Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Spanish Bow
    Unavailable
    The Spanish Bow
    Unavailable
    The Spanish Bow
    Audiobook (abridged)10 hours

    The Spanish Bow

    Written by Andromeda Romano-Lax

    Narrated by Paul Michael

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In a dusty, turn-of-the-century Catalan village, the bequest of a cello bow sets young Feliu Delargo on an unlikely path. When a local landowner's wrath threatens his family, the Spanish bow leads Feliu to anarchist Barcelona, then on to the court in Madrid, where a music master's daughter gives him his first lessons in the art of love. There he meets up with the charming and eccentric piano prodigy Justo Al-Cerraz and begins the lifelong friendship and rivalry that will orchestrate a tumultuous course for them both. As a war-torn world careens toward catastrophe, they make splendid music together and clash over women, politics, and almost everything else. Then Aviva, an Italian violinist with a haunted past, enters their lives, and Feliu and Justo embark upon their final and most dangerous collaboration.

    Inspired by the life of Pablo Casals, The Spanish Bow illuminates the competing demands of art and conscience during the Spanish Civil War and World War II. It is a deeply imagined tale of the passions that accident bestows-and the sacrifices history exacts.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateSep 11, 2007
    ISBN9780739359181
    Unavailable
    The Spanish Bow

    More audiobooks from Andromeda Romano Lax

    Related to The Spanish Bow

    Related audiobooks

    Literary Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Stirring Stories & Tall Tales

      Jul 23, 2023

      Life goes on. The Earth renews itself. Feral populations re-establish. In perhaps “the world’s greatest experiment in rewilding”, 30-something years on from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the compulsory exodus of humans, wild animals – bears, bis

      3 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      Jan 29, 2023

      Great Read
      7 min read

    • Article

      Spring Book Reviews

      Sep 5, 2023

      Spring Book Reviews
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Rock Artist’s Progress

      Oct 20, 2023

      Highly entertaining and nostalgic comic novel from Darryl Way. Charles Shorwell is the nom de plume of Curved Air co-founder/violinist Darryl Way, who proves to be a natural storyteller in this highly entertaining, nostalgic comic novel. Set amid the

      1 min read

    • Article

      Passionate Performances

      Nov 22, 2020

      Passionate Performances
      1 min read

    • Article

      Diary

      Oct 28, 2021

      Diary
      6 min read

    • Article

      A One-woman Show

      Dec 1, 2021

      A One-woman Show
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Gall Of Saul

      Nov 30, 2023

      ● I HEAR THINGS ARE PRETTY rocky over in the Middle East, but how infinitely more dreadful had the Cambridge “Uni” production of Handel’s Saul actually gone ahead! Just in time, thank God, they realised how inflammatory it would be to perform this un

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Gentle Giant

      Aug 6, 2020

      Outside South Kensington tube station stands a bronze statue of a slender, diminutive man in overcoat and hat. How Bartók became one of few composers honoured with a London statue deserves a story to itself, but here he is, the self-effacing figure w

      11 min read

    • Article

      An Exile Without End

      Mar 7, 2020

      An Exile Without End
      1 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Nov 20, 2023

      How To Say Babylon: A Jamaican Memoir by Safiya Sinclair is a truly wonderful and compelling account of growing up as the eldest daughter in a strict Rasta family. Shining a light on the history of the much-persecuted Rastafari movement, Sinclair lyr

      3 min read

    • Article

      On Carpaccio

      Sep 1, 2023

      Vittore Carpaccio: Master Storyteller of Renaissance Venice, an exhibit at the National Gallery, Washington, D.C., November 2022–February 2023. IT’S A KILLING ground and has its greeter, the emaciated torso of an ashen corpse that seems propped up on

