Based in Barcelona, the Catalan duo Tarta Relena (Helena Ros and Marta Tortella) create beguiling choral music, drawing on a repertory that goes back centuries but also grapples with their contemporaries and the contemporary condition. Over two stunning EPs, Ora pro Nobis, Intercede pro Nobis, a disc of remixes, and a masterful full length Fiat Lux, their two close, circling harmonies – and subtle electronic touches – draw connections between cultures around the Mediterranean as they traverse languages including Spanish, Catalan, Greek, Latin, English, and Ladino (often called Sephardi).  

Their first US Tour brings them through the Wexner Center for the Arts on Tuesday, March 28, at 8 pm (Tickets here), on a bill with Yasmin Williams (who I previewed for this site before her previous appearance was delayed) and I had the privilege to talk with Ros and Tortella via zoom from Barcelona in advance of the tour.  

Thanks for taking the time to talk with me. How did you meet and start singing with one another? 

Helena Ros: We are friends from primary school; we got to know each other when we were six years old. We have shared friendships, school years, [and] we went to music school together; we started music classes at the same time. Many years and many things happened, but [there] was always a dynamic and something that was between us. We kind of became autonomous music-wise when we were around 18 years old, trying out our own stuff. 

How did you land on the kind of close-harmony choral music you do? 

Marta Tortella: We were singing in a choir with a conductor that made us sing ancient music, so we were kind of connected with these harmonies in our teenage years. Later on, when we were together just making more pop music we saw that there was something between our voices that was really interesting. So, we started to think of our music as a cappella music [and] we just stopped playing guitar or piano when we were doing this together. [That left] the only thing we could do [as] harmonies. 

I notice those two first two EPs named Ora pro Nobis and Intercede pro Nobis, moving from “Pray for Us” to “Intercede for Us”, is there that a conscious moving from an abstract concept ot direct action, or do you even think of those as different? What’s the connection between the EPs, if any?  

HR: The were very related and Intercede pro Nobis happened because of Ora pro Nobis, kind of the next movement. We had been doing some concerts with songs that we had been singing for three years or something when we chose to record. We decided to record the other songs we left off Ora pro Nobis, but when we picked them up again, we went to the studio with producers for the first time. So [there was] also someone interceding [but touching] the first ideas from the songs that we wanted to record. So it was a progression, but part of the same concept. 

I’m struck by the diversity of the material. I’d like to ask about a few tracks that kept sticking out to me. The Cretan song, and I apologize I’ll butcher the pronunciation, “Ma ezevgarósan,” which basically translates to “Today in a Hurry.” How did that song come to you? 

MT: Some years ago, I went to Crete – there was a traditional musical school on the island. I did a singing course and met a woman who was Greek, from the island. All her family were super folky people. And so she knew a lot of songs from everywhere on the island, and a lot of different kinds of songs: sleeping child songs, some sad songs, some dance songs. She was like an encyclopedia and she taught [me] these songs. “Ma ezevgarósan,” was one of them. We felt connected with this melody. 

Are you conversant with all the languages you sing in for speech or are you drawn to the melodies, or both? 

HR: We only speak Spanish and Catalan fluently from the languages we sing in. But we are very drawn to different languages. Because we were in choirs during our teenage years, that’s something that happens a lot; they make you sing in languages you don’t speak: German, Latin. So that was something very natural for us. The moment we were drawn to these melodies, we thought it was attractive to sing them in [their] languages.  

MT: Also, it’s like we don’t have many ingredients in our music making, we have two [voices]. So language is a super powerful one for the sound and for the meaning, also for the images this brings to [the listener].  

Many of the cultures and languages you work with are based around the Mediterranean, is that sense of place important to you? 

MT: Yeah. I think it’s a cultural.., 

HR: Spectrum. We like to take material from the Mediterranean – and not all of the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean is really big and has many different traditions. We’re only investigating, like, 2%, but it’s what we feel connected with. 

You work with some religious material of various vintages, reaching back to Christian traditions like the fourth-century Catholic prayer “Tota pulchra.” Is that concept of Catholicism important to you or is that just where so much of that older choral music sprang from? 

