It was the autumn of 2007, in the sacristy of the Monastery of Sant Pere de Besalú, when in the middle of a concert by the Empordà Chamber Orchestra, masterfully conducted on that occasion by Francesc Cassú, a server proposed to the attendees to make a new record of sardanas performed with the Chamber Orchestra (it had been a couple of years since we had published a first sardanas record)... it was at that precise moment when, my father, Narcís Lagares and Corominas said... "noooo... enough Chamber sardanas... what we have to do now is a Symphony Orchestra putting the Catalan Cobla just in the middle" ... that's how the Cobla and String Symphony Orchestra of Catalunya SCCC was born which, a year later, gave its first concert at the Girona Auditorium, in November 2008, with the "SARDANES PER AL MÓN" project... We were attending a unique event that 'has been reinforced with an unprecedented proposal, very beautiful, and with global aspiration.

Today, 17 years later from that first idea, the SCCC, promoted by the Metalquimia Foundation, has become a beloved and admired reference in our musical culture with a unique sound in the world, all combining the melodies, sounds and traditional rhythms of the Catalan Cobla with the epic, majesty and universality of the Symphony Orchestra, having published up to 14 discs (this will be the fifteenth) and having received the Enderrock Awards on four occasions to the Best Classical Music Disc by popular vote.

It was precisely a few months after receiving one of these awards, when Ernest Bassols i Lladó, head of the Besalú Apostles Group, proposed to me that the SCCC, together with one of the best choirs in Catalonia, the Polifònica de Puig-reig, record the songs of the Apostles of Sorrows... it was said and done... and taking advantage of the recording of SCCC's last work "THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS", in the summer of 2023, we recorded these melodies to be able to offer them to all the congregants and devotees of The Lady of Sorrows in the celebration of the 325th Anniversary (1699-2024) of the creation of the Venerable Congregation of Our Lady of Sorrows in Besalú.

On behalf of the Board of the Venerable Congregation, and of the Metalquimia Foundation that I am honored to represent, I wish with all my heart that you enjoy and be moved by the symphonic versions of the songs of our Choir of Apostles... melodies that unite us as a people, they strengthen us in our Faith and bring us a little closer to God.