      7 min read

    • Article

      So Real, In Retrospect

      Dec 27, 2020

      So Real, In Retrospect
      2 min read

    • Article

      Letter From Cincinnati

      Sep 19, 2022

      Letter From Cincinnati
      5 min read

    • Article

      Ravishing In All Senses

      Mar 25, 2020

      Ravishing In All Senses
      3 min read

    • Article

      Better Books

      Dec 2, 2021

      Phaidon Editors (Phaidon Press, $79.95) Let your imagination take flight to celebrate the beauty and diversity of birds across art, science, history and culture. Bird: Exploring the Winged World is a visually stunning survey of birds, chronicling the

      1 min read

    • Article

      Shadows over Constable

      Nov 17, 2021

      Anne Lyles and Matthew Hargraves (Royal Academy of Arts, £21.95) THE term late period suggests a time in a mature artist’s career when, with their reputation established, they are finally freed to distil their artistic genius to its essence. With pa

      4 min read

    • Article

      Putting Down Roots

      Aug 20, 2021

      Putting Down Roots
      3 min read

    • Article

      Surrealism Beyond Borders; Whistler’s Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan – review

      Feb 27, 2022

      Tate Modern’s enormous and surprising Surrealism Beyond Borders is a round-the-world tour of what must be the 20th-century art’s most far-reaching movement. It has Austrian totem poles and Egyptian fetishes, paintings from Sweden and Senegal to Haiti

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Final Frontier

      Dec 23, 2020

      CATHOLICS ARE PECULIARLY morbid. That, at any rate, struck me as the most plausible explanation. It must have been 15 years ago, and I was with a group of Englishspeaking aficionados learning handson capework in the breeders’ practice rings around Sa

      3 min read

    • Article

      Review: Luis Valdez's 'Valley Of The Heart' Shares An Immigrant Story From California's Past

      Nov 12, 2018

      In Luis Valdez's "Valley of the Heart," two immigrant families - one of Mexican heritage, the other of Japanese - are living side by side on a Northern California farm at the start of World War II. Their lives become entwined not just through marriag

      3 min read

    • Article

      Richard Morrison

      Apr 16, 2020

      Art always survives. That much we can learn from history. I don’t know how you have been filling your lockdown time, but I’ve spent some of mine reading up on what happened to music during the great pestilences and plagues of the past. Oh yes, I know