MT: I think both. I think maybe when we started playing, we would have said this was because that’s from where the majority of [this] music arrived. But now I think we value the Christian culture as our mythology, so that has the images we use to explain the unexplainable. Even though we’re not super Catholic, it’s a way of speaking about things. 

How do you work up vocal arrangements, once you decide on a piece? 

HR: We usually start from a melody that we like or that we found or sounded in our heads, whatever it is. And then from this melody, we try to find another melody that has its own life, or it has its own role, let's say, but it can be sung at the same time and enhance the principal melody. We think about two melodies as two people singing as [their] own entities. We try to keep it as minimal as possible when arranging, because we want the voice to be the base element. Then if we feel like there's something that could be added or that we want to enhance [it], let's say, then we add more things, for example, rhythmical beats, some bass, or some drone. But only if it's necessary. We like to try to put as few elements as possible [and make the] sound as expressive as possible, because sometimes you know less is more. 

That leads me to my question about the electronic elements, the arrangements around your voices. Elements like the gorgeous little bit of bass on the first track of Fiat Lux, “El suïcidi i el cant,” and the various synthesizer drones. Is that all played by you, are they suggested by the producers, or both? 

MT: It all depends on the track, but with Fiat Lux, we suggested where we would put something more than voices and then the two producers did the big part of choosing the sounds and where and how.  

Fiat Lux feels like an organic progression, but it also feels like there’s a wider net cast and it feels much more assured. That first track, “El suïcidi i el cant,” which I think means “Suicide and singing”. If I researched right, it’s based on Afghani poetry. Could you talk a little bit about how that got translated to Catalan and the process of finding that song? 

HR: That was a beautiful book a friend showed us, from a very small publishing company who [seek out] poetry that’s not very common. This is traditional poetry from Pashtun women. When they’re singing together, they improvise lyrics and say the things they cannot say in society, which makes it really harsh and really powerful. It’s the moment where they get their freedom of speech and this is the moment where they can say [and talk about] whatever they want. Someone from Afghanistan put it together and this publishing company translated to Catalan. We read all the poems – there are a lot, on a lot of different topics – and decided on the verses we wanted to put in our song, and made it fit the melody we wanted to sing. 

Also, on Fiat Lux, there’s a beautiful Greek song, “Me yelassan,” that starts with this burst of talking and laughter. That really interesting moment of spontaneity – letting the rest of the world in - led into this vibrant dance song. Could you talk a little about that moment and the song in general? 

MT: It's something we like to do because we kind of feel like albums [are] radiography of our moment. In music, but also in life. [Let’s show] who works with [us] in this process. . The producer was putting a lot of things that we were always saying no [to]. And this song, was kind of the party one for us. This was like a playground, 

HR: And also, giving a bit of contrast with with the other songs was something that we thought was a good idea to explore. 

The first two EPs came out right before the pandemic, how has reception been? Did that affect how they were received in the world? 

HR: I think after the pandemic, we were very surprised because we thought it was going to be very difficult to tour this album and to keep on going. But the the reality was that since there were so many concerts canceled from, I don't know, international people that were supposed to come to our city - party bands or musicians who you know, do standing concerts. [Promoters] thought that our proposal was a bit more COVID friendly. So we started getting so many opportunities to play during, for example summer 2020 that iIt was kind of a good opportunity for us to do a lot of concerts in this moment where you have to say yes to everything. So that many people can get to know you and other festivals want to want to have you. 

This upcoming tour is your first trip to the states, I think. What are you looking forward to? 

MT: Everything. We are freaking out and also very excited, but the most interesting thing is how people are going to understand the main thing. When we go through Europe, we think our cultural background is similar [to the audience], but in the states it’s a mystery.  

HR: I’m very curious to see what people feel like, if they can connect. If they feel it’ s really exotic or really weird. What are they gonna think? Are they going to clap? I’m looking forward to seeing the reaction. Maybe they’ll have comments – come to us and say, “Oh, I noticed this particular thing,” - that we’ve never heard before. 

Richard's a native to Columbus and had his head turned around by campus record stores, used bookshops, bars, and too many older, cooler friends than he can name. He still thinks the next thing he sees just might be the best thing he's ever seen.