Pablo Casals: A Word about Classical Music Performers

 

It’s easy to be critical of performances. We all have our preferences and tastes. But sometimes it’s worthwhile to remember that where we put our attention may make all of the difference.

In the 1960s, a great Russian cellist named Gregor Piatigorsky published his autobiography, simply titled Cellist. He always wanted to meet Pablo Casals, the legendary cellist. One day he was invited to the home of a wealthy family to play for a guest who wanted to hear him.

His story of meeting Pablo Casals reminds us how the truly legendary musical masters approach music.

I was introduced to a little bald man with a pipe. He said that he was pleased to meet young musicians such as Serkin and me. Rudolf Serkin, who stood stiffly next to me, seemed, like myself, to be fighting his diffidence.

Rudi had played before my arrival, and Casals now wanted to hear us together. Beethoven’s D-Major Sonata was on the piano. “Why don’t you play it?” asked Casals. Both nervous and barely knowing each other, we gave a poor performance that terminated somewhere in the middle.

“Bravo! Bravo! Wonderful!” Casals applauded. Francesco brought the Schumann Cello Concerto, which Casals wanted to hear. I never played worse. Casals asked for Bach. Exasperated, I obliged with a performance matching the Beethoven and Schumann.

“Splendid! Magnifique!” said Casals, embracing me.

Gregor left the house confused because he knew he had played badly. Why did the great master Casals praise him so strongly? This behavior struck Gregor as insincere and caused him great pain. A few years later he met Casals in Paris and discovered to his great shame and delight that Casals was doing something quite different.

We had dinner together and played duets for two cellos, and I played for him until late at night. Spurred by his great warmth, and happy, I confessed what I had thought of his praising me in Berlin.

He reacted with sudden anger. He rushed to the cello, “Listen!” He played a phrase from the Beethoven sonata. “Didn’t you play this fingering? Ah, you did! It was novel to me…it was good…and here, didn’t you attack that passage with up-bow, like this?” he demonstrated. He went through Schumann and Bach, always emphasizing all he liked that I had done.

“And for the rest,” he said passionately, “leave it to the ignorant and stupid who judge by counting only the faults. I can be grateful, and so must you be, for even one note, one wonderful phrase.” I left with the feeling of having been with a great artist and a friend.

I recall hearing a story of a student who had attended one of Pablo Casals’ Master Classes for cello. The student told of how near the beginning of the class Casals played a single note on the cello.

The student revealed that somehow that single note transported him into a musical realm that completely changed his life. As a performing master, Casals brought everything in him to a single note.

Every note matters, and every note contributes to the wholeness of the entire piece.

Here is Pablo Casals in 1954, age 77, playing the most famous of cello solos, by Johann Sebastian Bach.

The audio and video are old, but masters are masters, and somehow they rise above recording technologies of the time:

Bach: Suite for Unaccompanied Cello, No. 1, in G

In his 90s, Casals was asked why he still practiced between 4-5 hours each day. He replied, “Because I believe I am making progress.”

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  1. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    In the early 60s my father had an LP recording that included an elderly Pablo Casals conducting a rehearsal on one side. Maybe it was somewhat staged, but the group started somewhat muddy and showed how he got the music out of it.  I listened to it several times. The piece they were working on was one of the Brandenberg Concertos.  I can’t tell you which one, but I would recognize it if I heard it. Ever since I have sometimes been disappointed to listen to a performance by a group that doesn’t get everything out of the piece that Casals did. 

    • #1
  2. Mark Alexander Inactive
    Mark Alexander
    @MarkAlexander

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    In the early 60s my father had an LP recording that included an elderly Pablo Casals conducting a rehearsal on one side. Maybe it was somewhat staged, but the group started somewhat muddy and showed how he got the music out of it. I listened to it several times. The piece they were working on was one of the Brandenberg Concertos. I can’t tell you which one, but I would recognize it if I heard it. Ever since I have sometimes been disappointed to listen to a performance by a group that doesn’t get everything out of the piece that Casals did.

    No. 1– 0:00

    No. 3– 17:54

    No. 5– 28:22

    No. 6– 47:25

    No. 4– 1:03:55

    No. 2– 1:20:01

    • #2
  3. Gossamer Cat Coolidge
    Gossamer Cat
    @GossamerCat

    Mark Alexander: “And for the rest,” he said passionately, “leave it to the ignorant and stupid who judge by counting only the faults. I can be grateful, and so must you be, for even one note, one wonderful phrase.”

    What a wonderful quote and view on life.  

    • #3
  4. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    My new favorite cellist.  He and his pianist wife come to Seattle every year for the Seattle Chamber Music Festival.

