Pablo Casals

Pau Casals i Defilló (December 29, 1876 – October 22, 1973), commonly known as Pablo Casals, was a virtuoso Catalan cello player (and later conductor). He made many recordings throughout his career, of solo, chamber, and orchestral music, also as conductor, but Casals is best remembered for the recording of Bach's Cello Suites he made from 1936 to 1939.

Early years

Casals was born in El Vendrell, Catalonia (Spain). His father, a parish organist and choirmaster, gave Casals instruction in piano, violin, and organ.

Related Topics:
El Vendrell - Catalonia - Spain

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When Casals was 11, he first heard the cello performed by a group of traveling musicians, and decided to dedicate himself to the instrument.

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In 1888 his mother, Pilar Defilló de Casals, who was born in Puerto Rico of Spanish ancestry, took him to Barcelona, where he enrolled in the Escuela Municipal de Música. There he studied cello, theory, and piano.

Related Topics:
Puerto Rico - Barcelona

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He made prodigious progress as a cellist; on February 23, 1891 he gave a solo recital in Barcelona at the age of 14.

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He graduated from the Escuela with honors two years later.

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In 1893, the Spanish composer Albéniz heard him playing in a trio in a café and gave him a letter of introduction to the private secretary to María Cristina, the Queen Regent, in Madrid. Casals was asked to play at informal concerts in the palace, and was granted a royal stipend to study composition at the Conservatory de Musica y Declamacion in Madrid.

Related Topics:
Albéniz - María Cristina - Madrid

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He also played in the newly organized Quartet Society.

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In 1895 he went to Paris, where, having lost his stipend from Spain, he earned a living by playing second cello in the theater orchestra of the Folies Marigny.

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In 1896, He returned to Spain and received an appointment to the faculty of the Escuela Municipal de Música in Barcelona.

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He was also appointed principal cellist in the orchestra of Barcelona's opera house, the Liceu.

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In 1897 he appeared as soloist with the Madrid Symphony Orchestra, and was awarded the Order of Carlos III from the Queen.

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