ABSTRACT
Gaspar Cassadó, as a Barcelonian, a disciple of Casals and an influential teacher of Catalan cellists, plays an important role within cello playing in Catalonia. Whether or not there is a palpable and specifically Catalan tradition of cello performance has, however, yet to be established. Due to Cassadó’s lack of recognition in later years, the connection between Casals and other Catalan cellists has been overlooked and there are few clear stepping stones in the Catalan school apart from the master-disciple relationship between Casals and Cassadó. Although a recent publication by Josep Bassall and Jaime Tortella rightfully points to a long succession of now forgotten, competent, cellists in Catalonia, Casals has no real pre - decessors and is often regarded as the creator of a new tradition or school (Bassall and Tortella, 2015, p. ix). On the other hand, prominent modern Catalan cellists have studied abroad and therefore demonstrate a varied range of performance influences, limiting that of lesser known Catalan performers and teachers.1 Up until now, despite the existence of many successful Catalan cellists, the idea of a ‘Catalan cello school’ has solely rested upon the fact that two of the greatest cellists of the century – Casals and Cassadó – shared a cultural heritage and that this heritage was manifestly of some importance to both of them as musicians.
