ABSTRACT
When examining the totality of Cassadó’s opus, however fragmented it has survived, it stands as one of the most substantial bodies of work of any cellist in the twentieth century. As far as Cassadó is known as a composer today, it is almost exclusively due to a couple of cello works – the Solo Suite, Requiebros and, perhaps, Dance du Diable Vert that have been part of the standard cello repertoire for some time, while a more comprehensive picture of Cassadó’s opus of almost 60 works has never been seriously attempted (a complete work list is compiled in Appendix I to this book). At least 25 of his works remain unpublished and a number of them presumably also unfinished, which, together with an apparent lack of interest on Cassadó’s part to prepare his own legacy, in part explains the patchy vision of his opus maintained so far. Furthermore, the house of the Cassadó family in Barcelona was sacked in 1936 (during the Spanish Civil War), according to Angelo Gilardino, allegedly erasing the traces of a number of Cassadó’s manuscripts (Gilardino, 2003, p. 6). Throughout his compositions Cassadó shows a clear commitment to the enlargement of the cello repertoire, but there is a considerable variation in instrumentation, form, style and compo - sitional approach, both regarding chamber music works and orchestral music. His work list shows a certain predilection for smaller genres with one or two instruments and for shorter pieces (often 5-10 minutes of music), but there are also several deep immersions into classical genres such as the string quartet, piano trio or the solo concerto.
