the museum in the wider programme of free open-door cultural activities.
That day will also bring the first presentation of Els colors del so. The workshop explores sound using the educational instrumentarium created by the Baschet brothers. Jordi Casadevall will lead it. It is especially recommended for children over five, with sessions at 10.30 h and 12 h.
The museum’s programme continues on Saturday with the study day Ricard Viñes i el seu temps, organised for the 150th anniversary of the pianist’s birth. The event is linked to the exhibition Ricard Viñes a París. Diari d’un pianista, open to visitors until 11 October.
The study day features a presentation on the Érard pianos preserved at the Museu and a concert-lecture by Luca Chiantore. It also includes a round table on Viñes and his cultural context, followed by a guided visit to the exhibition. At 19 h, pianist Pedro López Salas will perform works by Soler, Chopin, Haydn and Liszt in collaboration with AIE-Clásicos en Ruta.
Nou Barris is hosting more than the two headline concerts. Independent programme listings put the Cor del Gran Teatre del Liceu in the same square on 24 September. The OBC follows on 25 September, the Banda Municipal de Barcelona on 26 September, and Vozes with Estructura Mezquida on 27 September. The schedule helps explain why the district has become one of this year’s basic musical centres.
La Mercè offers more than a run of free concerts. The OBC brings international symphonic repertoire, while the BMB gives Els segadors a new form for band and puts Catalan creation at the centre of its programme. The Museu de la Música opens up its collections and workshops, alongside research and a recital. These events connect live performance with education and preserved instruments, all with no admission charge.
