Classical Music and Musicians

As a youngster, before teenagers were invented, I had little exposure to music. The BBC Light Programme transmitted mostly middle-of-the-road wallpaper music (plus Dick Barton, Special Agent and Mrs Dale’s Diary). We never listened to the Third Programme, which was considered too high-brow, and I don’t remember ever going to a musical concert. Later, when teenagers were invented and I became one, it was pop music all the way. When I went to University, I began to develop an interested in more serious music, and even went to one of the Promenade Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, which was just round the corner from the college. I had an old friend at Imperial College too, and he was raised in an environment in which serious music played a big part. Gradually over the years, my pop interest has faded and I now much prefer Beethoven, Brahms, and many of their kind. I’m glad to say that YouTube isn’t only pop music, but also contains some classical music; search for whatever you think you may like before investing in a CD. The complete Video Beethoven Ninth Symphony is there, for example. Here are a few composers and works that I enjoy:

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 — 1827)

I especially enjoy listening to the 3rd, 5th and 9th Symphonies though most of his work is brilliant in my opinion. Was he capable of composing bad music?

My favourites are his Symphonies 1 to 9 (seriously, 5 in C minor, Op. 67, and 9 [Choral] in D minor, Op. 125, are the best); also his Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, Moonlight, piano sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2, and Pathétique, piano sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13;
and planet Mercury has a crater called Beethoven (as do Brahms, Dvořák and other famous writers and artists).

Johannes Brahms (1833 — 1897)

I love especially the 4th Symphony in E minor, Op. 98; and his only Violin Concerto, Op. 77 in D major. It is the last of his symphonies; Brahms began working on the piece in Mürzzuschlag, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1884, just a year after completing his Symphony No. 3, and completed it in 1885.

The Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26, by Max Bruch (1838 — 1920) comes a close second to it.

Edward Elgar (1857 — 1934)

I particularly like his Enigma Variations, and the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, which are frequently played at the Last Night of the Proms and evoke patriotic jingoistic emotions in most who listen, watch on television or attend.

His Cello Concerto in E minor, had a disastrous premiere, at the opening concert of the London Symphony Orchestra’s 1919–20 season in October 1919, due to insufficient rehearsal time. The critic of The Observer, Ernest Newman, wrote “The work itself is lovely stuff, very simple – that pregnant simplicity that has come upon Elgar’s music in the last couple of years – but with a profound wisdom and beauty underlying its simplicity”. Jacqueline du Pré is particularly associated with the Concerto, her interpretation of which has been described as “definitive” and “legendary”. Her career was cut short by multiple sclerosis, which forced her to stop performing at the age of 28, and led to her premature death. Since then it has been performed by accomplished cellists like Julian Lloyd Webber and Pablo Casals.

Henry Charles Litolff (1818 — 1891)

I used to work as a Maths teacher in a Grammar School in Southampton. One Sunday evening, in my bed-sitter, I heard the scherzo from Litolff’s Concerto Symphonique No. 4 in D minor, Op. 102, and I thought it sounded marvellous. I’d never heard it before, nor the name of the composer. The next day I mentioned it to the Music master at school, and he dismissed Litolff as a one-work musician, of which that scherzo was the only thing worth listening to. I later learnt that he was limited in his choice of ‘good music’, and that the whole of the 4th Concerto Symphonique, and his 2nd are my kind of music. It’s true that the scherzo is a memorable piece of music, but it has to be listened to in the context of the whole work.

Gustav Mahler (1860 — 1911)

My choice is his Titan Symphony No. 1 in D, originally in five movements, later four with the “Blumine” andante withdrawn

Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then the Austrian Empire, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic.

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 — 1921)

Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist.

I have no story to tell about his music; I think the marvellous Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 (‘Organ’ Symphony) especially drew me to him. I also enjoy some parts of The Carnival of the Animals which is a bit of a curate’s egg, and the Danse macabre.

Some of my other favourites (in no particular order) are...

Dvořák’s Symphonies 7 in D minor, Op. 70, 8 in G major, Op. 88, and 9 in E minor, Op. 95.

Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

Ravel’s Bolero.

Bach’s Brandenberg Concertos, and his Toccata and Fugue in D minor.

Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aránjuez.

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture and Scottish Symphony.

Vaughan Williams’ Lark Ascending and Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.

Holst’s Planets Suite.

...and so on

John Cage (1912 – 1992) — Profound or a Con?

