Portrait of Rene Castera

Eugène Pascau

Eugène Pascau, né Joseph Paul Placide Eugène Pascau, was born on the 15th of April 1875 to Pascal Pascau, a clerk at the Town Hall, and Jeanne Marie Joseph Dayme. He pursued his artistic education under Philippe Jolyet and Léon Bonnat before prolifically exhibiting his work at the Salon between 1895-1914.

In 1904, he was awarded a third class medal by the Salon’s jury. By 1907, Pascau had become the director of the municipal school of drawing and painting in Bayonne, holding the position until 1920 while he simultaneously served as the curator of the Bonnat-Helleu Museum.

In 1912, Pascau married painter Madeleine Joséphine Dominique in Bayonne, with the wedding attended by his friend, the poet Edmond Rostand and his son.

He earned a gold medal at the 1921 Salon, along with the Jean-Jacques-Henner prize and acquired the position of the Knight of Légion d’honneur before becoming an officer, noted for his artistic service to France.

After being widowed in 1922, Pascau remarried in 1931 to Camille Carlier in La Ferté-sous-Jouarre. The painters Hubert-Denis Etcheverry and Marcel Baschet were witnesses at the wedding.

René de Castéra

Born in Dax on April 3rd 1873, René d'Avezac de Castéra, the third son of d'Avezac de Castéra, a magistrate and a descendant through his mother of the painter Arnould de Vuez, was an accomplished French composer. 

He attended college in Dax before he was discovered by pianist Francis Planté, who helped him enter the Paris Conservatory. There, he studied under pianist Édouard Risler. In 1894, he joined the Schola Cantorum, under the composer Charles Bordes. 

In 1897, he traveled to Bayreuth in Germany where he formed a quartet with the composers Blanche Selva, Carlos and Déodat de Séverac. Initially working as a "ghostwriter", Castéra later progressed to become a music critic for L'Occident , La Tribune de Saint-Gervais and Les Tablettes de la Schola, eventually becoming the Schola’s secretary. 

In 1902, Castéra founded a mutual publishing company to promote composers' works, chairing it until 1919. At the same time, during his holidays in Angoumé, he composed melodies inspired by the Landes and the Basque Country. 

In 1908, he toured Russia with Blanche Selva, before enlisting in 1914 serving on the Western Front in the Battle of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, later joining an automobile regiment until the end of the war. 

Upon moving to Dax, Castéra founded the society of friends of music and belles-lettres which organised numerous conferences and concerts with prestigious guests. After World War II, he composed Rondes et chansons landaises in collaboration with Loÿs Labèque before dying on October 8, 1955 in Angoumé from a heart attack caused by influenza.

Museums
Musée de Orsay, Paris
Musée Bonnart-Helleu, Bayonne
Villa Arnaga, Cambo