     

    Edward Arron and Jeewon Park.

    • #4
  5. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Mark Alexander: “Because I believe I am making progress.”

    Amen!

    • #5
  6. Franz Drumlin Inactive
    Franz Drumlin
    @FranzDrumlin

    Casals transcription of the traditional Catalan song The Carol of the Birds is just about my favorite piece of Christmas music. He was a mensch.

    • #6
  7. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    Very nice story.

    As an aspiring violinist I can relate to the musician mentality. I am forever judging myself as I practice or play. There’s no other way. Sometimes when I have a certain number of beers I can play and enjoy my own playing, I guess the critic hat comes off, but there’s always something that can be improved and once you get into that mode, it’s hard to break the habit. 

    People don’t get very far if they aren’t always trying to improve, and I’m sure that on even the highest levels this survives despite worldwide accolades.

    I think it was Izak Perlman who said, If I miss a day of practice, I notice it. If I miss two days of practice, the orchestra notices it and if I miss three days of practice, the audience notices it.  

    An exaggeration to be sure, but the point is made.

    • #7
  8. Franz Drumlin Inactive
    Franz Drumlin
    @FranzDrumlin

    Franz Drumlin (View Comment):
    Casals transcription of the traditional Catalan song

    Actually, it was his arrangement, not transcription. Carry on . . .

    • #8
  9. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    In the early 60s my father had an LP recording that included an elderly Pablo Casals conducting a rehearsal on one side. Maybe it was somewhat staged, but the group started somewhat muddy and showed how he got the music out of it. I listened to it several times. The piece they were working on was one of the Brandenberg Concertos. I can’t tell you which one, but I would recognize it if I heard it. Ever since I have sometimes been disappointed to listen to a performance by a group that doesn’t get everything out of the piece that Casals did.

    The sound seemed so clear in my head when I wrote this, but the more I look into it, the more confused I get. Here is a recording of Pablo Casals in a practice session, but it doesn’t seem quite like the one I remembered. I didn’t remember that the horns were even involved in the part on Dad’s LP. And the year 1964 seems too late. I had thought it was maybe a year earlier than that (because I thought I remembered where I was when listening to it, and we made a big move around New Year’s Day 1964.) 

    But the basic way that Casals interacted with the orchestra?  Definitely the same guy. 

     

    • #9
  10. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    A variant of this topic came up with some coworkers a few years ago when we would attend lunchtime recitals by university music majors at a church across the street from our office. After a couple of piano recitals we were discussing our preferences. My coworkers both were drawn strongly toward the pianists who played close to technical perfection (no wrong notes, no missed keys). But I found those particular pianists to have played with no emotion, no feeling, so I was unmoved by their performances. I preferred the pianists who played with emotion and vigor, even if they did flub a note or two along the way. Their performances moved me. But my coworkers heard only the mistakes.

    I found out we had the same discrepancy in theater and other types of live performance. I can enjoy community or non-professional theater that is technically far from perfect if the cast exudes a feeling of really trying to communicate the meaning of the work they are performing. 

    • #10
  11. Mark Alexander Inactive
    Mark Alexander
    @MarkAlexander

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    A variant of this topic came up with some coworkers a few years ago when we would attend lunchtime recitals by university music majors at a church across the street from our office. After a couple of piano recitals we were discussing our preferences. My coworkers both were drawn strongly toward the pianists who played close to technical perfection (no wrong notes, no missed keys). But I found those particular pianists to have played with no emotion, no feeling, so I was unmoved by their performances. I preferred the pianists who played with emotion and vigor, even if they did flub a note or two along the way. Their performances moved me. But my coworkers heard only the mistakes.

    I found out we had the same discrepancy in theater and other types of live performance. I can enjoy community or non-professional theater that is technically far from perfect if the cast exudes a feeling of really trying to communicate the meaning of the work they are performing.

    That’s why Samuel Johnson chose John Dryden as the better poet over Alexander Pope. Pope was always perfect, but in Johnson’s view, Pope never soared into the sublime as did Dryden, despite many rough edges.

    And then there is Shakespeare…

    • #11
  12. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):
    I found out we had the same discrepancy in theater and other types of live performance. I can enjoy community or non-professional theater that is technically far from perfect if the cast exudes a feeling of really trying to communicate the meaning of the work they are performing.

    I have worked with a lot of other writers to improve their work. It required a lot of analysis of what wasn’t working and why. (Of course, one also praises what is good.) The only problem is that having years of experience in doing such as editor and publisher and Mentor, it does get hard to get past the obvious issues at times or to shut off the critical faculty.

