Fruïcions: Portaveu de l’Associcaió Obrera de Concerts

"In 1925, Casals founded the Associacío Obrera de Concerts in conjunction with Catalan workers, activists, and teachers at the Ateneu Politechnicum of Barcelona. Symphonic and chamber music concerts provided by the Pau Casals Orchestra constituted the Associació’s primary activities. Additionally, the Associació created music courses, a lending library, and a monthly magazine, Fruicïons, which included articles on classical music, composers, and instrumental technique. Collectively, these activities helped to construe a cultivated labor identity on a par with the bourgeoisie. [...] Fruicïons was published monthly from April 1927 to September 1932, having issued a total of 63 issues. It was managed by an editorial council headed by Xavier Xaparro i Riera and Josep Solàr Simon, and functioned as a cultural mediator for a collective labor identity. The first nine issues (April-December 1927) were published in folio format, and the cover included headpiece with the title, the shield of the workers all in a decorative frame by John Molist. From January 1928 it was a bit smaller in size, and in January 1929 the shield and drawing ceased being printed on the cover and only the title of the magazine remained. The publication was a relatively small magazine with about ten to twelve pages, containing such biographical article as “Schubert”, “Els Amors de Beethoven” and commentaries on musical compositions “Escoltant la Novena”, “Història del Quartet de Corda”, and “A Propòsit dels ‘Lieder’ de Schumann”. Each edition also contained an end section with administrative notes: indicating new members, accounting for disbursed funds and listing library acquisitions."

Silvia Lazo, “Building a Cultivated Labor Identity through Art Decoration: Classical Images in the Catalan Workers’ Magazine Fruicïons (1927-1932).” Music in Art 39, no. 1-2 (Spring-Fall 2014): 159-160.