Tarta Relena: Tiny Desk x globalFEST (2024)

This performance gave me goosebumps all over at several points. I love how something as simple as two voices singing in harmony can affect me so deeply it can do that to me. And the fact that in five songs they sang in five different languages (two of them ancient ones) is incredible too.

p.s. From the video description:

The first impression I get from watching the Spanish duo Tarta Relena at the Tiny Desk is a reminder that the human voice may be mankind's oldest musical instrument.

Even more so when you consider that the five languages they sing here includes not just Spanish, Greek and their native Catalan, but also Latin and classical Greek, evoking images of lyricists and vocalists from centuries past.

Starting initially as an a capella project in 2016, vocalists Helena Ros and Marta Torella eventually added ambient-styled electronics to cushion their uncommonly matched voices. The duo's first number, "Me Yelassan," is in Greek, so be sure to activate the translation option on the video to fully appreciate the power of the performance with lyrics read almost like a Zen koan meditation on rebirth and eternity.

Stay tuned in to those translations, because the magic of this performance is in losing yourself in the harmonies and timeless poetic lyrics. In fact, the lyrics of the song "Safo" are taken from a poem written by the ancient Greek poet Sappho, and includes the prophetic line: "Someone will remember us, I say even in another time." How often do we get a chance to consider our place in history set to such stunning vocals?