And finally... the man !
And Paul BAZELAIRE was, above all, a man appreciated by everyone…..
His personal character designated him as one of the great educators of our time!
Severe and sometimes with no mercy for himself, Paul BAZELAIRE was only source of warmth and comfort for the others.
He was a man of great distinction and intelligence and combined spiritual virtues with heart ones.
Warm-hearted as well as unaffected, never Paul BAZELAIRE refused his assistance.
Students were guided, composers were encouraged or advised ….
N. KARJINSKY, on a music sheet dedicated to his Master said:
” To a great master and a dear friend, severe for himself, so indulgent towards the others, whom encouragement is my best and constant reward, to Paul BAZELAIRE, his faithful Nicolas KARJINSKY
Close friend of Pablo CASALS, the latter assigned him to the presidence of the Pablo CASALS International Competition. On the photo below, taken in the concert hall of ” salle Gaveau ” in PARIS, Paul BAZELAIRE claims the palmares. By his sides A FRITZ, Gaspar CASSADO, Pierre FOURNIER, SADLO and other great cellists.
One will recognize Mistlav ROSTROPOVICH on the right on the second rank.
Paul BAZELAIRE,
Officer of the Legion of Honour,
Officer of the monegasque cultural merit
by prince RAINIER III of Monaco,
Laureat of the Institut de France,
Member of the Society of Authors and Composers,
President of the French Cellist Union,
Cello master at the American Academy of FONTAINEBLEAU,
Collaborator to the dictionnary ‘Larousse de la Musique’
and so on…
beyond his titles and honours,
Paul BAZELAIRE
served for his young students the cause of the Art in all its fullness. He teached and
received in return confidence, respect and admiration.
Paul BAZELAIRE died in PARIS on december 1958, 11th.
Roger THIRAULT, student of Paul BAZELAIRE and cello teacher himself, remind him in this words:
❞Memories of a former pupil”
As his former pupil, we delight in reminding the magnetism he passed on to us when, accompaniing us on the piano, he charged us, in a way, with a dynamic potential, a kind of bewitchment or influence to which we let ourselves conduct.
For the student, each musical piece to work was a source of real musical happiness, which was receive with cheerfulness and passed on with much love.
For those who have really known Paul BAZELAIRE, more than his teaching and artistic hability, and even more than his delightful nature and generous personnality, it is its deep sensibility as well as the love he felt towards all of us, that we will retain for ever, as the most attaching memory and it will make us remembering our master, never without an indicible emotion.❞
Roger THIRAULT.
March 1959