Carillon Concert—La Mercè 2023

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The carillon is said to be the heaviest musical instrument on earth. Palau de la Generalitat carillon, photo courtesy of Generalitat de Catalunya, (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons.

With its fifty bells and characteristic manual keys, the carillon in the Palau de la Generalitat is a magnificent concert instrument. The carillon has a bronze bourdon of nearly 900 kilos (the entire mechanism weighs nearly five tonnes) and was inaugurated in 1976 on the initiative of the carillon play M. Dolors Coll, who received the Cross of Sant Jordi 2000 for her work.

The cinema provides the thread for the songs in the Carillon Concert. Anna Maria Reverté will be playing the instrument, offering a journey through the film soundtracks from the last few decades. Game of Thrones, by Ramin Djawadi, will be the first of the compositions we’ll hear, some of which gained Oscars, such as Mia & Sebastian’s Theme, from La La Land (Justin Hurwitz) and Shallow, from A Star is Born (Lady Gaga), and the soundtracks from Out of Africa (John Barry) and The Red Violin (John Corigliano).

Celebrated September 22-25, 2023, the La Mercè festival program is packed with things to do and see. But if all the festivities of La Mercè get to be a bit too much, why not take a culture break?

Many of the city’s museums observe the holiday with a jornada de portes obertes (open doors). Check out our interactive map with all the locations that are throwing open their doors for free: Map of Barcelona Museums with Free Entry for La Mercè.

For other ideas about how to celebrate La Mercè go to What to Do for La Mercè.