Enric Casals


Enric Casals i Defilló, brother of Pablo Casals, was a Catalan violinist, composer and conductor.

Biography

He started to study music with his father, Carles Casals i Ribes. Then, he became a disciple of Rafael Gálvez. Afterwards, he went to Brussels in order to improve his violin and composition skills, with Mathieu Crickboom and Joseph Jongen; and in 1918 he moved to Prague, where he was a pupil of František Suchý. He established the String Quartet "Enric Casals" in 1921, with which he toured Europe, offering concerts in France, Belgium, England, Switzerland and Spain. He played as the solo violinist of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, the Kurot Symphonische Orchester in Saint Petersburg, the Pau Casals Orchester and the one of the Gran Teatre del Liceu. He was sub-conductor of the Pau Casals Orchester, conductor of the Orquestra Ibèrica de Concerts and the Orquestra Professional de Cambra de Barcelona, with which he conducted almost a hundred concerts. Besides he occasionally conducted other important orchestras around the world, such as the national orchestras of Portugal, Mexico, Hungary, Greece, and the Lamoureux Orchestra of Paris. He was founder and director of the Musical Institute Casals and responsible of the famous Prades Festivals.

Works