“The violin has more glamour, the viola more soul, the bass more thundering power. But the cello remains the most versatile member of the string family,” wrote Russell Platt some years ago in the New Yorker.
Actually, he’s both right and wrong. Yes, the cello is versatile. But the cello has plenty of glamour, plenty of soul, and plenty of power all its own.
The most famous cellist in history was Pablo Casals, who lived from 1876 till 1973. Casals was revered as soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. He was also a man of conscience who famously refused to perform in the United States after WWII when the US continued to recognize the dictator Francisco Franco, who had Casals’ native Spain under his power.
“I am a man first, an artist second,” said Casals. “As a man, my first obligation is to the welfare of my fellow men. I will endeavor to meet this obligation through music — the means god has given me — since it transcends language, politics and national boundaries. My contribution to world peace may be small. But at least I will have given all I can to an ideal I hold sacred.”
If you attend the events of Cello|Fresno, you are likely to hear a number of the Johann Sebastian Bach suites for the violoncello that Pablo Casals rescued from obscurity and established as among the most important works for that instrument.
Video of Pablo Casals performing a Bach Suite in the Abbey of Saint Michel de Cuxa, near Prades, France, in 1954.
*cello, or ‘cello, is short for violoncello, an Italian word that means little violone, with violone meaning so many different things that we really can’t explain the etymology of this term. But generally speaking, a violone—meaning large viol—is/was roughly equivalent to a double bass.
