How could anybody think of Bach as 'cold' when these [cello] suites seem to shine with the most glittering kind of poetry," Casals said. "As I got on with the study I discovered a new world of space and beauty... the feelings I experienced were among the purest and most intense in my artistic life!
Interpretation
Pablo Casals emphasizes the emotional depth and beauty found in Bach's cello suites.
In this quote, Pablo Casals expresses his profound appreciation for the emotional richness and poetic quality of Bach's cello suites. He challenges the perception of Bach as 'cold' by highlighting the intense feelings and beauty he discovered through his study of the music, suggesting that true artistry invites deep emotional engagement and reveals a world of beauty and space that resonates with the human spirit.
In practice
During a concert, I might quote Casals to illustrate how deeply music can evoke emotions.
Bach is the supreme genius of music... This man, who knows everything and feels everything, cannot write one note, however unimportant it may appear, which is anything but transcendent. He has reached the heart of every noble thought, and has done it in the most perfect way.
In music, in the sea, in a flower, in a leaf, in an act of kindness... I see what people call God in all these things.
The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?
The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.
I am an old man but in many senses a very young man. And this is what I want you to be, young, young all your life.
To the whole world you might be just one person, but to one person you might just be the whole world.
Tragedy is the highest form of art.
I love amazing people. I love dazzling them. That's why I think performing magic is one of the greatest things a person can do.
Theater is my temple and my religion and my act of faith. Strangers sit in a room together and believe together.
There is no civilization that did not begin with art, Whether it was drawing a line in the sand, painting a cave or dancing.
Jazz in itself is not struggling. That is, the music itself is not struggling... It's the attitude that's in trouble. My plays insist that we should not forget or toss away our history.
British fashion is self confident and fearless. It refuses to bow to commerce, thus generating a constant flow of new ideas whilst drawing in British heritage.
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