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
I do not think a day passes in my life in which I fail to look with fresh amazement at the miracle of nature.
When you play Bach like Chopin, and Chopin like Bach, something good happens.
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?
To retire is the beginning of death.
If you play Bach every day, you are not so alone.
For the past eighty years I have started each day in the same manner. It is not a mechanical routine, but something essential to my daily life. I go to the piano, and play two preludes and fugues of Bach. I cannot think of doing otherwise. It is a sort of benediction on the house. But that is not its only meaning for me. It is a rediscovery of the world of which I have the joy of being a part. It fills me with awareness of the wonder of life, with a feeling of the incredible marvel of being a human being.
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.
To live is not enough; we must take part.
The only weapons I ever had were my cello and my baton.
Do we dare to be ourselves?' This is the question that counts - and not, 'Must a man be helpless?' ...A man can do something for peace without having to jump into politics.
Music must serve a purpose; it must be a part of something larger than itself, a part of humanity...
Say things to the world that are true.
Music will save the world.
Of course, I continue to play and to practice. I think I would do so if I lived for another hundred years.