    In some ways, this has ruined reading fiction for me. I used to be a voracious reader who read multiple books per week. But now I read books published by big-name authors and publishers and see all of the very obvious errors made. The problem is, it does no good to shout at the author (some of whom are dead) or editor or publisher, because they don’t care what one reader has to say. They’ve sold more books than I have. I throw the book against the wall and give up, wondering how anyone can read such crap or how the editor let such unclear and poor writing through.

    • #12
  13. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):
    I found out we had the same discrepancy in theater and other types of live performance. I can enjoy community or non-professional theater that is technically far from perfect if the cast exudes a feeling of really trying to communicate the meaning of the work they are performing.

    I have worked with a lot of other writers to improve their work. It required a lot of analysis of what wasn’t working and why. (Of course, one also praises what is good.) The only problem is that having years of experience in doing such as editor and publisher and Mentor, it does get hard to get past the obvious issues at times or to shut off the critical faculty.

    In some ways, this has ruined reading fiction for me. I used to be a voracious reader who read multiple books per week. But now I read books published by big-name authors and publishers and see all of the very obvious errors made. The problem is, it does no good to shout at the author (some of whom are dead) or editor or publisher, because they don’t care what one reader has to say. They’ve sold more books than I have. I throw the book against the wall and give up, wondering how anyone can read such crap or how the editor let such unclear and poor writing through.

    Boy, do I feel your pain on that one!  I can’t turn the “grammar cop” part of me off, so I notice every little editing/proofreading error. Modern books seem to have so many!  I read a book by someone related to a Ricochet member, and there were so many errors, it interfered with my enjoyment of the book.  I am considering writing a children’s book myself, and I have promised myself that when it is done, it will be proofread to within an inch of its life.

    • #13
  14. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    A variant of this topic came up with some coworkers a few years ago when we would attend lunchtime recitals by university music majors at a church across the street from our office. After a couple of piano recitals we were discussing our preferences. My coworkers both were drawn strongly toward the pianists who played close to technical perfection (no wrong notes, no missed keys). But I found those particular pianists to have played with no emotion, no feeling, so I was unmoved by their performances. I preferred the pianists who played with emotion and vigor, even if they did flub a note or two along the way. Their performances moved me. But my coworkers heard only the mistakes.

    I found out we had the same discrepancy in theater and other types of live performance. I can enjoy community or non-professional theater that is technically far from perfect if the cast exudes a feeling of really trying to communicate the meaning of the work they are performing.

    The best performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion I ever heard was one the Kalamazoo Bach Festival Society did in the mid 80s, and it was excellent even though there were places where the strings went flat. But if you ignored that and paid attention to the good parts, it was the best.  (You don’t run into strings going flat so much any more, even in small-town orchestras.)

    This was also about the time I got over my idea that a woman conductor couldn’t get the same intense emotions of out of a musical group as a man could.  Maybe it was this performance that disabused me of that idea. The Kalamazoo Bach Festival Society was founded by a man who had recently retired after having conducted it for decades, and it’s now hard for me to imagine why I thought a woman couldn’t fill his shoes and do even better, but that had been my thought in those days.

    My kids seemed to appreciate it, too, but maybe not as much as I did.  When the local public radio station aired this performance a few weeks later, I recorded it on cassette tape.  But I can’t digitize it and play it for you, because some time later our daughter wanted to record a session of Prairie Home Companion, and that was the nearest tape she could find to record it on.  At least we got to listen to replays of those PHC shows when on family travel together.

    • #14
  15. Taras Coolidge
    Taras
    @Taras

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Mark Alexander: “Because I believe I am making progress.”

    Amen!

    Janos Starker, who recorded the Bach Unaccompanied Cello Suites five times, said that with each recording his understanding of the works heightened — but his physical ability to play them declined.

    P.S.:  On classical radio, the other day, a guest cellist commented, “What do you mean, ‘unaccompanied’ — Bach has three [implied] voices going on simultaneously!”

    • #15
  16. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):
    Boy, do I feel your pain on that one!  I can’t turn the “grammar cop” part of me off, so I notice every little editing/proofreading error. Modern books seem to have so many!  I read a book by someone related to a Ricochet member, and there were so many errors, it interfered with my enjoyment of the book.  I am considering writing a children’s book myself, and I have promised myself that when it is done, it will be proofread to within an inch of its life.

    Good policy on the proofreading, although I am speaking of so much more. For instance, getting one’s antecedents clear. Talking about a confrontation between father and son? Make it so the reader can tell which is which in which actions. “He” doesn’t always convey that as well as one might think when they’re both “he.” Yet this is a NYT Bestseller?

