The Pablo Casals Festival is a music festival in the

French Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

created by the cellist and conductor

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), usually known in English by his Castilian Spanish name Pablo Casals,

in 1950.

History

Casals opposed the Francoist regime in Spain which lasted until after his death. As an exile, Prades in the

became his adopted home. After the Spanish Civil War, he refused to perform in public in protest. Following the Second World War and this long period of silence, he was solicited by music lovers all over the world. He was asked to play again in concert and in particular in 1950 for the bicentenary of the death of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

: in front of his repeated refusal, his friends, and particularly the violinist

Alexander Schneider Abraham Alexander Schneider (October 21, 1908 – February 2, 1993) was a violinist, conductor and educator. Born to a Jewish family in Vilnius, Lithuania, he later moved to the United States as a member of the Budapest String Quartet. Early li ...

, offered him to come and play at his house in Prades; Pablo Casals accepted. The greatest performers of his time could be found there: (

Clara Haskil Clara Haskil (7 January 1895 – 7 December 1960) was a Romanian classical pianist, renowned as an interpreter of the classical and early romantic repertoire. She was particularly noted for her performances and recordings of Mozart. She was also ...

Mieczysław Horszowski Mieczysław Horszowski (June 23, 1892May 22, 1993) was a Polish-American pianist who had one of the longest careers in the history of the performing arts. Life Early life Horszowski was born in Lwów (Lemberg), Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine). He ...

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Poland, Stern came to the US when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and ...

Marcel Tabuteau Marcel Tabuteau (2 July 18874 January 1966) was a French-American oboist who is considered the founder of the American school of oboe playing. Life Tabuteau was born in Compiègne, Oise, France, and given a post in the city's municipal wind band ...

Joseph Szigeti Joseph Szigeti ( hu">Szigeti József, ; 5 September 189219 February 1973) was a Hungarian violinist. Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania. He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on ...

Rudolf Serkin Rudolf Serkin (28 March 1903 – 8 May 1991) was a Bohemian-born Austrian-American pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Beethoven interpreters of the 20th century. Early life, childhood debut, and education Serkin was born in t ...

Paul Tortelier Paul Tortelier (21 March 1914 – 18 December 1990) was a French cellist and composer. After an outstanding student career at the Conservatoire de Paris he played in orchestras in France and the US before the Second World War. After the war he b ...

, etc.) which made it a place of musical fervour Thus was born the ''Festival de Prades'' which has continued since that date, seeing the greatest chamber music performers in the world. Pablo Casals still participated at the age of ninety, conducting his

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

''El Pessebre''''El Pessebre''
(

France Musique France Musique is a French national public radio channel owned and operated by Radio France. It is devoted to the broadcasting of music, both live and recorded, with particular emphasis on European classical music, classical music and jazz. Hist ...

) (The Crib), a work written during the war on a poem by his friend . The Festival takes place, among other venues, in one of the jewels of Romanesque Catalonia, the

Abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa The abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa () is a Benedictine abbey located in the territory of the commune in France, commune of Codalet, in the Pyrénées-Orientales ''département in France, département'', in southwestern France. It was founded initial ...

, at the feet of the

Canigou The Canigó ( ca, Canigó, french: Canigou ; la, mons Canigosus or Canigonis) is a mountain located in the Pyrenees of southern France. The Canigó is located less than from the sea and has an elevation of . Due to its sharp flanks and its dra ...

. In 1976, at the suggestion of the violinist Fred Muccioli, the Prades Academy of Music was created, which welcomes young musicians and provides

master class A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...

es for musical instruments and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

. In 2005 the "International Composition Competition of the Pablo Casals Festival of Prades" was created, the winner of which was the German composer Thorsten Encke for his ''String Quartet'' (2004). The second edition took place on 14 April 2007 and the prize, with a 15,000 euros reward, was awarded to Hee Yun Kim for ''Mémoire de Dong-Hak'',

quintet A quintet is a group containing five members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single ...

for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano.

References

External links

Official website

Festival Pablo Casals 2012 - Concert aux Grottes des Grandes Canalettes
(YouTube) {{Portal bar, classical music, France

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), usually known in English by his Castilian Spanish name Pablo Casals,

1950 establishments in France Annual events in France Music festivals established in 1950

History

See also

References

External links