Daniel Beland wrote:
>
>The great Catalan composer Xavier Montsalvatge (1912-2002) passed away a
>few days ago...

I was saddened to read that news today in the International Herald
Tribune. I had the good fortune to work with him and play a considerable
number of his pieces during my years in the Barcelona Symphony. The
string quartet, string trio, the Concierto Breve with Alicia De
Larrocha, in fact one of the treats of my whole career was in a concert
we did for his 80th birthday, an entire program dedicated to his music.
One of the works was an arrangement he did of the famous Cant dels
Ocells, the Song of the Birds made famous by Casals, for soprano, solo
cello and string orchestra. For the dress rehearsal the cello soloist,
Andorran Lluis Claret, was late due to flight delays or some such travel
disaster, so as principal I got to play the solo part in the dress
rehearsal, with Victoria de los Angeles singing. Gosh.

His music is fabulous and fascinating; he's one of my very top favorite
composers. The songs, the Harp concerto, some of the smaller orchestra
pieces, he goes from thorny to Cuban to lullaby fluently and lyrically.
Catalunya's greatest gift to music since Pau Casals.

Dave
http://mp3.com/davidrunnion