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46-532: The history of the PRSO dates back to 1958 when famed cellist Don Pablo Casals visited the island to see his family and to discover the land where his mother was born. Soon after, he would dedicate most of his work to foster classical music in Puerto Rico. In 1957, he organized the first annual Casals Festival , where he invited classical musicians to perform several concerts to Puerto Ricans and tourists alike. It

92-601: A cellist in the unoccupied zone of southern France and in Switzerland . He was mocked by the Francoist press, which wrote articles deriding him as "a donkey", and was fined one million pesetas for his political views. So fierce was his opposition to Francoist Spain that he refused to appear in countries that recognized the Spanish government. He made a notable exception when he took part in a concert of chamber music in

138-430: A number of unique instruments, including the flabiol , a type of pipe woodwind, tambori , a small drum, and the guitarra de canya , a xylophone -like instrument made of bones or reeds that is suspended from the musician's neck. In areas around the river Ebre , like in nearby Aragon and Valencia , the jota is a popular dance. Sung in both Catalan and Spanish, Havaneres have been very popular at parties since

184-577: A refugee hospital in nearby Perpignan . Casals traveled extensively to Puerto Rico in 1955, inaugurating the annual Casals Festival the next year. In 1955, Casals married as his second wife long-time associate Francesca Vidal i Puig  [ es ] , who died that same year. In 1957, at age 80, Casals married 20-year-old Marta Montañez y Martinez . He is said to have dismissed concerns that marriage to someone 60 years his junior might be hazardous by saying, "I look at it this way: if she dies, she dies." Pau and Marta made their permanent residence in

230-583: A venue for chamber music. Pau Casals Elementary School in Chicago is named in his honor. I.S. 181 in the Bronx is also named after Casals. Casals' motet O vos omnes , composed in 1932, is frequently performed today. In Pablo Larraín 's 2016 film Jackie , Casals is played by Roland Pidoux . In 2019, Casal's album Bach Six Cello Suites was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in

276-737: The Albigensian Crusade in the early 13th century. The so-called Llibre Vermell de Montserrat ("Red Book of Montserrat") stands as an important source for 14th-century music. Renaissance polyphony flourished in Catalonia, though local composers never attained the fame of either the Spanish composers to the South and West or the French composers to the North. Joan Pau Pujol wrote four books of polyphonic masses and motets in honor of

322-684: The Casals Festival is still celebrated annually. There is also a museum dedicated to the life of Casals located in Old San Juan . On 3 October 2009, Sala Sinfónica Pau Casals , a symphony hall named in Casals' honour, opened in San Juan, Puerto Rico . The $ 34 million building, designed by Rodolfo Fernandez, is the latest addition to the Centro de Bellas Artes complex. It is the new home of

368-698: The East Room at the White House by invitation of President Kennedy at a dinner given in honor of the Governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Muñoz Marín . This performance was recorded and released as an album . Casals was also a composer. Perhaps his most effective work is La Sardana , for an ensemble of cellos, which he composed in 1926. His oratorio El Pessebre was performed for the first time in Acapulco , Mexico, on 17 December 1960. He also presented it to

414-785: The Escola with honours five years later. In 1893, Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz heard him playing in a trio in a café and gave him a letter of introduction to the Count Guillermo Morphy , the private secretary to María Cristina , the Queen Regent of Spain. Casals was asked to play at informal concerts in the palace, and was granted a royal stipend to study composition at the Madrid Royal Conservatory in Madrid with Víctor Mirecki . He also played in

460-869: The Liceu . In 1897 he appeared as soloist with the Madrid Symphony Orchestra , and was awarded the Order of Carlos III from the Queen. In 1899, Casals played at The Crystal Palace in London, and later for Queen Victoria at Osborne House , her summer residence, accompanied by Ernest Walker . On 12 November, and 17 December 1899, he appeared as a soloist at the Lamoureux Concerts in Paris, to great public and critical acclaim. He toured Spain and

506-587: The National Recording Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Music of Catalonia The music of Catalonia comprises one of the oldest documented musical traditions in Europe. In tandem with the rest of Western Europe, it has a long musical tradition, incorporating a number of different styles and genres over the past two thousand years. Among the earliest references to music from Catalonia date to

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552-625: The Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra . Prades, France, is home to another Pablo Casals Museum located inside the public library. Many of the artist's memorabilia and precious documents are there: photos, concert outfits, authentic letters, original scores of the Pessebre, interview soundtracks, films, paintings, a cello, and his first piano. In Tokyo , the Casals Hall , designed by Arata Isozaki , opened in 1987 as

