The Orquestra Pau Casals (Spanish: Orquesta Pau Casals) was established by

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

(sometimes known as Pau Casals) in the early 1920s in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, with the debut performance taking place October 13, 1920. There had been other orchestras in Barcelona, but none that played with any enduring success. The orchestra was managed by a group of Casals' friends including Felip Capdevila and Casals' second wife Francesca.

History

Casals hired musicians full-time and invested his savings to balance the accounts. He spent a great deal of effort in working with the orchestra and raising the level of technical accomplishment, so much so that he suffered a "nervous breakdown" at one point and had to rest for several months. However, after nine years of training, the Orquestra Pau Casals became recognized as one of the finer orchestras in

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, attracting high quality soloists and guest conductors. Casals conducted the orchestra himself, and promoted it by playing with it exclusively as a soloist in Barcelona and refusing to play at other venues in the area. Casals organized his orchestral performances to appeal to the working-class people of

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, and workmen and their families often attended, listening to

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

and other classical repertoire. Dedicated to the ideal that everyone should appreciate and support music, Casals also founded the Associacio Obrera de Concerts (Working Men's Concert Association) in Barcelona with annual dues of six pesetas which served as a subscription to his concert series. The orchestra recorded Beethoven's First and Fourth Symphonies in November 1929. Other recordings are also available.Amazon.com listing
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References

{{Authority control Spanish orchestras Disbanded orchestras Culture in Barcelona Musical groups established in 1920 1920 establishments in Spain