Pablo Casals
Pablo Casals
Pau Casals i Defilló, better known in some countries as Pablo Casals, was a Spanish cellist and conductor from Catalonia. He is generally regarded as the pre-eminent cellist of the first half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest cellists of all time. He made many recordings throughout his career, of solo, chamber, and orchestral music, also as conductor, but he is perhaps best remembered for the recordings of the Bach Cello Suites he made from 1936 to...
NationalitySpanish
ProfessionCellist
Date of Birth29 December 1876
CityEl Vendrell, Spain
CountrySpain
One should be able to say to our children: You are a marvel! You are unique. In all the world, there is no other child exactly like you. In the millions of years that have passed, there has never been another child like you! ... and when you grow up, can you harm another who is, like you, a marvel?
For me, Bach is like Shakespeare. He has known all and felt all. He is everything.
Let us not forget that the greatest composers were also the greatest thieves. They stole from everyone and everywhere.
Throughout my career, nervousness and stage-fright have never left me before playing. And each of the thousands of concerts I have played at, I feel as bad as I did the very first time.
The answer to helplessness is not so very complicated,
To live is not enough; we must take part.
Do we dare be ourselves? That is the question that counts.
To retire is the beginning of death.
I have always regarded manual labour as creative and looked with respect-and, yes, wonder-at people who work with their hands. It seems to me that their creativity is no less than that of a violinist or painter.
Rock n' roll is poison put to sound.
In music, in the sea, in a flower, in a leaf, in an act of kindness... I see what people call God in all these things.
The most important thing in music is what is not in the notes.
The only weapons I ever had were my cello and my baton.
I am perhaps the oldest musician in the world. I am an old man but in many senses a very young man. And this is what I want you to be, young, young all your life, and to say things to the world that are true.