Artigenda
International Cello Day
Wanneer: jaarlijks, 29 december.
The birthday of Pablo Casals is known as the International Day of the Cello. This day is there to honour this composer, cellist and conductor and bring attention to the musical instrument and cello music.
Pablo Casals
Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Pablo Casals was born on 29 December 1876 in El Vendrell in the Spanish region of Catalonia. He was to become one of the best-known cellists of his time. Not only that, he was also active as a composer and conductor. Well-known were the pieces of music by Beethoven that he played. Some of those works can be heard on YouTube, for instance, as seen below.
Best of his time
Casals was considered the best cellist of his time. He died on 22 October 1973 in San Juan (Puerto Rico). After his death, he was buried in his hometown. He was posthumously awarded the Medalla d’Or de la Generalitat by the Catalan government. In 1989, he was posthumously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Historiek.net published an article about his life in 2011, which was updated in 2019. You can read this article here.
About the cello
Officially, this is the violin cello, a bowed instrument, with a range that depends on the size of the cello and the key. Because of this size, this range can vary between four and six octaves. The average range is five octaves. The origin of the instrument must be sought somewhere in the sixteenth century. Its inventor has never been entirely clear. For instance, a clergyman from Tarascon-sur-Rhône in France is said to have been responsible for its invention. Chances are that the instrument may be much older and can be traced back to Italy as its country of origin.
The shape of the instrument as we know it today is said to be after a design by Gasparo da Saló (1540 – 1609). It took at least until the eighteenth century for full acceptance of the instrument to follow. By then, it was unthinkable. A cello is part of every classical orchestra. Not only that but the instrument is also used in modern music pieces. Take “The Curse” by Agnes Obel, as you can see below.
2Cellos
Then others use the instrument in completely different ways. Consider the formation of 2Cellos. This Croatian formation, consisting of Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser existed between 2011 and 2022 and not only made classical songs a spectacle thanks to their cellos. They did the same with modern songs. Consider, for instance, the song that brought them worldwide fame, “Thunderstruck.”
When it comes to music in which the instrument plays an emphatic role, there is plenty of material on YouTube. Just search on words like cello music and complete playlists appear, which you can listen to for hours. Then, for instance, The Piano Guys come along. They make music combining the cello with – surprisingly – piano music. Also reflected in the results is Thomas Roussel’s video. Although this is a promotional video for the 2024 Paris Olympics and features a full orchestra, the cello also features prominently. You can watch the video at this link.
It could be different. Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” in a version with cello:
Wednesday Addams
Let’s face it, the instrument was of course brought back to attention thanks to one Wednesday Addams. Although the instrument was never really “gone”. Check out this compilation:
