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| Societat Coral Obrera La Glòria Sentmenatenca (Choral Worker Society, The Sentmenat's Glory) |
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| One hundred years of history | Brevis a natura vita nobis data est, at memoria bene redditae vitae sempiterna. (Ciceron) Short is the life that the natura has given, but the memory of one very good life used is perennial. |
| The history that you begin to read, is an intimal life of Sentmenat, most of the people that live here don't know yet and, how many others histories, is done of il-lusions, sacrifices and prospect, and of course of the desillutions. It began 100 years ago, when a team of land-workers, weavers and crafts-men -easy people- was joined together to form a chorus, doing theirs the slogan of "Progress, Virtue and Love" that Joseph Anselm i Clavé has knew transmit to their followers. When you will have read, sure you'll love more our Chorus Society because you'll be conscien of this big effort of this people, juts with others that joined after, to be get that theirs and all ours have a very spacious and decent sites where we can show, practising a good coexistence, our artistics and cultural hobbies. You'll know too the prospect that they had when at the end of the civil war, they lost absolutely all. But this history has not an end, but have a present, a very nice reality, consequence, again, of the dedication and constance of many people. The develop-into, is full of hope, trust that to the our descendents. The people that forms part of the Publication Section have thought that the celebration of this first centenary of La Societat Coral Obrera La Glòria Sentmenatenca (The Society Choral Worker The Sentmenat's Glory) is an very good occasion to write his history, and I have the fortune to do it. But one could say that we in reality have written between many people, some of they which no longer they are between us; some making me know their lived testimony, other searching information of where it there is and even other contributing papers and photographies that they conserved in their house. I have limited me to read, questioning and listen them to finally explaining of the better manner possible. Accept, or else, the goodwill. Sentmenat in the year 1895, it was a town of 1600 habitants, and the only highway that had could consider like --From Molins de Rei to Caldes de Montbui-- was exactly in phase of construction. A service of carriage, or wagon,had just been inaugurated, for a certain Pere Homdedéu, that transported for that highway, even without asphalt, to the travellers of our town to Sabadell and vice versa. Such how describes us the population the Pujadas Serratosa doctor in their book "summary of some memorandums for the memory topographical-doctor of Sentmenat" written in that time, the principal street was the named Caldes where there was the coffee of up and the coffee below, places where was accustomed to there be dance of piano and that they ware frequented for the youth on sundays in the afternoon. In the town besides these establishments there was an inn, three taverns and an "establishment of liquor". For the one which makes to supply of water, besides the fact that many houses provided of well, there were two mines of water that supplied to the population; the one which, from the bridge of the highway of Castellar city and passing near the river, it carried the water to the fountain of the square and to the orchards of the rectorship and of Atzet house, the which it had made them construct Clliment Humet in the year 1850, that, coming up close of the fountain of Fargues house, it fed eight public fountains and it provided some houses that could have been paid the luxury of having "live water" like it was said before. Also there was three public laundries, where, paying an annual quota, one could be going to wash the clothes; those that didn't can or they wanted to pay the quota they ware doing to wash the clothes to the lake of the castle or to the river. The drain in order to evacuate the dirty waters, they in that times not to be acquainted with in Sentmenat, and in all town there was two bathtubs of zinc: a the of the parish, and the other belonged to the Fraternity of Saint Joseph and that it was of exclusive use for the members of this association of local aid. The public illumination consists how many beacons localized in some corners of the main streets. They for the interior of the houses ware used light of oil, petroleum and candles of wax. The majority of the people lived on the agriculture, mainly of the cultivation of the vineyard, that then occupied more than the half of the extension of Sentmenat. The owners of the big properties, like Vinyals house, Capella house, etc., they leased the earths to the humblest worker-lands going to fourth parts, but also there was other owners less scrupulous that they demanded of going to third parts, and the poor unfortunates that they didn't provide of other resources, they ware seen forced to agree and work to the desperate. Almost any of these owner-of-a-plot didn't can fail to take advantage neither one of the occasions that presented you of being going to work to other earths along the year, in order to help to sustain their battered economy, Starting from 1889, the plague of the phylloxera went destroying all the vineyards of Sentmenat, with great damage for the workers-land, that had their principal fountain of incomes in the cultivation of the vine. Now, in 1895 was busy in replanting all the vineyards with American vine-branch, following the experience of the Frenchmen, that they had already suffered before us that plague. Besides the vineyard and other cultivations, the hemp was cultivated, and a heap of artisans worked and they used in the homemade fabrication of sandals. It come to be so big the production, that they had to go to other populations and markets in order to give exit to their product. Concerning the textile industry, there was the manufacture of the gentlemen Vall i Perdigo --knowed for "the vapor" because it was moved for vapor-- and other that it was called "new stable", established in the Castellar street with looms that the weavers were supposed to make operate with the force of their arms and legs. These two manufactures provided work to many people, mainly to the women and children, since in that times those that were not of good house at ten years were accustomed to abandon the school in order to put on to work. From all manners, the year 1898, with the lost of the colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico, which they had been a good marker for the Catalan textiles, is begun a strong crisis of the textile that leave without work to mach people. Ther immense majority of the town of Sentmenat belonged to then, to the work-class; the "poors of solemnity" were few and the rich that they could live without working also were scarce, they since the big proprietors had left to live on Sabadell or Barcelona. Keeping in mind that it in the celebration of the First of May of 1890 was begun to claim the journey of eight hours and that it was not gotten until enough years later, we will realize that the journeymen of the field and of the industries much hours worked to the day in order to earn a little wage in order to eat and dress. Therefore the conditions of these people ware very different to the worker of now. But the labor movement was not seen with good eyes for the conservative governments, while the liberals permitted them a certain behavior. Between the years 1893 and 1897 was produced in Barcelona three very grave attacks that gave origin to that Barcelona was known as the city of the bombs. Our population, close geographically to an important cities as Barcelona, Sabadell, Terrassa or Granollers that it constitute a small but reflective faithful of the society of that time, to the unavoidably, one was supposed to feel influenced that events market the taking of conscience of the workers class how such in the society where the differences of class were very accented and sometimes scandalous. The same year 1895, also began the insurrection in Cuba, with the consequent shipments of soldiers toward Cuba, insurrection that would finish, after three years of war, with the disaster of 1898 and the lost of Cuba, Puerto Rico and Filipinas. Within this social and economical context began to make walks our Society Choral. By the middle of last century, the musician and poet Catalan Joseph Anselm i Clave thought of fomenting the liking for the song choral between the workers in order to fill the few free hours that remained them after long journeys of work and so leave them of the game and drink. Putting it in practice this idea, in the year 1850 creates the first society choral of Spain, The Fraternity, that was used as model to many other societies chorals that would be formed starting from then. In our town. a numerous group of people, in their majority youth, that, after working in the field or manufacture, they met in the Valentine's beer bar -well known for the coffee below- in order to make gathering, following the current of that time,they formed the chorus of Clave. In this way the Society Choral The Glory surged in that establishment of Sentmenat, that, you as one could observe, it had not incorporated the qualifiet of worker even. Everything this happened in the year 1895, the way proclaims our banner, that we today conserved like a relic. |