Gaspar Cassadó

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Gaspar Cassadó i Moreu (September 30, 1897 – December 24, 1966), was an influential cellist and composer of the early 20th century. He was born in Barcelona to a church musician father and began taking cello lessons at age seven. When he was nine, he played in a recital where Pablo Casals was in the audience; Casals immediately offered to teach him. The city of Barcelona awarded him a scholarship so that he could study with Casals in Paris.

He was also the author of several notable musical hoaxes.

Contents

[edit] Compositions

[edit] Original works

Cassadó's many transcriptions are listed below his original works.

[edit] Concertos

  • Cello Concerto in D minor (1926)
This piece, like the Suite for Cello Solo, is influenced by Spanish and Oriental folk music, and Impressionism. Cassado studied composition with Maurice Ravel, and a Ravel-influenced "carnival music" appears in the second theme of the first movement. The second movement is a theme and variations which leads directly to a pentatonic Rondo.

[edit] Solo cello works

  • Suite for Cello Solo
The Suite, like the Cello Concerto and the Piano Trio, came from one Cassadó's most prolific periods, in the mid-1920s. It consists of three dance movements: Preludio-Fantasia (a Zarabanda); Sardana; and Intermezzo e Danza Finale (a Jota). The first movement includes quotations from Zoltán Kodály's Sonata for Cello Solo, Op.8, and the famous flute solo from Maurice Ravel's ballet Daphnis et Chloé.
  • Fugue in the Style of Handel

[edit] Solo guitar works

  • Canción de Leonardo
  • Catalanesca
  • Dos Cantos Populares Finlandeses, (Two Finnish Folk Songs)
  • Leyenda Catalana
  • Préambulo y Sardana
  • Sardana Chigiana

[edit] Works for cello and piano

  • Allegretto Grazioso "After Schubert"
  • Archares 1954
  • Danse du diable vert (Dance of the Green Devil) for violin or cello 1926
  • La Pendule, la Fileuse et le Galant 1925
  • Lamento de Boabdil 1931
  • Minuetto "After Paderewski"
  • Morgenlied 1957
  • Partita 1935
  • Pastorale "After Couperin"
  • Rapsodia del Sur
  • Requiebros 1934
  • Serenade 1925
  • Sonata in a minor 1925
  • Sonata nello stile antico spagnuolo (Sonata in an "Old Spanish Style") 1925
  • Toccata "After Frescobaldi" 1925

[edit] Chamber works

  • Piano Trio in C major 1926/1929
  • String Quartet No. 1 in f minor 1929
  • String Quartet No. 2 in G Major 1930
  • String Quartet No. 3 in c minor 1933

[edit] Transcriptions

[edit] Concerto transcriptions

Cassadó transformed nine of Tchaikovsky's pieces into a concerto. He used No.18 Scene dansante (Invitation au trepak), No.3 Tendres Reproches and No.14 Chant Elegiaque in the first movement; No.5 Meditation and No.8 Dialogue in the second and No.4 Danse Caracteristique, No.2 Berceuse, No.17 Passe Lointain and No.1 Impromptu in the third. This concerto was a favorite of Cassadó's. It was published in 1940 by Edition Schott No.3743.
Cassadó completely rewrote the Concerto for his colleague Andrés Segovia. The transcription features a solo string quartet, and trumpet fanfares make it reminiscent of Rodrigo.

[edit] Transcriptions for solo cello

Cassadó transposed the suite to F major from its original key of E flat major.

[edit] Transcriptions for cello and piano

[edit] External links

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