Four minutes, thirty-three seconds

This is a three-movement composition by American experimental composer John Cage (1912 – 1992). It was composed in 1952, for any instrument or combination of instruments, and the score instructs the performer(s) not to play their instrument(s) during the entire duration of the piece throughout the three movements. The piece purports to consist of the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed, although it is commonly perceived as “four minutes thirty-three seconds of silence”. The title of the piece refers to the total length in minutes and seconds of a given performance, this being the total length of the first public performance.

Conceived around 1947 – 1948, while the composer was working on Sonatas and Interludes, this work became for Cage the epitome of his idea that any sounds may constitute music. It was also a reflection of the influence of Zen Buddhism, which Cage studied since the late 1940s. In a 1982 interview, and on numerous other occasions, Cage stated that this was, in his opinion, his most important work. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians describes it as Cage’s “most famous and controversial creation”.

Classical Music Radio Stations

I often listen to Video BBC Radio 3, which I especially enjoy in the mornings; also Classic FM which is generally quite easy listening. My quarrel with that station is that they seem to think that film scores (and video games music[!]) qualify as classical music; indeed the themes from Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean (among others) were featured in their 300 most popular works. I have nothing in principle against film themes, but it seems to me that it takes time for something to become a classic, not simply that it has been recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra (or whoever). Also, on Sky we used to be able to pick up the Irish station Video RTE Lyric FM, which isn’t bad, but RTE and the BBC are internet-only for us, after technical changes made by Sky. Thank heavens for filmon.com!

Trombone

Is a trombone an ill wind that nobody blows any good?

Pau Casals i Defilló (1876 — 1973)

A profile of Casals in Catalan; translation below

He was known during his professional career as Pablo Casals, a world-famous Catalan cellist and conductor born in El Vendrell, the municipality in which I live.

Catalan flag

 Fou un violoncel⋅lista, pedagog, director i compositor musical català. La seva gran contribució al món de la música va ser la innovació en la interpretació amb el violoncel que, més tard, va ser adoptada per tots els violoncel⋅listes del món. La seva interpretació d’El cant dels ocells* ha esdevingut un símbol de pau i llibertat arreu del món, i de manera molt més significativa dins del modernisme català.

*  Song of the Birds is a 1985 collection of sayings, stories, and impressions of Casals made by cellist Julian Lloyd Webber.

Pau Casals i Defilló

(This is a Catalan name. The first family name is Casals and the second is Defilló. His given name in Catalan was Pau, by which he is known in Catalonia; he was internationally called Pablo, the Spanish equivalent.)

Pablo Casals was born in El Vendrell, Tarragona on 29th December 1876 and died in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 22nd October 1973. He was one of the finest cellists of the twentieth century, innovative in his interpretation of this instrument and was internationally recognized as one of the best performers and conductors of his time. His interpretation of Birdsong has become a symbol of peace and freedom around the world, and so much more significant within Catalonia. His commitment and support, brought his message of peace everywhere and he received the United Nations Peace Medal for which he composed the Hymn of the United Nations. During the acceptance of this recognition, in 1971, he delivered his speech beginning with “I’m a Catalan”.

Pablo Casals was one of the finest cellists of the twentieth century, internationally recognized as one of the best performers and conductors of his time. As a performer, hemade innovative changes in cello performances and introduced new technical and expressive techniques. As a director, he worked equally expressively at the depth, and the musical essence that he reached with the cello. Casals also served as a teacher and a composer, with works such as The Manger oratorio, which became a true ode to peace.

Pablo Casals was the son of Catalan Carles Casals and Puerto Rican Pilar Defilló. From childhood he showed great sensitivity to music. His father, also a musician, passed him his first musical knowledge. At the age of five he studied piano, flute and violin.

Training and First Professional Studies

In 1893 he graduated from the Barcelona Municipal School of Music, and later travelled to Madrid with his mother and siblings to complete their studies. With Jesús de Monasterio as professor of chamber music he began his second stage of musical training, starting classes at the Conservatory of Music and Recital in Madrid.

On 14th February 1895 he was appointed Knight of the Royal Order of Isabel the Catholic, and the same year passed his entrance examinations at the Conservatory of Music in Brussels. After passing the examinations, however, he decided not to join the conservatory and went to Paris the same year, but after a few months returned to Barcelona. In 1896 he became a lecturer at the Barcelona School of Music, and was appointed a few months later to the post of professor of cello at the Conservatory of the Liceu. He began to perform concerts in small orchestras in Barcelona and was accepted as a cellist in the orchestra of the Liceu Theatre.

In 1897, Camille Saint-Saëns met Pablo Casals in Barcelona and he became part of the Crickboom String Quartet. He toured Spain with Enrique Granados and Mathieu Crickboom.

