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 Orquestra de Cambra de l'Empordà, masterfully conducted on that occasion by Francesc Cassú, I suggested to the attendees that we could make a new album of sardanas performed with the Orquestra de Cambra (we had already released a first album of sardanas a couple of years ago)... it was at that precise moment when my father, Narcís Lagares i Corominas said... "noooo... enough of the Chamber sardanas.. what we have to do now is a Symphony Orchestra putting the Cobla in the middle"... thus the Cobla and Strings Symphony Orchestra of Catalonia SCCC was born which, a year later, gave its first concert at the Auditorium of Girona, in November 2008, with the project "SARDANES FOR THE WORLD"... 

We were attending a unique event that has been reinforced with an unprecedented, very beautiful proposal, and with global aspirations. Today, 17 years after that first idea, the Cobla and Strings Symphony Orchestra of Catalonia, promoted by the Metalquimia Foundation, has become a beloved and admired reference of our musical culture with a sound unique in the world, combining the melodies, sounds and traditional rhythms of the Cobla with the epic, majesty and universality of the Symphony Orchestra, having published up to 14 albums (this will be the fifteenth) and having received the Enderrock Awards for Best Classical Music Album by popular vote on four occasions. 

It was precisely a few months after receiving one of these awards, when Ernest Bassols i Lladó, head of the Apostles Choir of Besalú, 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 Lady of sorrows Apostles... it was said and done... and taking advantage of the recording of the SCCC's latest work "THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS", in the summer of 2023, we recorded these very traditional 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 foundation of the Venerable Congregation of Our Lady of Sorrows of Besalú. On behalf of the Board of the Venerable Congregation, and the Metalquimia Foundation that I am honored to represent, I sincerely hope that you enjoy and are moved by the symphonic versions of the songs of our Choir of Apostles... melodies that unite us as a people, strengthen us in our Faith and bring us a little closer to God.