Musicians: Pau Casals

By IRIS DOLCET

Catalonia is one of the oldest countries in Europe which has a very long musical tradition. Back in the Middle Ages Catalonia was home of  the so called “trobadors”, a sort of composers and performers of lyric poetry. In the 18th century  operas were imported from Italy. This had a huge impact on the city of Barcelona where most musicians are from. Nowadays, Montserrat Caballé and Josep Carreras are two of our most famous singers (soprano and tenor) who have perfomed in concert halls around the world .  As for 20th century composers , we must  point out  Enric Granados, Isaac Albéniz, and Pau Casals as some of the greatest.

In Barcelona you can find the opera house: “Gran Teatre del Liceu” and also “El Palau de la Música”  famous for its art nouveau decoration or the more modern "Auditori de Barcelona", home to the OBC Symphonic orchestra of Barcelona and Catalonia .


PAU CASALS

Pau Casals, our most international composer of all times, was born in 1876 in a small village called Vendrell. He was one of the best musician, orchestra conductors and cellists. He was famous for introducing the cello in the symphonic orchestras that till the moment they only used the piano, violins and organs as string instruments.

One of Pau Casals' songs became an emblem of peace and freedom:  “El cant dels ocells” that translates as The song of the birds .