Palau de la Música Catalana (Catalan pronunciation:
[pəˈlaw ðə lə ˈmuzikə kətəˈlanə], English: Palace of Catalan Music) is a
concert hall in
Barcelona,
Catalonia,
Spain. Designed in the Catalan
modernista style by the architect
Lluís Domènech i Montaner,
[1] it was built between 1905 and 1908 for
Orfeó Català, a choral society founded in 1891 that was a leading force in the Catalan cultural movement that came to be known as the
Renaixença (Catalan Rebirth).
[2] It was inaugurated on 9 February 1908.
The construction project was mainly financed by Orfeó Català, but important financial contributions also came from Barcelona's wealthy industrialists and
bourgeoisie. The palace won the architect an award from the Barcelona City Council in 1909, given to the best building built during the previous year. Between 1982 and 1989, the building underwent extensive restoration, remodeling, and extension under the direction of architects
Oscar Tusquets and Carles Díaz.
[3] In 1997, the palace de la Música Catalana was declared
[4] a
UNESCO World Heritage Site along with
Hospital de Sant Pau. Today, more than half a million people a year attend musical performances in the Palau that range from symphonic and chamber music to jazz and Cançó (Catalan song).
