Book review: Music and Silence: The Passion and Protest of Pablo Casals

Music and Silence: The Passion and Protest of Pablo Casals

Christy Mihaly

56PP ISBN 9780802855510

EERDMANS £14.95

This is a biographical story marketed at 7–12-year-olds, but when I read it out loud to my almost-four-year-old daughter, she was gripped. That is not to say that the narrative is overly juvenile. Rather, it is a beautifully illustrated tale capable of drawing readers of all ages into the life and times of the legendary 20th-century cellist Pablo Casals. Its language is poetic and evocative, combining well-paced storytelling with interesting biographical information. The imaginative illustrations had, within the first few pages, inspired my daughter to request a visit to Casals’ Spanish homeland of Catalonia.

It is not a light-hearted story but it is an uplifting one. Colourful bubbles and birds represent music that drifts and flies from Casals’ cello and baton as he plays and conducts his way to success and on through the catastrophes of World War Two and the Spanish Civil War. When war ends but the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco – an ally of Hitler – remains in charge, Casals uses public performance to advocate for peace. Eventually, however, he descends into silence and refuses to perform in public, in protest at Franco’s rule. In the poignant last pages, he returns to the stage in the French village of Prades, where he has found a home alongside other Spanish refugees. There, at the 1950 Prades Bach Festival, he plays again to draw attention to Spain’s plight. Over several weeks his performances bewitch onlookers who are forbidden from applause: clapping is not permitted by the bishop of the church where the musicians perform. On the final night, though, the bishop breaks his own prohibition: he claps. In response, the audience bursts into a rapturous, twenty-minute-long standing ovation.

The illustrated story ends there. Casals, though, lived for another 23 years, and so the book contains a further six pages of unillustrated biographical information about him, his life and times. Those pages reveal what became of Casals in his later years, discuss his stage fright and his important relationship with Bach’s music, and talk about Franco’s impact on Catalonia. All in all, this book offers an engaging, informative and touching read that can be enjoyed by children and their grown-ups alike.

PAULINE HARDING