598-771: The Victor label). Back in Paris, Casals organized a trio with the pianist Alfred Cortot and the violinist Jacques Thibaud ; they played concerts and made recordings until 1937. Casals also became interested in conducting, and in 1919 he organized, in Barcelona, the Pau Casals Orchestra and led its first concert on 13 October 1920. With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, the Orquesta Pau Casals ceased its activities. Casals

644-463: The White House on 13 November 1961, at the invitation of President John F. Kennedy , whom he admired. On 6 December 1963, Casals was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom . Throughout most of his professional career, he played on a cello that was labeled and attributed to " Carlo Tononi ... 1733" but after he had been playing it for 50 years it was discovered to have been created by

690-449: The flabiol ( tabor pipe ) and tambori , tenora , tible which are also used in other regions of Spain. Coblas also frequently play as concert bands without the dance. Other popular music are the ball de bastons (stick dances), galops , espunyolets, ball de panderetes, ball de gitanes and the music of gralla (music) (a kind of Catalan shawm )and drums used in cercaviles or by colles diableres , etc. Catalan music incorporates

736-494: The Middle Ages, when Barcelona and the surrounding area were relatively prosperous, allowing both music and arts to be cultivated actively. Catalonia and adjacent areas were the home for several troubadours , the itinerant composer-musicians whose influence and aesthetics was decisive on the formation of late medieval secular music, and who traveled into Italy and Northern France after the destruction of Occitan culture by

782-578: The Netherlands with the pianist Harold Bauer from 1900 to 1901; in 1901/02 he made his first tour of the United States; and in 1903 toured South America. On 15 January 1904, Casals was invited to play at the White House for President Theodore Roosevelt . On 9 March of that year he made his debut at Carnegie Hall in New York, playing Richard Strauss 's Don Quixote under the baton of

828-543: The United Nations during their anniversary in 1963. He was initiated as an honorary member of the Epsilon Iota chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity at Florida State University in 1963. He was later awarded the fraternity's Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award in 1973. One of his last compositions was the "Hymn of the United Nations". He conducted its first performance in a special concert at

874-568: The United Nations on 24 October 1971, two months before his 95th birthday. On that day, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, U Thant , awarded Casals the U.N. Peace Medal in recognition of his stance for peace, justice and freedom. Casals accepted the medal and made his famous " I Am a Catalan " speech, where he stated that Catalonia had the first democratic parliament , long before England did. In 1973, invited by his friend Isaac Stern , Casals arrived at Jerusalem to conduct

920-596: The Venetian luthier Matteo Goffriller around 1700. Casals acquired it in 1913. He also played another cello by Goffriller dated 1710, and a Tononi from 1730. In 1950, he resumed his career as conductor and cellist at the Prades Festival in Conflent , organized in commemoration of the bicentenary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach ; Casals agreed to participate on condition that all proceeds were to go to

966-535: The age of 96, from complications of a heart attack he had had three weeks earlier. He was buried at Puerto Rico Memorial Cemetery in Carolina, Puerto Rico . He did not live to see the end of the Francoist State, which occurred two years later, but he was posthumously honoured by the Spanish government under King Juan Carlos I which in 1976 issued a commemorative postage stamp depicting Casals, in honour of

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1012-656: The annual Casals Festival. The PRSO is currently managed by the Musical Arts Corporation of the government of Puerto Rico, who also organizes the annual Casals Festival. The PRSO regularly performs at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center . In 2017, the orchestra was featured on " Yo Contra Ti " by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee , recorded for a breast cancer campaign in partnership with foundations Susan G. Komen Puerto Rico and J. Walter Thompson . Puerto Rican producer Echo produced, mixed and recorded

1058-422: The centenary of his birth. In 1979 his remains were interred in his hometown of El Vendrell, Tarragona. In 1989, Casals was posthumously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award . In 1959, American writer Max Eastman wrote of Casals: He is by common consent the greatest cellist that ever lived. Fritz Kreisler went farther and described him as "the greatest man who ever drew a bow." The southern part of

1104-482: The composer. In 1906, he became associated with the talented young Portuguese cellist Guilhermina Suggia , who studied with him and began to appear in concerts as Mme. P. Casals-Suggia, although they were not legally married. Their relationship ended in 1912. The New York Times of 9 April 1911 announced that Casals would perform at the London Musical Festival to be held at the Queen's Hall on

