[1] Joaquim Rabasseda i Matas is a composer with a degree in Art History and Music History, and Science from the University of Granada. He also holds a PhD from the University of Barcelona. His thesis was entitled "Jaume Pahissa. A Case in Musical Analysis." Rabasseda is a professor at ESMUC (Catalonia College of Music) and, between 2012 and 2021, he headed the Department of Musicology. He is currently the director of Research, Quality, and Innovation.

 The concert

The pieces were an invitation to intimacy, not necessarily sad, but serene. And it was possible thanks to a sensitive performance that resulted in something almost meditative, a total connection with the moment, an experience of peace of mind, a food for the spirit.

The music room at the Museu Pau Casals was another reason to offer well-being, a feeling of welcome, and closeness. This room, located in the building that was Pau Casals' summer residence, is an unforgettable place for everyone who visits it, especially if you are one of the musicians who play there or if you are attending a concert.

(Link to the Pau Casals Foundation website with information about the concert)

Concert programme

Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828). Sonata in A minor “Arpeggione” D.821

Today, this piece is fundamental in the cello repertoire. Schubert composed it for “Arpeggione”, a six-stringed instrument similar in shape to the cello, but with frets and a tuning similar to that of the guitar. This instrument was created by Johan Georg Staufer in 1823, but it did not gain widespread acceptance. It is known as the arpeggione, and also as the Love Guitar, because it can produce a sound similar to the strumming of a guitar.

Arpeggione made by Johan Georg Staufer (1831)  The Met Public Domain

The adaptation of this sonata for cello and the incorporation into the repertoire of this instrument is due to the collaboration of  Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976) and Mstislav Rostropovich (1927 – 2007).

Juli Garreta i Arboix (1875–1925) Sonata for cello and piano in F Major dedicated to Pau Casals

This piece was premiered by Pau Casals and Blai Net[1] (1886–1948) on piano. It was on 3 May 1923 at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona. It was organised by the Associació de Música ‘Da Camera’ de Barcelona (Da Camera Music Association of Barcelona). The same year, it was published by Josep Grahit Grau (1883–1960) [2]. According to information found in the Municipal Archive of Sant Feliu de Guixols, Juli Garreta had wanted to write this sonata since 1909.

Juli Garreta CC 4.0

They performed as an encore  Rêverie (Shumanienne) by Joan Lamote de Grignon i Bocquet (1872 – 1949).  The name Schumanienne comes from the fact that the work was inspired by the romantic style of Robert Schuman.

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[1] Blai Net was a child prodigy who was already playing the piano at the age of 7 and performed as a soloist at Midnight Mass in the Church of Colonia Güell at the age of 9 (24 December 1895). From 1917 onwards, he played as a duo with Casals for 19 years.

[2] Lawyer, writer, and journalist, son of historian Emili Grahit (1850 - 1912). He was secretary of the Barcelona Provincial Monuments Commission and a member of the Academy of History.

The performers

Between Daniel Blanch (piano) and Romain Garioud (cello), we can sense a connection in their playing, a balanced and emotional style.

Daniel Blanch

He is a pianist who studied with Maria Canals[1] (1914 – 2010) and Raquel Millàs at the ‘Ars Nova Music Academy’ (Acadèmia de Música Ars Nova). He furthered his piano studies with Maria Tipo (1931 – 2025) in Florence and Brigitte Engerer (1952 – 2012) in Paris. He also received masterclasses from Alicia de Larrocha (1923 – 2009), Josep Colom (1947), and Alberto Portugheis (1941).  He is the founder and president of the Joan Manén Association (Associació Joan Manén) This organisation aims to research and promote Catalan musical heritage.

Romain Garioud

Cellist. He won the Rostropovich Competition in Paris in 2001 and the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 2002, among others. He has given several concerts and masterclasses in Europe. He has recorded with Radio France and Mezzo Chanel. He plays a Nicolò Gagliano violin from 1760. (Link with the full biography)

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[1] Maria Canals i Cendrós was a passionate pianist, but she also devoted herself to the professional development of young pianists. She founded the Ars Nova Music Academy, but she also left us a foundation that annually holds the Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona. (Link to the website)

Recordings by Romain Garioud and Daniel Blanch to bring us closer to Catalan composers

Mar Plana (Calm Sea)

This CD featuring the complete works of Juli Garreta for cello and piano was released in 2021. The CD includes the following pieces:

Mar Plana

Sonata in A major

Joguina (Toy)

Mazurka

Romança (Romance)

The composer dedicated the pieces to Pablo Casals (Sonata and Joguina) and Bonaventura Dini[1] (Mar Plana and Mazurka).

Rêverie. Evocations and dreams

This CD is a mosaic of compositions by Catalan composers born in the second half of the 19th century:

By Joan Lamote de Grignon

Rêverie

Canción para María (Song for María)

By Joaquim Cassado (1867 - 1926)

Más Ultra (Beyond)

Lamento (Lament)

By Joan Manén (1883 - 1971)

Egloge et chanson grecque

By Enric Morera (1865 - 1942)

Oriental

Record (Memory)

By Eduard Toldrà (1895 - 1962)

Ave Maria

By Agustí Grau (1893 - 1964)

Bell son (Beautiful Dream)

By Frédéric Mompou (1893 - 1987)

El son (The Dream)

By Francesc Pujol (1878 - 1945)

Una meravellosa rondalla (A Wonderful Rondalla)

By Joan Baptista Lambert (1884 - 1945)

Somni eròtic (Erotic Dream)

This CD was edited in 2024

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[1] Bonaventura Dini Fazzi (1876–1936) was a friend of Pablo Casals, also born in El Vendrell, and a musician with Benvingut Socias i Mercader (1877–1952). Bonaventura Dini was a cellist and worked at the Milan Opera House, where he lived between 1909 and 1920. He had a tenor voice, and he arrived to sing as a soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Pau Casals Orquestra. He was the first cello of the Pau Casals Orchestra.  Benvingut Socias i Mercadé was also a friend of Casals and an internationally renowned pianist. He played with Casals in London, Berlin, Munich, Washington, and New York. The three musicians (Casals, Dini, and Socias) were friends since childhood and all took their first music lessons with Carles Casals, Pablo Casals' father.

The friendship between Juli Garreta and Pablo Casals

Juli Garreta was a composer passionately admired by Casals and Igor Stravinsky. His works were known outside Catalonia because Casals performed them in his concerts.

After Garreta's death, Casals was the main person who worked to preserve his legacy. Casals said the following words in relation to Garreta's death: ‘I have lost a friend, and Catalonia has lost a genius.’

Casals' admiration for Garreta was so well known that even when the monument in memory of Garreta was unveiled in Girona (14^th and 15^th July 1930), a text in Scherzando magazine said: ‘...especially Pablo Casals, Garreta's friend.’ As if no one else were friends with the composer. Casals himself wrote these words on the same occasion of the monument's unveiling ceremony:

 

Monument dedicated to Juli Garreta in Girona Zarateman CC 1.0 Public Domain

“He is a great man. I know of no one with such profound intuition. A man who hardly ever left his village and wrote such beautiful music”.

 

Casals also admired Lamote de Grignon.

Joan Lamote de Grignon Il·lustracio Catalana 191 (27-01-1907) Unknown photographer

There is a letter written in 1925 by Casals to Lamote de Grignon after a concert by the Barcelona Municipal Band, of which Lamote was the conductor, in which he said:

Palau Belles Arts Banda Municipal de Música Conductor: Lamote de Grignon Year 1927 Photographer: Jaume Ribera Llopis

‘Barcelona must be eternally grateful to you for the affection you have shown it and your great qualities as a great musician...’