Conversations with Casals

by Josep Maria Corredor

Those who revere Casals as a man and as an incomparable musician will take special delight in this book, which is a series of recorded discussions with his lifelong friend, J. Ma. Corredor.

Here is the voice of true genius speaking his mind on an amazing variety of subjects, memories of his Catalan childhood, the awakening of his musical spirit, his student apprenticeship, travels, concerts, friends, the life of a conductor, music of yesterday and today, the technique of interpretation, his self-imposed exile from Spain, the renowned Prades musical festivals. This is a book which should prove essential to all musicians and lovers of music.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1956

Reviews

[Ann-Marie Messbauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a violinist familiar with the classical style I have a special appreciation for this book about cellist, composer, and conductor Pablo Casals. But I think non-musicians would also enjoy reading about Casals' long, interesting life, his musical values, what he admired about other musicians, and some of the things he did to protest and fight against the fascism that was spreading across Europe in the '30's and 40's. His no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is attitude is refreshing.

[Ingrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Casals has clearly thought deeply about all aspects of music, from composition to interpretation, and expresses himself forthrightly and eruditely. He also knew everyone who was anyone (from virtuoso musicians to literal royalty), and Corredor does a good job of eliciting interesting anecdotes from him. Above all, Casals' humility, musical convictions, and moral principles come across clearly.

This book does require a basic familiarity with western classical music. There's an entire chapter on Bach alone, and other chapters devoted to comparing the music of well-known composers, and those sections won't make much sense or be very interesting to a reader who doesn't have some pre-existing knowledge of their works.

[Stargazer · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favourite quote of Casals is when he was asked why he still practised 4 hours a day in his 90's he replied, 'Because I'm beginning to see an improvement.' That sums him up for me.