    • #16
  17. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    The Reticulator (View Comment):
    This was also about the time I got over my idea that a woman conductor couldn’t get the same intense emotions of out of a musical group as a man could. 

    Getting emotions, from a self-propelled downbeat?

    Conductors do inspire emotions sometimes; just not the ones the audience imagines.

    Q: What is the difference between conductors and chimpanzees?

    A: It has been experimentally proven that chimpanzees are capable of communicating with humans.

    • #17
  18. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Percival (View Comment):

    Q: What is the difference between conductors and chimpanzees?

    A: It has been experimentally proven that chimpanzees are capable of communicating with humans.

    Q: What’s the difference between a bull and an orchestra?

    • #18
  19. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Q: What is the difference between conductors and chimpanzees?

    A: It has been experimentally proven that chimpanzees are capable of communicating with humans.

    Q: What’s the difference between a bull and an orchestra?

    I thought about doing that one. Half the answer is “with a bull, the horns are in the front.”

    Q: What is the ideal weight for a conductor?

    A: About 2 1/2 pounds, without the urn.

    • #19
  20. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):
    I found out we had the same discrepancy in theater and other types of live performance. I can enjoy community or non-professional theater that is technically far from perfect if the cast exudes a feeling of really trying to communicate the meaning of the work they are performing.

    I have worked with a lot of other writers to improve their work. It required a lot of analysis of what wasn’t working and why. (Of course, one also praises what is good.) The only problem is that having years of experience in doing such as editor and publisher and Mentor, it does get hard to get past the obvious issues at times or to shut off the critical faculty.

    In some ways, this has ruined reading fiction for me. I used to be a voracious reader who read multiple books per week. But now I read books published by big-name authors and publishers and see all of the very obvious errors made. The problem is, it does no good to shout at the author (some of whom are dead) or editor or publisher, because they don’t care what one reader has to say. They’ve sold more books than I have. I throw the book against the wall and give up, wondering how anyone can read such crap or how the editor let such unclear and poor writing through.

    Boy, do I feel your pain on that one! I can’t turn the “grammar cop” part of me off, so I notice every little editing/proofreading error. Modern books seem to have so many! I read a book by someone related to a Ricochet member, and there were so many errors, it interfered with my enjoyment of the book. I am considering writing a children’s book myself, and I have promised myself that when it is done, it will be proofread to within an inch of its life.

    I have developed a perhaps odd facility for seeing grammar differently for fiction and for nonfiction. I get all high and mighty about poor grammar when dealing with nonfiction (news stories and legal documents – I have been a corporate lawyer responsible for complying with contracts, regulations, and court rulings, so I need to know exactly what those documents mean). But I am quite tolerant of deviations from “correct” grammar when used in fiction, at least when that deviation is done to convey a certain feeling, or to give the words a particular flow. 

    • #20
  21. Mark Alexander Inactive
    Mark Alexander
    @MarkAlexander

    Percival (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Q: What is the difference between conductors and chimpanzees?

    A: It has been experimentally proven that chimpanzees are capable of communicating with humans.

    Q: What’s the difference between a bull and an orchestra?

    I thought about doing that one. Half the answer is “with a bull, the horns are in the front.”

    Q: What is the ideal weight for a conductor?

    A: About 2 1/2 pounds, without the urn.

    Arnold Schoenberg walks into a bar. “I’ll have a gin please, but no tonic”

    • #21
  22. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):
    But I am quite tolerant of deviations from “correct” grammar when used in fiction, at least when that deviation is done to convey a certain feeling, or to give the words a particular flow. 

    I have no problem in a case like that, expressing speech, dialects, etc. I figure that for done with intent to color in the character more than just a sketch.

    • #22
  23. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    A variant of this topic came up with some coworkers a few years ago when we would attend lunchtime recitals by university music majors at a church across the street from our office. After a couple of piano recitals we were discussing our preferences. My coworkers both were drawn strongly toward the pianists who played close to technical perfection (no wrong notes, no missed keys). But I found those particular pianists to have played with no emotion, no feeling, so I was unmoved by their performances. I preferred the pianists who played with emotion and vigor, even if they did flub a note or two along the way. Their performances moved me. But my coworkers heard only the mistakes.

    I found out we had the same discrepancy in theater and other types of live performance. I can enjoy community or non-professional theater that is technically far from perfect if the cast exudes a feeling of really trying to communicate the meaning of the work they are performing.

    The same is true across other media.  Most of us grew up watching movies from the forties and fifties, often with special effects budgets that ran into the hundreds of dollars.  Those were more fun to watch than almost anything coming out now.

    • #23
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