If you devote yourself to your dreams, you can realise them

Writing “Get Beethoven!” was a form of therapy, says Paul Cassidy of his newly released memoir.

“After 50 years, I finally sat down to tell my story and to expose some of the injustices I faced,’ he explains. “I also wanted to, maybe, inspire young people, show them that, if you’re prepared to devote yourself to your dreams, you can realise them.”

“Get Beethoven!” is an inspirational story. Overcoming adversity in his younger years, Paul’s story chronicles tragedy, joy, horror and humour.

Facing brutality both at school and on the streets, he manages to find music and, armed with a violin and a burning passion, he escapes the madness and, still just a teenager, sets off in pursuit of his dreams.

And, boy, has he realised these dreams. He has been a member of the acclaimed Brodsky Quartet for nearly 40 years and has performed more than 3,000 concerts in over 60 countries and recorded in excess of 70 CDs. He has worked with a wide range of musicians from Anne Sofe Von Otter to Bjork; Rostropovich to Elvis Costello and is the recipient of a raft of prestigious awards. Not bad for a boy from Derry.

It was back in 1959 that Paul Cassidy made his debut appearance, the sixteenth and youngest child of Joe and Celia Cassidy, of ‘Kebroyde’ - a “majestic” house located on the Culmore Road.

Joe owned the Railway Bar on Strand Road and was, says Paul, an “innately gregarious rogue”. His mum, he says, while “formidable in so many ways”, was “infinitely forgiving”.

Turning to the book, Paul likens the writing process to a type of analysis.

“I’d say it can’t have done any harm to get some of that s**t out of my system,” he says. “I found writing about my mum and dad’s early years very emotional and not being overly verbose when venting anger is a challenge.”

Asked if he thinks some of the book’s content will annoy certain people - his recollections of St Columb’s College, the church, even his family, are, at times, very frank - Paul says: “I certainly hope so. I know old men who still wake up with nightmares from that school and that church. It’s, hopefully, never too late to get a bit of relief. Worse things than this have come and gone in my family so I’m sure they can cope.”

His relationship with his father, in particular, comes across as quite fraught. Was this the case?

“It was complex. I loved my dad but we were poles apart. Though I understand much of his behaviour, I can’t honestly condone it. I’d say I had as good a relationship with him as any of my siblings but we were on different planets.”

So, is he happy with the finished product?

“People had been urging me to write a book for ages,” he recalls.

“I did seem to notch up a few points of interest in my journey - the family, the school, the war, getting into chamber music from the backend of Derry.

“I was very aware of those kids who came through a lot of what I’d come through but whose voices might never be heard or, worse still, whose voices were silenced.

“How well I did is not for me to say. It is what it is. It’s truthful and the best I could manage.”

Paul insists he isn’t being melodramatic when he suggests that he suffers with what he calls “survivor guilt”.

“So many of my compatriots paid the ultimate price to achieve what we have today, and it is only through their extraordinary sacrifice that I can safely return to my home town with my family. I console myself with the notion that I have gone about the fight in a different way. I’ve chosen to go out into the world and, in my own small way, try to be an ambassador for Derry.

“I cannot pretend that I was born to be a musician; that said, it is a life I wouldn’t trade for anything... I never thought of playing an instrument until Bridget [older sister] stuck a violin under my chin, even then, it wasn’t my driving force until a magical visit to the orchestra. I had never heard of a string quartet until I got to college yet, within moments of playing in one, realised this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

‘Get Beethoven!’, by Paul Cassidy, can be purchased online at www.troubador.co.uk. Check out his website at paulcassidy.org.

To read an exclusive extract from ‘Get Beethoven!’, https://www.derryjournal.com/arts-and-culture/books/day-my-dads-love-railway-bar-died-2854700