      3 min read

    Reviews for The Spanish Bow

    4/5

    88 ratings15 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Historical fiction featuring a cellist beginning at his birth in Spain in 1892. Beautiful descriptive passages!"Duarte's cello was a glossy caramel color, and the sound it produced was as warm and rich as the instrument looked. It sounded like a human voice. Not the high warble of an opera singer or anyone else singing for the stage, but rather the soothing voice of a fisherman singing as he mended his nets, or of a mother singing lullabies to her sleepy children. When the cellist reached a crescendo on one of the lower strings, I felt a strange sensation, both pleasurable and disturbing. It reminded me of holding a cat, feeling it's purrs resonate with me."
    • 4/5
      fictional story about Feliu, a child prodigy with the cello, and his account of the revolution of his homeland Spain. His struggles with taking on a political stand and being an artist. It was frustrating at times to deal with his indecisiveness regarding his love interest which ultimatey resulted in permanent loss. He compromises his principles in the end for the sake of a woman he never succeeded in winning. Perhaps that is the moral of the story. The sacrifices we make are not necessarily for our own benefit.
    • 4/5
      This is the story of cellist Feliu Delargo and his stormy relationship with pianist Justo Al-Cerraz and violinist Jewish violinist Aviva. It is set against a backdrop of political turmoil in Spain and other parts of Europe, particularly during the rise of Hitler and Franco. It's a beautifully written novel, capturing the political feel of Spain in the first half of the 20th century.
    • 3/5
      "The Spanish Bow" tells the story of Feliu, a cellist whose career spans the first half of the twentieth century. Feliu witnesses the great events of age; the Spanish Civil War, the rise of Franco and the beginning of World War II. He meets many of the great names of the day, both musical and political. Despite all of this, Feliu, himself, remains a cipher, unwilling as he is to take action. The parts of his life where he is most active and involved are skirted quickly, the times he let events and people control him are dealt with in detail. Feliu loves deeply, but never brings himself to declare his feelings. His friends, a pianist and a violinist have exciting tales to tell. In the end, it is Feliu's passivity that keeps the book firmly on the ground, failing to soar with the notes made with his beloved cello bow.This is a worthy book, which gives the reader a glimpse of Spanish history, without burdening him with any of the passion or nuances of the events pictured. Romano-Lax writes well and I look forward to her next outing into historical fiction.
    • 4/5
      This book is an amazing look at a tumultuous period in Spanish history. Feliu is a young man who always seems to profit from his tragedies. His father's death brings him his first real treasure: a cello bow. Because of a hip injury during his birth, he cannot play his violin standing up, so ihe plays it sitting down, like a cello. His mother's tragedy helps him escape to Barcelona. His naivete and his love of music shine through every phase of his life. We really get a look at Spain and music through the eyes of a growing young man - his outlook changes and matures and he discusses his mistakes and changes of vision. Beautifully written, fascinating and well-drawn characters and a pleasure to read.
    • 4/5
      The Spanish Bow is a delightful story about Feliu Delargo, a talented musical child who develops into a world class cellist. The story is set in Spain in the 1920s and 1930s, the period leading up to the Spanish civil war and world war two. The novel intertwines a fascinating historical period with well developed characters and an interesting story. The book is longer than I usually prefer, but the captivating plot kept me moving along.
    • 4/5
      This engaging historical novel begins after the turn of 20th century and carries the reader through the turmoils of monarchist, republican, and Fascist Spain, World Wars, and into the decade of the 1970'sThe life of Feliu Delargo is traced from his childhood through later adulthood and centers on his love of the cello and his development into one of the premier musical artists of the 20th century (paralleling Casals). His closest compatriot, pianist Justo Al- Cerraz, enhances the story and is a perfect foil in the development of Feliu's character and the movement and feeling of the story. The introduction of a love interest, Aviva, offers a rather shallow subplot until it develops into a potent and powerful scene toward the book's conclusion. True-life historical figures, Picasso, Hitler, Franco, Elgar, are used effectively in character development of both leading protagonists.The book provides glimpses into the ideas, beliefs, and emotions of the characters and provokes contemplation even after the reader has completed reading it's pages.
    • 4/5
      A surprisingly engaging albeit bleak look at the life of Feliu Delargo, a Spanish cellist whose life is swept up in some of the biggest events in European history, bringing him into contact with such historical figures as Pablo Picasso, Bertolt Brecht, Francisco Franco, and Adolf Hitler.
    • 4/5
