Pau Casals (Pablo Casals as he was commonly called in English) was one of the 20th century's greatest cellists, internationally recognized as one of the finest performers and orchestra conductors of his times.
Born in El Vendrell on 29 December 1876, he showed a great sensitivity for music from childhood. His father, himself a musician, taught Pau his first notions of music, which Casals would go on to extend through studies in Barcelona and Madrid. At the tender age of twenty-three, he started out on his professional career and performed in the world's most famous concert halls. As a performer, he made innovative changes in the way of playing the cello, introducing new technical and expressive possibilities. As a conductor too, he sought depth of expression - the musical essence which he achieved with the cello. Pau Casals was also a teacher and a composer, writing works such as the oratorio "El Pessebre" (The Manger), which became a veritable hymn to peace.
The outcome of the Spanish Civil War obliged him to go into exile, settling first in Prades (France) and later in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
In addition to his extraordinary career as a musician, Pau Casals was always a staunch defender of peace and freedom. His numerous benefit concerts, his commitment to humanitarian actions and his various speeches at the United Nations characterized him clearly as a man of peace.
Pau Casals died in 1973 at the age of ninety-six in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His remains now rest in the cemetery of El Vendrell.
On 3 July 1972, Pau Casals and his wife Marta Montáñez created the Pau Casals Foundation for the purpose of bequeathing to Catalonia the legacy of all that the maestro had kept in the villa at Sant Salvador.
The people of Catalonia were to be the custodian of this heritage and, to this end, Pau Casals entrusted the Foundation's governance to a board of trustees formed by the presidents of some of the most representative cultural institutions of his period and by some of his friends who, with the passing of time, have come to be succeeded by other persons.
- According to Article 6 its Bylaws, the Pau Casals Foundation has a twofold purpose:
- To preserve and improve the Pau Casals House Museum at Sant Salvador, El Vendrell. There, gathered and exhibited to the public, are the paintings, drawings, sculptures, diplomas, medals, musical instruments, manuscripts, scores, autographs, photographs, correspondence, books, furniture and other documents and mementoes of the founder's private life and artistic life. Pau Casals maintained a long and intense relationship with the most eminent artists of his times, so these materials form a legacy of priceless value for the knowledge and study of music.
- To promote, protect and disseminate the study and knowledge of classical music, through the holding of concerts, conferences and any other activity to which the board of trustees may grant its consent, following the guidelines of the founders, while seeking to maintain the high standards and prestige that marked Pau Casals' actions throughout his whole life.
- At present, in accordance with Article 6 of its Bylaws, the Pau Casals Foundation has three basic lines of action:
- The management of Vil·la Casals, a museum situated in Pau Casals' house at Sant Salvador, El Vendrell.
- The management of Pau Casals' documentary fonds, which are deposited at present at the National Archive of Catalonia (ANC).
- The unfolding of activities addressed to the promotion and dissemination of classical music, including the Beca Pau Casals (Pau Casals Study Grant).
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