Gaspar Cassadó (1897-1966)

Suite for solo cello (arr. for guitar by Nathan Cornelius)

1. Preludio – Fantasia
2. Sardana (Danza)
3. Intermezzo e danza finale

Born in Barcelona, Gaspar Cassadó studied cello with his fellow Catalan, the great Pablo Casals, and composition with Maurice Ravel and Manuel de Falla, going on to have an international career as a chamber musician as well as a composer. Much like the music of Ravel and de Falla, Cassadó’s Suite for solo cello combines traditional Spanish dance rhythms with elegant, fluid melodic passages reminiscent of French style. The first movement alternates between a stately theme resembling the traditional folías and a more vigorous rhythm based on the zarabanda (originally a wild and seductive dance from the Spanish colonies). The second movement is a sardana, a solemn circle dance distinctive to Catalonia. In the third movement, a subdued and dreamy introduction dissolves into an infectious, asymmetrical rhythm in 5/4 time and finally a fiery jota.