The University of Barcelona vindicates Pau Casals' musical and humanistic relevance

Narcís Serra, vice-president of the Pau Casals Foundation, receives the diploma from the rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia.
Narcís Serra, vice-president of the Pau Casals Foundation, receives the diploma from the rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia.
News | Culture | Institutional
(17/10/2023)
"Towards the end of the Spanish Civil War, one of the most extraordinary events of my life occurred. Barcelona was expected to fall at any moment. Franco's troops were massing for the final attack and the city was under constant bombings by Italian planes [...]. Under these circumstances, I received a message from the authorities at the University of Barcelona informing me that, before dispersing, they wanted to confer on me the honorary doctorate ". This is how Pau Casals explained the high honour conferred on him by the UB on 18 January 1939. Today, 84 years later, the University of Barcelona has commemorated his figure as part of the fiftieth anniversary of his death.
Narcís Serra, vice-president of the Pau Casals Foundation, receives the diploma from the rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia.
Narcís Serra, vice-president of the Pau Casals Foundation, receives the diploma from the rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia.
News | Culture | Institutional
17/10/2023
"Towards the end of the Spanish Civil War, one of the most extraordinary events of my life occurred. Barcelona was expected to fall at any moment. Franco's troops were massing for the final attack and the city was under constant bombings by Italian planes [...]. Under these circumstances, I received a message from the authorities at the University of Barcelona informing me that, before dispersing, they wanted to confer on me the honorary doctorate ". This is how Pau Casals explained the high honour conferred on him by the UB on 18 January 1939. Today, 84 years later, the University of Barcelona has commemorated his figure as part of the fiftieth anniversary of his death.

The solemn session, conducted by the actress Txe Arana, began with the reading of the ceremony of his honorary doctorate award in 1939 by the Secretary General of the University, Marina Solé, who said that "with this act, a historical debt is being corrected". After a brief video presentation of Pau Casals, Jordi Pardo, Director General of the Pau Casals Foundation, spoke on behalf of the conductor Antoni Ros-Marbà, who was unable to attend the ceremony.

Pardo defended the fact that "Casals is one of the universal names of Catalan culture". "His commitment to values such as peace and democracy and his fight against dictatorships form an inseparable part of his legacy, accompanied by his unstoppable triumph all over the world", he said. He also recalled that the musician revolutionized the technique of the cello, that "he was a great teacher for young people", and that he stood out for the "analytical nature of his works". "Casals innovated with intense, rigorous and methodical work. As time has gone by, his creations have transcended fashions, being capable of creating timeless pieces", he declared, and recalled the magnitude of the musician's compositional oeuvre, with more than a hundred works and two hundred concerts a year.

Next, the pianist Yoko Suzuki and the cellist Biel Garriga, with a 1921 cello owned by Pau Casals, performed the pieces Après un rêve, by Fauré, and Intermezzo, from the opera Goyescas, by Granados.

Afterwards, Jaume Carbonell, lecturer at the UB's Department of Art History, described Casals' acts of generosity and patriotism, such as the creation of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra in 1920, the creation of the Workers' Concert Association in 1926 with the aim of disseminating music among the working classes, and his support for the refugees and for the victims of the Civil War from his exile in Prague.

"Casals' version of El Cant dels Ocells is a lament full of meaning, denunciation and yearning for freedom", said Carbonell, who recalled the musician's famous speech after receiving the United Nations Peace Medal in 1971: "Casals, overcome with emotion, reaffirmed two basic concepts: Catalan identity and his pioneering role in defence of peace, democracy and freedom". "Today's university is very different from the one that awarded Casals an honorary doctorate, but its values prevail. That is why today we honour the work and figure of Casals as a witness to the ongoing need for his message", concluded the UB professor.

"Today we recover two fundamental historical figures to explain the diversity of the country: Pau Casals and the Rector Pere Bosch Gimpera", said the Rector.

After the screening of a historical recording of Pau Casals, the rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia, presented a commemorative diploma to the vice-president of the Pau Casals Foundation, Narcís Serra, who thanked the UB for this gesture, which reinforces "the defence of the legacy and the dissemination of Pau Casals' musical knowledge and human trajectory to new generations".

The performance of El Cant dels Ocells by the musicians Garriga and Suzuki was followed by the closing words of the rector, who said that "today we are recovering two fundamental historical figures to explain the diversity of the country: Pau Casals and the rector Pere Bosch Gimpera". "To hold the place that was occupied by the Rector Bosch i Gimperà is an honour. Today, as we once again see how human barbarity is once again present, it is time to continue to vindicate the values of Pau Casals and the University of Barcelona", he said.

The event ended with a minute's silence in memory of Pau Casals and for peace in the world, and with a interpretation of Gaudeamus igitur.

Multimedia gallery

The rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia, during his speech.

Reproduction of the diploma given to Pau Casals on the occasion of his appointment as an honorary doctor by the UB on January 18, 1939.

Pau Casals Fund. Pau Casals Foundation.

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La Universitat de Barcelona reivindica la vigència musical i humanística de Pau Casals

Pictures of the event

The University of Barcelona remembers Pau Casals