纪念音乐大师卡萨尔斯

1973年10月22日，帕布罗·卡萨尔斯与世长辞。他被公认为是二十世纪上半叶杰出的大提琴演奏家，也是有史以来最伟大的大提琴家之一。今天就为大家分享一段他的故事。

Pablo Casals

帕布罗·卡萨尔斯

1876—1973

the Catalan cello-player

加泰罗尼亚大提琴演奏家

I was born on 29th December 1876 in El Vendrell in Catalonia into a proud Catalan family. Although my mother was born in Puerto Rico, her parents were Catalan too. Let me explain. Catalonia is the north-east region of Spain, with Barcelona as its regional capital. The Catalan people are very independent, and they have their own language and culture. Although they are part of Spain, many of them would like Catalonia to be an independent country.

My family was very musical, and music was always my first language. My father played and sang music in our local church, and he often took me with him. He gave me lessons, too, and by the age of four I could play the piano. Father was a good teacher. I gave my first public performance on the violin when I was six. It was not a completely happy experience, however, as a group of boys laughed at me because I played with my eyes closed.

Some travelling musicians visited El Vendrell one year, and they played some wonderful music. Among their instruments was a cello, which I had never heard before. Although I was only 11 I decided then that the cello was the instrument for me. Now I needed a cello teacher, so my mother took me to the Escola Municipal de Música in Barcelona, about 70 kilometres north of El Vendrell. I studied hard, and in my free time after school and at weekends, I searched the city’s music shops for interesting music. I discovered a copy of ‘Six Suites for Solo Cello’ by J.S. Bach, which was like finding six bars of gold! Every day,

I studied the music and played a little bit more, although I did not play Bach’s Suites in public until 13 years later. There was no television at that time, or even radio. If people wanted to hear music, they had to go to a concert hall or a café. I played in cafés every evening, sometimes popular music and sometimes classical, and it was a very important part of my musical education. I earned money, too, which I used to pay for my teaching.

Five years later, I completed my studies at the Escola Municipal in Barcelona, but I didn’t know what kind of job I could get. I continued to play in cafés, and one day a man spoke to me. He told me he had enjoyed my playing very much, and then he introduced himself. He was Isaac Albéniz, a very famous pianist and composer at the time. As he was leaving the café, he gave me a note and told me to take it to the royal palace. The palace was the home of the Queen Maria Cristina, widow of King Alfonso and mother of the future king, who was then only eight years old.

I thought he was joking, but in fact I was invited to play for Queen Maria Cristina, and she loved my music. The letter also introduced me to Count Morphy, who took an interest in my education and taught me art, philosophy and maths. With help from the Queen and the Count, I was able to study composition at the Real Conservatorio de Música y Declamación. I played there with the Quartet Society. That was my first proper job as a musician.