      I can not be sure about the purpose or the meaning of The Spanish Bow's undertaking. It could be that the author has a fascination with the cello and one of the instrument's greatest masters, and wishes to share that fascination. It could be that she has an interest in the turmoils of Spain at a time when the rest of the world was engaged in the great wars, and that she wants to expose that history. I am not sure, but I picked up the book because I knew the great Pablo Casals and I wanted to know more. I read about Spain but I wanted to read more. That became my real problem with the book. I found myself trying to separate fiction from fact and vice verse, and while I was constantly doing that I was annoyed by it. Because Feliu Delargo was a fictional character inspired by the life of Casals I have gained no substantial insight into the real Casals, precisely because I could only try, but not succeed, in deciding if the author was narrating about Casals or about her imagination of somebody else that she knows. Was Casals like Delargo? How much? Was Delargo an ambassador of Casals's views on music, politics and love, among other things that the great conversations and narrations in the book try to depict? Was Al-Cerraz like Albeniz, and if so, how much? How about Queen Ena? How much of the tales on her was factual? With these questions unanswered without further research, which I doubt I have time for, my satisfaction with the book has quite a hole in it.Nonetheless, I find the over-all narration first-class and the writing style mature. The author could have done more in furthering each possibility of drama, because with each opportunity bypassed, whether by leaving it to the readers' imagination, or by skimming over gory details, the plot becomes bland. At times I find that difficult situations get resolved easily and quickly. The book has a quality not unlike that found in my favourite Angela's Ashes. There are bits of comedies of errors with the Catholic Church at the beginning, though quickly neglected, and witty lines that I find myself intimately familiar with: To hear either of them talk, the world wasn't nearing its end, it had already ended. Didn't they see how unfair it was to make a young man feel that he'd been born too late, that he was lucky to have survived at all, that there was no point in believing in anything anymore? (P.86)My complaint about the lack of adventure has much to do with my other problem with the book, that none of the characters seems to have a capacity for change, even over prolonged turmoil and instability. Everyone's opinion stays largely constant. Whoever has a decision to make about the future seems to have made that decision early on in life. I am also not sure about the practicality of some of the scenes described. As an example, the second encounter of Al-Cerraz and Delargo (P.172) is one of my least favourite. Delargo's message was of utmost significance to him, but he failed to send it across to Al-Cerraz. That, to me, renders the entire encounter unimportant: Al-Cerraz remained oblivion of the matter until years later and was never punished for it. Delargo gained nothing, and as readers, we know already what we have been told, and have picked up no news from it.On the other hand, towards the end the author ties up loose ends and Delargo's attitude towards life's various questions is admired, even though to me he has his mind made up all along. My favourite scenes have to be Delargo's many encounters with Queen Ena, and every time the Bach Cello Suites come into play. An enjoyable read.
    • 3/5
      Review of the unabridged Audible audiobook.The narration on this audiobook was very, very good. The narrator gives unique and believable voices to male and female characters of various ages and even nationalities.As for the book itself, as historical drama it's a little too heavy on the history and a little too light on the characterization. The concept of following a single character through the tumult that gripped Spain in the 20's and 30's is strong, but the main character, Feliu, is so underdeveloped as to be little more than a bystander as events swirl around him. He relates things that happen to himself and others, but he's too flat and blank to really care about, and since no other characters are very well-developed either, it's hard to feel any connection to the people or events in the book.
    • 5/5
      The Spanish Bow starts off like this:"I was almost born Happy."Literally, the main character was almost named Feliz, which means happy, but there was an error on his death certificate (!!!!) so he was named Feliu.The story follows the life of the fictional famous Spanish cellist, Feliu Delargo. Born before the turn of the Twentieth Century, his life's path takes him through World War I, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II. He becomes a cellist in the court of King Alfonso XIII and Queen Ena. His life intersects with famous musicians, artists, and politicians.A cellist herself, Andromeda Romano-Lax writes the description of music beautifully. As a child Feliu describes notes and sounds as tastes of bitter chocolate and tart lemons. I loved that. Her depiction of the historical aspects were amazing too. I loved the interaction between Feliu and his devotion to Queen Ena. I love the odd friendship between Feliu and famous but also fictional pianist Al-Cerraz. And his complicated love with Aviva the violinist.There is a warning though. This book is quite long at almost 550 pages so don't expect a quick read. And it can be quite serious and sad at times...but that is pretty much why I liked it. This is a story about friendship, music, love, hate, and everything in between. It wasn't a pleasant and easy time period for Spain. But this is not a war story. It's about the decisions we make in our lives. It's about the purpose of our lives. Overall, it is just a touching, moving, beautiful book with it's ups and downs, highs and lows...much like the music she describes.
    • 5/5
