[MUSIC] >> I haven't played in public for nearly forty years. I have to play today. [MUSIC] [APPLAUSE] >> At this point in the course, we turn to particular examples of musicians and artists who have devoted a portion of their careers to benefiting a social or political cause. From the outset, we've looked at philosophies and examples of the role that art can play in the life of individuals, societies and cities. We've considered the concept of the social imagination. The notion that, the act of imagining a different reality is the precursor of positive social change. And we've looked at how artists working on a local level, use their practice to impact the lives and trajectories of young people in urban environments. But now, we turn to the question of social action, how artists apply themselves not only to an artistic practice, but a social or political practice. What are the opportunities and perils of artist devoting their work intentionally to a cause, to a humanitarian crisis, for instance, or to addressing political oppression? The next two classes, deal with this topic through a series of case studies of 20th and 21st century artists. Today, we'll look at examples of artistic initiatives that have a broad aim beyond the art itself Often motivated by extraordinary circumstances, these musicians used their position as artists to take a stand on pressing issues and respond directly to them in a way that resonated far beyond the gallery, the Concert hall or the stage. We'll conclude with a student discussion about the meaning of these examples and about the idea of a citizen artist, as a person who pursues artistic work at a high level. And uses that work to contribute meaningfully to society. We'll start with a discussion of the great cellist, Pablo Casals. Many know him for his historic role in bringing the Bach cello suites from obscurity into the central repertory of the cello, or for his artistry as a conductor and teacher, organizing the Casals festival in Puerto Rico or planning and teaching at the Marlboro Festival in Vermont. And of course, some known for his great discography as a recording artist. But the aspects of this remarkable career that I want to focus on here is the example that Casals set as an artist with a great conscience. And the ways that his commitment as a citizen of the world has determined that heartfelt commitment to humanity and the causes of freedom and peace became primary themes in his life. The example of Casals commitment, I think, are important to consider as we look at this connection between an art form and humanistic causes, where the two are not separate actions but part of a singular impulse. In other words, for Casals, citizenship was a part of being a great musician. And musicianship was part of being a great citizen. There's several good biographies of Casals, who lived into his late 90's and died in the early 1970's. But perhaps, the most personal portrait is one by Albert Kond, called Joys and Sorrows, which tells Casals story in Casals own word. And reveals a narrative in his life and career of an artist. That of an artist within a passion of conscience. There are several strands that I'll draw out of the story. And I'd encourage you to read, and listen, and watch more about his life and his work. The first commitment that I want to draw out, is this commitment to a homeland, and his people. Although Casals enjoyed an international reputation in a touring, performing career in the first decades of the 20th century, he returned to his native Catalonia, to Barcelona, after the first World War, to settle and to begin to build a musical life there, that would both benefit and honor the people and the spirit of the people there. He describes the decade and a half or so, that he spent there as among the most musically fruitful in his career. And it seems it was not the fame or the success of his solo performing career that made this the case. When he returned,Casals found that the musical life of Barcelona was not representative of how much talent and potential he saw in the city. And he set about to found an orchestra that would work hard to play great concerts. I find it indicative of Casals motivations that he didn't audition musicians necessarily for their experience as orchestral players, but more for their promise, and that this work with the orchestra was in equal parts about glorifying the music that he was conducting and also growing a spirit and a participation among people and an access to music among people. On the musical front, Casals made a point to perform the great classical repertoire. Of Beethoven and Mozart and Schubert. But also to perform works by Spanish, and specifically Catalonian composers. I also find it fascinating that Casals own role in this project was not simply musical. He was fundraising and organizing for months and months, what he refers to as the petty details to get the whole project organized. Much of that work without the support of the public or the press, at least at first. Years later, having defied expectations of critics and having built this orchestra to be the most prominent in Barcelona, Casals became dismayed that it was mostly the wealthy elite who came to his concerts and he set about to change this. >> This is the next point about Casals motivation, I find note worthy. He understood that the working class deserved to participate in great cultural experiences, and understood that they valued those experiences, but generally felt excluded. By virtue, both of cost of the concerts, and also of class and the feeling of separation. And yet to Casals, the answer was not to give concerts as charity to these workers, but rather to engage the working class laborers as participants in the experience, giving them ownership in a sense of the orchestra concert experience. So, inspired by this great tradition of choral societies that had existed in Catalonia, Casals approach to associations and unions of laborers and proposed that they set up, what he called workingman's concert association for people who earned less than a certain monthly wage. And membership would be required at a very affordable rate. And this membership would entitle the members to a series of special concerts by the orchestra. The plan worked. The concert association grew. Wound up recruiting thousands of members who would come hear the concerts, write about them in a periodical that they published by the association and eventually, there would be this work stop during certain weekdays because the workers wanted to listen to the concerts. It was this phenomenal kind of success. Casals was commitment to access and his work to generate new kinds of support and enthusiasm among diverse