Spanish violinist and composer Pablo de Sarasate

The missing link. I should have included some reference to Pablo de Sarasate before now, for he was as representative of Spanish music in his age as anyone else in their’s. He was born in the well known city of Pamplona in 1844. At the time of the wild ritual of frantic bulls running riot in the streets, another fiesta is held in the music conservatory in honour of its most famous son.

Pablo began studying the violin when he was only five years old, taught by his father who was an artillery bandmaster. His first concert was at La Coruna three years later. Following a period of study in Madrid his mother decided to take him to Paris but tragically just after they had crossed the French boarder, she had a heart attack and died. The Spanish Consul in Bayonne befriended Pablo and financed his eventual journey to Paris where he became a student at the Conversatoire and his exceptional gifts became evident.

His performances of opera fantasies and other works he composed – often with a Spanish flavour – became famous and it was largely through his influence that such French composers of that day as Lalo, Bizet and Saint-Saens wrote music with the colour and rhythms of his native land.

No easy critic, George Bernard Shaw was enthusiastic about Sarasate as composer and performer and said he ‘left criticism gasping miles behind him’. Sarasate’s four volumes of Spanish dances for violin and piano are still played today. Described as a true Spanish gentleman, he had many female admirers, none of whom were able to persuade him to get married, though it was said that he always kept a supply of Spanish fans to present to lady admirers after concerts. He died a wealthy man, leaving most of his fortune to the city of his birth, where there is now a museum devoted to his memory.

B.R.