      Stop what you are doing and read this book.  I could easily make that sentence my review, as I can't think of a better way to  express my feelings about it.   There aren't many books that make me feel this way.  I suppose I could put it like this:  Stop what you are doing and read this book.  Now.Anna Suknov of FSB Associates was kind enough to send me The Spanish Bow this past August to review.  I finished it the end of September.  Why did it take me so long?  Not because it was almost 600 pages (and I wasn't able to start it until the end of August), not because it was a chore to get through, but because it was so delicious I wanted to savor it.  I looked forward to the evenings after work when I could take the book out and settle in with some of the most interesting, well-drawn characters within a unique and fascinating plot that I've had the pleasure to read in a very long time.The Spanish Bow follows the life of a boy named Feliu Delargo, born in the small Catalan village of Campo Seco, Spain in the late 19th century.  He lives with his mother, three brothers, his sister and their "Tia" (aunt).  Feliu's father is working in Puerto Rico when he is killed by an explosion.  Feliu and his mother go to the train station to pick up what they think are his remains, only to open the box and discover gifts he had been collecting for his family.  Feliu, after looking at the various items, selects an odd piece - a wooden unstrung bow.  He was uncertain as to the type of bow it was, as it seemed too large for a violin.  Still, he keeps it.Feliu begins to take violin lessons from a man who is trying to court his mother.  He enjoys the violin, but has no passion for it.  It isn't until his mother takes him to hear a concert in town given by a trio of musicians that he discovers what his passion is.  It is the cello.  Here is how Romano-Lax describes Feliu's revelation:"If the concert had ended there, it would have stayed in my memory forever.  But something more astounding happened when the violinist and the cellist joined the pianist.  I looked to the violin first, because it was familiar; I knew I'd learn by watching, and was hoping to see El Nene's violinist put my own teacher to shame.  The cello, played by a man named Emil Duarte, didn't interest me because it seemed like nothing more than an oversized violin.  But then Duarte pulled his bow against the larger instrument's strings, and my face turned to follow the sound.  I was thankful that El Nene had played solo first, because once the cello started up, I never looked at the violin or piano again.Duarte's cello was a glossy caramel color, and the sound it produced was as warm and rich as the instrument looked.  It sounded like a human voice.  Not the high warble of an opera singer or anyone singing for the stage, but rather the soothing voice of a fisherman singing as he mended his nets, or of a mother singing lullabies to her sleepy children.When the cellist reached a crescendo on one of the lower strings, I felt a strange sensation, both pleasurable and disturbing.  It reminded me of holding a cat, feeling its purrs resonate with me.  Listening, I felt the sensation strengthen, as if the cello's quivering vibrato were actually boring into me, opening a small hole in my chest, creating a physical pain as real as any wound.  I was afraid of what might fall outof that hole, and yet I didn't want it to close, either.As Duarte climbed to higher notes, I followed him.  I watched the way he bent over his instrument to reach the most precarious pitches, like a seated potter wrapping his arms around unshaped clay, stripping away its first layers, revealing rather than creating.  El Nene had seemed like an actor, a showman - and a talented one at that, able to accept a role and play to his audience's expectations.  But Duarte seemed like a craftsman - the kind of craftsman I had been raised to respect.As I listened, my nose began to itch, a warning sign that tears were imminent.  Horrified that Enrique would see me cry, I blinked hard, without luck.  I wrapped my fingers around the edge of my chair's wooden seat, hoping to inflict myself with splinters that would require sudden, pained attention.  When that didn't work, I played a mental game, trying to taste Duarte's strings as he played them.  The lowest and fattest string, C:  bitter chocolate.  The G, next to it:  something animal.  Warm goat cheese.  The D:  ripe tomato.  The high, thin A:  tart lemon, to be handled with care.  The highest notes, played near the bridge, could sting, but Duarte tempered that sting with a sweet vibrato.The cello contained everything I knew - a natural world of tastes and sensations - and much more that I did not.  After watching El Nene, I wanted to see him play again.  But after hearing Duarte, I wanted to be him."  (pgs. 33-34)We then follow along with Feliu as he is tutored on the cello in Barcelona with Alberto (recommended by El Nene whose real name is  Justo Al-Cerraz), learns street music with Rolland, moves to Madrid to be a courtier to Queen Ena (where he gets more than a taste of the political upheaval that is happening in Spain), then takes up with Al-Cerraz in a musical partnership.  This partnership is a love-hate relationship that will  be on-again and off-again for decades.  Feliu prides himself in his relentless pursuit of perfection in music as well as his postponement and self-denial of gratification.  As he does so, he becomes world famous.  But in the background is the ever-roiling political unrest, which touches Feliu more than he wishes.    It begins to color  his music and his motives in ways he would not think possible.  All of these factors come to a head at the end of the 1930's with the regimes of Franco and Hitler to test Feliu's passions and loyalties.Romano-Lax's characters are fascinating.  Feliu and Al-Cerraz are both passionate musicians, but Feliu's passion is narrow and focused, where Al-Cerraz is an alter-ego whose passions are wide-spread and all-encompassing.  Aviva, the Jewish-Italian violinist who makes a trio with Feliu and Al-Cerraz while becoming the object of affection for both,  enters the story fairly late in the book.  Yet her characterization so well defined that she very quickly becomes an integral part of the story and seems as familiar as those present from the early pages of the book. The Spanish Bow is about love, passion, perseverance, and loyalty set in the historical context that was the turmoil of Spain in the first half of the 20th century.  It's beauty, passion, wonderful prose and life-like characters will stay with me for a very long time.  Did I mention that you should read this book?
    • 4/5
      The novel follows the fictitious cellist Feliu Delargo from his birth in a Catalan village in 1892 to the concert halls of Spain, France and Germany in the early 20th century and finally to the train depot in a small French port city in October 1940.

