I remember a tune that one could not hear
Without the heart beating and the blood catching fire
Without the fire rekindling like a heart beneath the ashes
And one knew at last why the sky is blue

These words by Louis Aragon are quoted in the booklet to the Chant du Monde CD "Songs of the Spanish Civil War" ("Cantos de la Guerra Espana") CD 274 1034. This is another CD that should be heard alongside the two sets mentioned by Thomas Stern. I especially like the spirited version of "Los Cuatro Generals" which is included on the Chant du Monde CD.

Unfortunately, the Bear Family set, which is excellent and contains all that one really needs to know, is hugely expensive. At the moment, one can pick it up on Amazon for around £130.

The Folkways set, sorry I still call it a Folkways set as I have had the Folkways albums for years and years, is also interesting. One thing that does strike me here is how much the German language songs sound almost like the sort of things that German fascists were singing in the 1930's! In fact, my wife has at times asked me to switch it off because it reminds her too much of Hitler. I once went to an exhibition that comprised works by both Russian Communists and German fascists - massive sculptures of the respective leaders etc., huge monuments to workers and soldiers, rifles raised to the sky - and, at times, it was hard to distinguish just who had made the art, they were so similar!