Prince of Asturias Awards 1981–2014. Speeches

P rince of A sturias A wards 1981-2014. S peeches 9 world have felt themselves tremble as they allow themselves to be rocked by the chords of Joaquín Rodrigo’s music, which reaches degrees of sublime perfection and awakes inside us melodies which not only extend the tradition of the Spanish musical genius, but which are also the result of a fresh and intense originality. Enshrined by the immortal Concierto de Aranjuez , in each of his pieces, Rodrigo expresses the profundity of being Spanish with unmistakable lyricism. He is the ambassador of Spanish music transposed to the guitar, an essentially Spanish instrument, which he has managed to endow with a new physiognomy aimed at concert halls. Guitarists look to him with veneration, as it is through him that they have achieved glory and the applause of all audiences. Young composers also follow his lead, because Joaquín Rodrigo has earned fame without ever failing to be rigorous and honourable, two principles which shape the authority of the great creators. This year, the Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences has been granted to British historian Sir John Elliott. Few scholars have managed to approach our past as this distinguished authority has, especially that of 16th- and 17th-century Spain. He has told us that, whilst still almost an adolescent, contemplating some of the scenes of the pictures in the Museo del Prado he even then caught a glimpse of what Unamuno called the “intra-history” of our country. Since then, his research, extended in his professorship at the University of Oxford, has but tried to explain Spanish history, its crucial problems, which needed new light and rigorous interpretation. For there are few tasks as delicate as that of a historian, who must boldly maintain an objective ideal and not let himself be carried away by his personal opinions or beliefs when analysing past events. Here is the greatness of this science, and that is why it is so important for nations to cultivate it, transmit it from generation to generation as the most valuable part of their heritage and teach it from the standpoint of truth. One of John Elliott’s major contributions is that, via his profound analyses, he has helped to shatter stereotyped and clichéd views of our history. Elliott belongs to that brilliant group of Spanish scholars who study Spain because they love it, and they themselves have seen how their love grows together with the knowledge of the beloved object. Valentín Fuster, Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, is an admirable example of a life fully given over to helping human beings in his efforts to surpass the limits which Nature has established. His work is not only proof of his personal worth, but also embodies the worth of science when it is devoted to improving man’s existence. For many years pledged to a persistent struggle against coronary diseases, this Catalan doctor has studied one of the most terrible ailments which has afflicted modern man, without once giving in to despondency or fatigue. Starting from his conviction that clinical efforts do not suffice to advance rigorously if they are not accompanied by basic research, Valentín Fuster has managed to attend to both these fronts and harmonise his results, whilst proving his extraordinary scientific training and his exceptional organization capacity, heading work in large and highly specialised teams. Symbolised in him we see other Spanish scientists who were obliged to emigrate in search of better means to carry out their endeavours, eager, in many cases, to return and form part of our research community. A great poet from his native Catalonia, Salvador Espriu, sang of the melancholy of the human being and his life with these lines: There are no wakes left in the water, no sign of the boat, of man, of his passage. “The pro-European feeling of the Spanish peoples, which have been forged over time, and in which Asturias has played its part, finds continuity in our finest intellectuals of this century.”