      Romano-Lax has included a number of historical figures from the worlds of art, culture and politics – Kurt Weill, Pablo Picasso, and Adolf Hitler to name just three. The author was inspired by the life of Pablo Casals, but the book is NOT a fictionalized biography of Casals. The novel explores issues of personal responsibility and what history demands of the individual, in particular those individuals in the public eye; should they use their art and celebrity to advance a particular cause, to warn the populace, or to numb the masses. This is a large topic to tackle and the book covers a significant time frame where wars, disease and economic depressions taxed even the strongest and wealthiest. Romano-Lax manages this very well.

      If I have any complaint it is that Feliu seemed too distant from what was going on around him. He was a leaf blown on the winds of change for most of the book. Even when he took a stand in one area of his life, he still drifted along in other areas. In contrast, pianist Justo Al-Cerraz (and Delargo’s friend) is portrayed as a larger-than-life, charming and eccentric bon vivant. Justo tries to get Feliu to wake up to life and participate, but it is an uphill battle.

      All told, the story pulled me in and kept me turning pages. The author includes just enough humorous scenes to relieve the tension and avoid sounding “preachy.” When I got to the end, I found myself wishing the book were longer.
    • 3/5
      How could I resist a book about a cellist? I especially liked the window onto early twentieth-century Spain.
    • 4/5
      Feliu Delargo suffers two accidents at his birth in a Catalan village in 1892. A traumatic birth burdens him with a hip injury and the notary mistakes his mother’s intention to name him Feliz, or Happy. When he is six years old, his father, soon to die in Cuba, sends a box of gifts to be distributed among his children. Feliu is drawn to a wooden stick that sets him on his life’s course as he learns first to play the violin and then the cello. Over the course of the 20th century, as Feliu becomes a world-renowned cellist, playing for kings and despots, he develops complex relationships with a volatile Spanish pianist/composer and an Italian Jewish violinist haunted by her past. As history unfolds, Feliu’s story traces his struggle to isolate his art from the great political and moral issues of his time, providing unmistakable parallels to the life of the great Spanish cellist Pablo Casals. Historical figures from the Spanish monarchy to Picasso and Hitler play cameo roles and Andromeda Romano-Lax’s prodigious research is used effectively. But it is the central characters and their moral choices that drive this impressive debut novel. This book has epic sweep, complex characters and enough plot twists to satisfy readers of popular historical fiction. But it is a much more thoughtful, lyrical book than is typical of that genre, one that explores the role of art in political life and the human spirit.