Anna Mora Griso Reveals Pau Casals' Deep Ties to Andorra

**Anna Mora Griso uncovers Pau Casals' deep ties to Andorra through language and private visits**

Cellist and musicologist Anna Mora Griso has detailed the profound connection between Pau Casals and Andorra, highlighting the Catalan language as a key factor during the musician's exile. Speaking at the government's exhibition hall, Mora shared findings from her research, conducted with historian Josep Maria Figueras, which drew on limited local records, personal correspondences, and archives in Andorra and Catalonia.

Casals' documented link to Andorra began in 1941, when he made his first will there, as recounted in an interview with notary Eduard Rossell provided by the National Archive of Andorra. Rossell described their initial meeting in Prades and Casals' choice of the Principat to honour the Catalan language, then suppressed in Catalonia. Casals drew up a second will in 1946 with notary Rossend Jordana, though later ones elsewhere superseded them.

Mora's team has confirmed seven visits by Casals, often private gatherings with exiled Catalan friends like Orobitg, Capdevila, Viladomat, and Estadella, or family such as his niece Pilar. These lacked official recognition, explaining the scarcity of records—no newspapers existed then, and syndics' minutes made no mention. Key evidence came from letters between Casals and Andreu Claret (Mora's father-in-law), his secretary Joan Alavedra, and musician Josep Fontbernat. Postcards from Andorra noted Casals privately performing parts of his "Poema del pessebre" at a doctor's home.

Casals felt at ease in Andorra's cultural environment, maintaining warm ties with General Syndic Francesc Cairat, whose granddaughter Maria Teresa was interviewed. He never gave public concerts there—lacking suitable venues—but influenced local culture indirectly. Claret's sons, Lluís and Gerard, became professional musicians; Gerard founded the ONCA orchestra.

A highlight was a near-realised 1964 project for Claret to stage Casals' monumental "L'oratori del pessebre," with music by Casals and lyrics by Alavedra. Planned for a field with a large orchestra, tent, and capacity for 3,000, it had government approval and a budget. Claret even offered helicopter transport, but Casals' wife questioned the scale, and scheduling conflicts—plus a Vatican opportunity—derailed it. Mora called it a missed chance to project Andorra globally.

Research relied on the National Archives of Andorra and Catalonia's Pau Casals Fund, including letters with Cairat and French veguers, plus 1960s publications like "Andorra Magazine" and a local documentary. Much remains private, including wills held by Casals' widow Marta in Washington. Mora noted no prior misinterpretations due to the topic's under-exploration, emphasising Andorra as a rare haven for Casals post-exile, never revisited Catalonia.