Tours and Successes in Europe and the U.S.

In 1899, Casals was in Paris and moved into the house of American singer Emma Nevada and Raymond Palmer, later travelling to London with Nevada and pianist Leon Moreau. In 1899 he made his debut at the Crystal Palace in London and in August he performed in a private concert for Queen Victoria. At only twenty-three he started his professional career as a performer in the best concert halls in the world.

Between 1900 and 1914 he made a series of tours in the United States and Europe where his reputation grew. In 1914 he returned to the United States and on 4th April that year he married soprano Susan Metcalfe in New York and they embarked on a tour together in his native country. Pablo Casals recorded more than 50 works between 1915 and 1924 on the Columbia label. In 1916 he performed a benefit concert at the Metropolitan Opera House for the children of Enrique Granados.

Return to Barcelona

In 1919 he returned to Barcelona with the idea of creating the Pau Casals Orchestra, with the help of his brother Henry Casals as first violin and Enrique Sanchez Ainaud and as second violin; in 1920 with other influential musicians he formed the École Normale de Musique in Paris. On 13th October that year the first concert of the Pau Casals Orchestra performed at the Palace of Catalan Music, and in 1922 he made his first appearance as a conductor in New York.

In 1926 he created the Workers Music Association in order to allow the working class to enjoy music. To mark the centenary of the death of Ludwig van Beethoven in 1927, he performed several concerts in Vienna, a year in which he was named “favourite son” by his home town, El Vendrell. In 1928 he made a short trip to the United States for his last concert as a soloist in that country and the same year he ended his relationship with his wife and they parted forever.

War, Exile and Belief in Catalan Autonomy

The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War forced him into exile and he lived firstly in Prades de Conflent (in French Catalonia), and then to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Casals endured difficult circumstances during his years of exile in Prades, partly due to his desire not to abandon his fellow exiles interned in concentration camps in south-eastern France during World War II under Nazi occupation. In 1945 he was named an Honorary Citizen of Perpignan. When World War II ended Casals performed a concert in London, and during the dictatorship of General Franco helped Spanish exiles. In Perpignan he presided over the floral Games for the Catalan Language in 1950, and one year later he attended the first festival of Prades at the Palace of the Kings of Majorca in Perpignan, in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Bach’s death. From that moment, he attended almost all the festivals organized at Prades.

Puerto Rico, Awards and the Last part of his life

In 1955 he made a trip to Puerto Rico for the first time, the country where his mother was born. A year later he moved to the town of San Juan, where in 1957 he suffered a heart attack during a rehearsal. On 3rd August 1957 Casals married Marta Montañez.

In 1958 he performed a concert and the “message of peace” that Casals had recorded a few days earlier in Geneva was broadcast to over 40 countries. Also that year, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1961 he was invited by President John F. Kennedy to give a concert at the White House and, two years later, President Kennedy awarded him the Medal of Freedom.

In 1971 he composed the Hymn to the United Nations, which he conducted on 24th October of that year at a concert in the United Nations Headquarters, where the United Nations Secretary General U Thant awarded him the Medal of Peace. It was at this time that he declared “What is more, I am a Catalan”.

In 1973 he suffered a fatal heart attack in Puerto Rico. He died in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 22rd October 1973 at the age of ninety-six. In 1979 his remains were moved to the cemetery in El Vendrell, at which time he was awarded, posthumously, the Gold Medal of the Generalitat of Catalonia.

His Legacy and his Work


[These two photographs]: Monument to Casals in the Plaça Nova in El Vendrell

In addition to his extraordinary career as a musician Pablo Casals always maintained a tireless dedication to the defence of peace and freedom. The numerous benefit concerts, involvement in humanitarian interventions and the United Nations characterized him as a man of peace.

Pau Casals reconstructed, interpreted and recorded the Suites for solo cello by Johann Sebastian Bach. He was a professor and composer, with works that have become a song of peace, as the oratorio called The Manger (1960), orchestrated by his brother Henry. Besides the anthem of the United Nations (1971), he composed vocal works O Vos Omnes or the Sardana Saint Martin of Canigó for cello (1926). But certainly, if a melody associated with international interpreters of the music that he gave Catalonia, it is “Birdsong”, a Catalan folk song he popularized worldwide. A melody, as Casals said, born of the soul of its people, Catalonia and played as a song of peace. In 1989 he was awarded, posthumously, a Grammy for his entire career.

Did Smetana know which side his Bride was Bartered?