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Suite for Solo Cello
Gaspar Cassadó

The suite consists of three dance movements, each one of them depicts three regions of his home country: Castilla y La Mancha (the centre of Spain), Cataluña (his home in the north-east) and Andalucía (the south). The suite first starts with a Prelude, just like the introductory Prelude to a Baroque suite.The 3⁄4 meter gives the sense of a Sarabande, with dramatic dynamic surges, Spanish chords and gestures contrasting impressionist colors. The dolce theme quotes the famous flute solo from Maurice Ravel's ballet Daphnis et Chloé. This can be supported by the fact that Cassado's upbringing in Paris happened while the French Impressionist period was happening. The second movement is a Sardana, a traditional folk dance of Cataluña, usually accompanied by unique wind instruments such as the tenora and flaviol, which are imitated by the cello at the very beginning movement, with natural harmonics. The movement is characterized by a brilliant and virtuosic cello writing, full of double stops and drone tones. Cassadó places a slower section that reminds of a cantilena, still accompanied by a dance rhythm of three quarter notes and two eighth notes. The third movement’s dance is a Jota, where the sonorities and rhythms of Flamenco are prominent. The opening features a poignant and dramatic section, where the cello plays a typical gypsy sounding melody. After imitating the voice, the cello imitates guitar and castanets (the other two members of a traditional flamenco ensemble) thanks to the notation by Cassadó of strummed chords. The tempo keeps increasing throughout the movement until a great and dramatic finale.