1150-640: The end of the 19th century when sailors returned from the War of the Cuban Independence . In the last half century, the rumba catalana genre has spread in Catalonia, played mostly by Gypsies , including popular performers like Peret and Gato Pérez . During the end of the Franco period , a movement known as Nova Cançó emerged. Nova Cançó singers sang in Catalan, denouncing the official oppression of

1196-452: The end of the 19th century. Currently, two main types, the original sardana curta (short sardana) style and more modern sardana llarga (long sardana), are generally performed. While music is performed by a cobla musical group, sardanes are danced in a circle dance . Other less common sardanes include the sardana de lluïment and the sardana revessa . The cobla itself is an 11-piece band, that includes genuine folk instruments such as

1242-633: The highway C-32 in Catalonia, Spain, is named Autopista de Pau Casals . The International Pau Casals Cello Competition is held in Kronberg and Frankfurt am Main , Germany, under the auspices of the Kronberg Academy once every four years, starting in 2000, to discover and further the careers of the future cello elite, and is supported by the Pau Casals Foundation, under the patronage of his widow, Marta Casals Istomin . One of

1288-482: The language. The pioneering group of singer-songwriters, Els Setze Jutges , was founded in 1961 in Barcelona and came to include several singers from Catalonia, including Joan Manuel Serrat and Lluís Llach , as well as members from the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community . Grup de Folk and Esquirols were other notable cançó groups. In the last 20 years, rock and roll has become popular, and

1334-532: The newly organised Quartet Society. In 1895, he traveled to Paris, where, having lost his stipend , he earned a living by playing second cello in the theatre orchestra of the Folies Marigny . In 1896, he returned to Spain and received an appointment to the faculty of the Escola Municipal de Música in Barcelona. He was also appointed principal cellist in the orchestra of Barcelona's opera house,

1380-486: The patron saint of Barcelona, St. George . Performances of opera, mostly imported from Italy, began in the 18th century, but some native operas were written as well, including three by Isaac Albéniz and seven by Enrique Granados . The Barcelona opera house, Gran Teatre del Liceu , which opened in 1847, remains one of the most important in Spain; in addition, in the mid-19th century the first Barcelona Philharmonic Society

1426-487: The prizes is the use of one of the Gofriller cellos owned by Casals. The first top prize was awarded in 2000 to Claudio Bohórquez . Australian radio broadcaster Phillip Adams often fondly recalls Casals' 80th birthday press conference where, after complaining at length about the troubles of the world, he paused to conclude with the observation: "The situation is hopeless. We must take the next step". In Puerto Rico,

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1472-476: The purpose of fulfilling Don Casals’s dream of fostering classical music in Puerto Rico. These activities include: Conoce tu Orquesta (“Know Your Orchestra”), La Sinfónica en tu Pueblo (“The Orchestra In Your Town”), La Sinfónica en las Universidades (“The Orchestra in Universities”), and La Sinfónica en los Residenciales (“The Orchestra In The Projects”; i.e. public housing ), as well as performing in

1518-639: The second day of the Festival (23 May). The piece chosen was Haydn 's Cello Concerto in D and Casals would later join Fritz Kreisler for Brahms 's Double Concerto for Violin and Cello . In 1914, Casals married the American socialite and singer Susan Metcalfe ; they were separated in 1928, but did not divorce until 1957. Although Casals made his first recordings in 1915 (a series for Columbia ), he would not release another recording until 1926 (on

1564-838: The song, while Puerto Rican Grammy Award -winner musician Ángel "Cucco" Peña served as musical director . The song garnered the PRSO a nomination for a Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Fusion/Performance at the 19th Latin Grammy Awards . From August through May, the orchestra has weekly concerts at the Pablo Casals Symphony Hall. Current music director is Maximiano Valdés . Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: [ˈpaw kəˈzalz i ðəfiˈʎo] ; 29 December 1876 – 22 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals ,

1610-733: The standard classical repertory today. Cellist Pau Casals is admired as an outstanding player. Frederic Mompou (1893–1987) is known for his delicate piano works, which often have a Catalan flavor. He spent most of his life in Paris, returning to his native Barcelona only during and after World War II . A tradition of Catalan art songs also developed, following a similar popularity in the rest of Spain. These have been performed and promoted by Catalan artists, including an album of Catalan folk-songs by Victoria de los Angeles (1991) and an album of more classical songs by José Carreras (1991). Originally from northern areas of Catalonia, Sardanes are popular dances, and were especially widespread at