classes of people, could be considered beyond the sphere of a cellist. But what impresses me is, he saw this issue as central to his own mission and that of his orchestra. Central to the idea of a cultural organization that has a mission to serve the people of the community. And he undertook that work himself as a cellist conductor and organizer of people. Later, when the Spanish Republic was founded in the early 30's, a moment of transformation from Casals proudly recount, it was a transformation from a monarchy to an elected democracy and he served as a president of a music counsel under the cultural minister, continuing to work to broaden access to music, to art, to education by establishing schools of the arts across the country including in rural, poor areas. Again, a committment some could argue was beyond his purview as an artist, but instead he again saw this as fundamental to musical service. The next chapter of Casals life and career involved a more sober quality, and a protracted fight against fascism and war and injustice. As he was a proud supporter of the democratically elected government in Spain in the 30's, he was particularly affected and troubled by the rise of fascism in Spain, and eventually became exiled from Spain when the Franco regime defeated the elected government in a bloody Spanish civil war that lasted years. For the rest of his life, Casals worked in reaction to this, and to wars everywhere. But in particular focused on the injustices faced by the Catalonian countrymen and women where the Franco government maintained this dictatorship until in fact after Casals own death. He characterized himself in this way and is a. An artist with a conscience cannot separate himself from certain political issues. Chief among those are justice and freedom. A few moments that illustrate and highlight this commitment. On and off the stage here. Casals tells of conducting the Beethoven 9th Symphony, at the beginning and near the end of the Spanish Republic, first in 1931, feeling that the text of the last movement of this symphony that proclaims divine joy and human kind coming together to unity and connection, that this symbolized the creation of the Spanish democracy, on the one hand. And then five years later, Casals again conducts the 9th Symphony in a rehearsal, on the day that Franco and other generals were leading these sieges on the major Spanish cities. Casal asked his orchestra and chorus, despite this news that had come that everyone needed to take shelter, if they wanted to play through the last movement to signify this connection of human kind before disbanding to take cover from the invasion. And they did, and they played through this last movement as a kind of symbol. I love this story for what it symbolizes in own idealism and leadership that he would invite the musical colleagues to feel his collective spirit the music can bring about as a kind of spiritual antidote to the chaos and discord that they all knew was coming. However, in a chilling contrast, we also know that the Nazi's used Beethoven's music to stir the spirit and inspire loyalty. And this adds a nationalistic pride among their followers in the same decade. So certainly, the music itself doesn't guarantee moral action or moral commitment, but Casals knew he wanted to celebrate the connection and togetherness among his musicians and believed that the text of this Schiller poem that makes up the words of that 9th Symphony chorus represented a broadly humanistic sentiments for peace. Although that siege on the city was unsuccessful in toppling the government at first, Casals experience the injustice happening around him. People on both sides of this conflict killed, unjust arrests, and executions, and the sort of general chaos. And Casals took advantage of his connection to people in positions of power. Politically, and otherwise to intervene and advocate for a civil approach to an increasingly chaotic situation. As the Civil War broke our in earnest over the coming years, with armed support coming from the other fascist armies in Europe to support Franco, because Casals worked to recruit international support for the Spanish democracy. Ultimately unsuccessful of course, but towards the end of the war, he needed to flee and wound up in French Catalonia in the city where he lived for the coming decades. It was during that period that he put down the cello and living in exile there, dedicated himself to working for the cause of tens of thousands of refugees from the Spanish Civil War, who themselves were in Southern France without any official support from the French government, and most of them living in refugee camps. His main concertizing during those years was to raise money and awareness for the plight of these refugees. When a few years later, France itself was occupied by Nazi forces. It consults gain passage on to one of the last ships leaving Southern France for United States, only to learn that this boat was sunk by the Germans, and thereby just confined him to leaving out for the rest of World War II in France in Prailles. Harrowing times like these, might lead any artists need to withdraw from public lies, public life as consulted. However, the theme I find significant here is, how he developed and maintained a practice of working towards supporting important causes with his music for the rest of his life. It sort of grew during this period. After the war for instance, Casals worked to play and organize benefit concerts for families of soldiers killed during the war, among other causes. And as he restarted his international career, Casals took advantage of meetings with heads of state, including John F Kennedy at the White House, to plead for a changed policy toward the Franco government which was still in power and still keeping Casal in exile. In addition to his festivals and his conducting in his final years, Casals devoted himself to a cause of world peace, including conducting his oratorio, El Pesebre, in dozens of cities around the globe. That piece, composed by Casals during his virtual imprisonment in the south of France during world war two. Represented to him, commitment to piece. In many ways, life story is that of an artistic ideal, similar to what Dewey describes. The artist fully participating in, digesting the news of the day, and transforming it, through his artist practice, into meaning for himself and others around him. For Casals, his seemed to be a practice of weaving the work of a citizen and that of a musician, where the two were integrally connected. He chose not to make an artificial separation between his artistic life and In his life as an activist, instead working to fuse them throughout his life together.
