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Pau Casals

There are a lot of famous Catalan artists. One of them was Pau Casals who was a cellist and a composer. He was not only a great misician, but also a peace activist who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy


Pau Casals was born in El Vendrell (a town located in the province of Tarragona) in 1876. At first, his father gave him piano, organ and violin lessons. When he was 12 he began to study at the Escola Municipal de Música in Barcelona. He graduated from the Escola with honours five years later. When he was 23 he started his professional career and performed concerts all over the world. Pau Casals was also a teacher and a composer. One of his works is the famous oratorio "El Pessebre" (The Manger), which became a hymn to peace. The Catalan artist was always a defender of peace and freedom. Pau Casals died in 1973 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

Do you know some of Pau Casal's compositions? Which do you like best? This one is my favourite: "Pau Casals - El cant dels ocells (eng. the singing of birds)" performed by Pau Casals and Polish pianist Mieczysław Horszowski.


If you want to know more about Pau Casals I recomend you  to watch the BBC documentary about this great musician.



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