Music is my passion and even more considering that I possess no musical ability whatsoever. I managed to just about play the bugle when I was in the 5th Worthing Boy's Brigade when I was a child but I was, frankly, rubbish even at that. I can't DJ and my singing voice is not pleasant. This talent void makes me appreciate those who have genuine abilities.
My girlfriend introduced me to the music of her fellow Catalan Pau Casals, recently. A multi-instrumentalist, he found fame and fortune as one of the great cellists of the 20th century. I've listened to quite a few performances on Youtube now and there is, underneath the genius of his interpretations a lingering melancholia and it's not difficult to see why. He was a proud Catalan and fiercely outspoken against the Franco regime that killed so many of Casal's fellow countrymen and oppressed many more. His disgust of this oppression and the lack of response from other nations meant he was unable to return to his homeland after exile in the 1930s. The defiant speech "I Am A Catalan" given to the United Nations in 1971 when he was a very old man is an extremely moving spectacle and he delivers it with grace and dignity.
Here he is in 1974 playing the famous Bach Cello Concerto number 1.
As a footnote, his christian name was Pau, not Pablo as he was referred to in his lifetime. Pau is a Catalan name, Pablo is the Spanish equivalent.
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