Pau Casals was a student at the Barcelona Municipal Conservatori of Music when, at the age of 15, he composed an ambitious Missa de Glòria in which he included the ordinary aspects of the Catholic mass but with a language full of influences of the time. Thus, in this piece for four voices, harmonium or organ, whose absolute premiere is celebrated today in the Parroquia del Vendrell, his birthplace (8:30 p.m.), bel canto reminiscences are observed, especially in the solo voices, combined with tradition of the choral masses of the 18th and 14th centuries.
The novelty is, as can be seen in this concert organized by the Associació d’Amics de l’Orgue del Vendrell and the Fundació Pau Casals, that the young Casals brings his own character, expanding both on the melody and the intimacy , as in the bombast of some of his mature choral works. On the other hand, the writing of the harmonium or organ is often pianistic, which leaves the door open to playing it outside the religious temple.
The legendary cellist and conductor has not gone down in history for his compositions, but his creative restlessness was present throughout his life. However, his concert success surpassed him: it was impossible for him to dedicate himself body and soul to composing, despite which he wrote more than eighty works between 1892, when he began to train and composed this mass, and a year before his death, in 1973.
Why has it taken so long to release this Mass? The work of cataloging and digitizing Casals’ work did not begin until 2008, when the Fundació began the research and managed to make the material published by Editoral Boileau available to interpreters in the National Archive of Catalonia: 21 volumes published until the date, with works by Casals for piano, voice, choir, string quartet, string quintet, string orchestra, symphony orchestra, wind ensemble and cobla.
Included there is this Missa de Glòria written for soprano, tenor I, tenor II and bass, although in the revised version that will be offered at the premiere this Sunday it has been adapted to the formation of soprano (Mar Jordana), tenor (Josep Rovira) and bass (David Guitart). In addition, specific writing errors have been corrected but “maintaining the essence and originality of a unique work typical of the musical genius that we all know.” The Càrmina Choir, directed by Daniel Mestre, will participate, and the organist Mercè Sanchís will play the original baroque organ that Pau Casals’ father played in the parish of Vendrell.
The program will be completed by two more works by Casals: O vos omnes and El Pessebre, which ends with Gloria.