1656-657: The town of Ceiba , and lived in a house called "El Pessebre" (The Manger). He made an impact in the Puerto Rican music scene by founding the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra in 1958, and the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico in 1959. Casals appeared in the 1958 documentary film Windjammer . In the 1960s, Casals gave many master classes throughout the world in places such as Gstaad , Zermatt , Tuscany, Berkeley , and Marlboro . Several of these master classes were televised. On 13 November 1961, he performed in

1702-764: The youth orchestra and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. The Jerusalem Music Center in Mishkenot Sha'ananim was inaugurated by Casals shortly before his death. The concert he conducted with the youth orchestra at the Jerusalem Khan Theater was the last concert he conducted. Casals' memoirs were taken down by Albert E. Kahn , and published as Joys and Sorrows: Pablo Casals, His Own Story (1970). Casals died in 1973 at Auxilio Mutuo Hospital in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico , at

1748-415: Was 13, he found a tattered copy of Bach's six cello suites in a second-hand music store in Barcelona. He spent the next 13 years practicing them every day before he would perform them in public for the first time. Casals would later make his own version of the six suites. He made prodigious progress as a cellist; on 23 February 1891 he gave a solo recital in Barcelona at the age of fourteen. He graduated from

1794-568: Was a Catalan and Puerto Rican cellist, composer, and conductor. He made many recordings throughout his career of solo, chamber, and orchestral music, including some as conductor, but he is perhaps best remembered for the recordings he made of the Cello Suites by Bach . He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy (though the ceremony was presided over by Lyndon B. Johnson ). Casals

1840-822: Was an ardent supporter of the Spanish Republican government , and after its defeat vowed not to return to Spain until democracy was restored. Casals performed at the Gran Teatre del Liceu on 19 October 1938, possibly his last performance in Spain before his exile. In the last weeks of 1936, he stayed in Prades , a small village in France near the Spanish border, where Casals would settle in 1939, in Pyrénées-Orientales , an historically Catalan region. Between 1939 and 1942 he made sporadic appearances as

1886-467: Was born in El Vendrell , Tarragona, Spain. His father, Carles Casals i Ribes, was a parish organist and choirmaster . He gave Casals instruction in piano, songwriting, violin, and organ. He was also a very strict disciplinarian. When Casals was young his father would pull the piano out from the wall and have him and his brother, Artur, stand behind it and name the notes and the scales that his father

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1932-588: Was during this multi-week festival that state legislator Ernesto Ramos Antonini presented a bill which would create the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, receiving much praise and support from both the public and other state legislators. After the law was signed by then Governor of Puerto Rico Luis Muñoz Marín , the task of organizing the orchestra was given to the same group which organized the Casals Festival. The first live concert

1978-491: Was eleven, he first heard the real cello performed by a group of traveling musicians, and decided to dedicate himself to the instrument. His mother, Doña Pilar Defilló de Casals , was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico , to parents who were Catalan immigrants in Puerto Rico. In 1888, she took her son to Barcelona, where he was enrolled in the Escola Municipal de Música. There he studied cello, theory, and piano. In 1890, when he

2024-473: Was founded for the performance of orchestral music. Several symphonic orchestras exist in Catalonia today, including the Barcelona Orchestra. Around the beginning of the 20th century, two Catalan composers— Enric Granados and Isaac Albéniz —became the most famous composers in Spain. Francisco Tárrega and Miquel Llobet expanded the technical possibilities of guitar. Their music remains in

2070-516: Was performed on November 6, 1958 in Mayagüez , hometown of Don Pablo Casals’s mother. The PRSO has hosted various artists, including Plácido Domingo , Luciano Pavarotti , Justino Díaz , Kiri Te Kanawa , and Alicia de Larrocha , among others, and has performed in various Central and South American countries as well as in the United States . In addition to its 48-week regular season, the PRSO also organizes several concerts and activities for

2116-401: Was playing. At the age of four, Casals could play the violin, piano and flute; at the age of six he played the violin well enough to perform a solo in public. His first encounter with a cello-like instrument was from witnessing a local travelling Catalan musician , who played a cello-strung broom handle. Upon request, his father built him a crude cello, using a gourd as a sound-box. When Casals

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