18/09/2026
The URV Choir commemorates the 150th anniversary of the birth of Pau Casals
The choir performed the works of the world-famous cellist, conductor and composer at Tarragona Cathedral
The choir performed the works of the world-famous cellist, conductor and composer at Tarragona Cathedral
The 29 December 2026 will mark 150 years since the birth of Pau Casals, one of the most widely known figures in Catalan culture and undisputedly one of the leading musicians of the 20th-century. To pay tribute to him, the Choir of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili gave a concert in Tarragona Cathedral yesterday, Thursday, an event that has now become an annual fixture in the Santa Tecla programme.
The concert began with the Missa de Glòria, a work that Pau Casals wrote in 1892, when he was only fifteen years old. Despite being composed during his youth, the work already shows the composer’s greatness and musical intuition.
In addition to composing, Pau Casals was an exceptional cellist, conductor, pedagogue and humanist and is remembered not only for his extraordinary musical talent, but also for his firm commitment to the values of freedom, democracy and peace, which profoundly marked his life and artistic career, so much so that in 1970, the UN Secretary-General, U Thant, asked him to compose an anthem for the United Nations.
Casals accepted the commission, but given the difficulty of the text, he asked the poet W.H. Auden to create a new one for the occasion. The work, written for choir and orchestra without soloists, was titled Hymn to the United Nations and premiered on 24 October 1971 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, with the participation of the Manhattan School of Music choir, the United Nations Singers and the Casals Festival Orchestra, under the direction of Pau Casals.
It was performed yesterday by the University Choir, which was conducted by Montserrat Ríos and featured Judith Sánchez, soprano; Òscar F. Joyera, tenor; and Joan Carvajal, bass, accompanied by Mercè Sanchís on the organ.
The concert filled Tarragona Cathedral and was co-organised by the Choir and Tarragona City Council, in collaboration with the Pau Casals Foundation and with the support of the Chapterhouse of Tarragona Cathedral.
