1 November

** 1871 - birth of Otto Ettelt (Klein-Corbetha, Merseburg, Germany)
cellist, member Gewandhaus Orchestra, principal cello Municipal Orchestra of Bremen, member string quartet of the Philharmonic Society of Bremen & teacher

** 1899 - birth of Gandía Lahidalga (San Sebastian, Basque country) d.1975
cellist, orchestral principal Orquesta Nacional de España, chamber musician

** 1948 - first radio broadcast of Hindemith - sonata for cello and piano
(BBC)

** 1972 - birth of Matthew Sharp (Lisbon)
cellist (classical & pioneer), singer and actor - production director for music, theatre and opera {based Britain - France}

** 1979 - Joan Dickson was cello soloist in a Reid Orchestral Concert - she performed Walton - Cello Concerto with The Reid Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Leighton

2 November

** 1880 - birth of John Herbert Foulds (Hulme, Manchester, England) d.1939
composer & cellist / orchestral principal cello

** 1892 - birth of Paul Abraham (Apatin, Austro-Hungarian Empire, today Serbia) d.1960
composer & cellist - he wrote a youthful cello concerto before moving into the opera/operetta world

** 1894 - birth of Mischel Cherniavsky (Russia?)
cellist, cello in Cherniavsky Trio

** 1931 - birth of Mihaly Virizlay (Budapest) d.2008
cellist, orchestral principal cello & composer {based USA}

** 1936 - birth of Marta Casals Istomin, nee Marta Montañez (Humacao, Puerto Rico) {wife of Pau Casals]
cellist and cello teacher, music school principal and cultural organizer

** 1947 - first performance of Maurice Duruflé - Requiem {the work features an important cello solo in the Pie Jesu}
Paris {concert broadcast on French radio}

** 1955 - Daniil Shafran (Cello) and Emil Gilels (Piano) record ‘The Swan’ (‘Carnival of the Animals’ No.13) by Camille Saint-Saëns

** 1960 - birth of Martti Rousi (Piikkiö, Finland)
cellist & artistic director

** 1962 - birth of Graham Waterhouse (London) 
cellist & composer {based Germany}

** 1962 - birth of Ramón Jaffé (Riga, Latvia, now based in Germany)
cellist, soloist, founder of the Hopfgarten Chamber Music Festival in Tyrol - artistic director of the Middelburg Festival in the Dutch province of Zeeland, and the Chamber Music Festival of Oberlausitz. An innovative cellist -  as given concerts with the jazz singer Bobby McFerrin and the sitar virtuoso Pradeep Ratnayake as well as with the Lebrija- born flamenco guitarist Pedro Bacan (1951–1997), continuing his flamenco concerts with the dancer Miguelete and the guitarist Johannes Hoffmann as the Ramón Jaffé Trio. Professor at the Carl Maria von Weber Academy of Music in Dresden

** 1976 - birth of Daniel Müller-Schott (Munich, Germany) 
cellist

3 November

** 1826 - birth of Leon Jean Jacquard (Paris) d.1886
cellist, orchestral musician & professor

** 1853 - birth of Louis Hegyesi (Arpas, Hungary)
cellist, orchestra principal cello, opera orchestra musician, chamber musician (Florentine Quartet)

** 1874 - a first ‘reading’ session took place on this day of the Cello Concerto composed by Joachim Raff for Grützmacher - it was a private orchestra arranged by Herr Musikdirector Mannsfeld! It is almost certain that Grützmacher played the soloist part…

** 1903 - birth of Douglas Cameron (Dundee, Scotland) d.1974
cellist / orchestral principal cello

** 1945 - birth of Frans Helmerson (Gothenburg, Sweden)
cellist, recording artist, chamber musician, conductor; Professor at the ‘Hochschule für Musik und Tanz’ Cologne (Germany), the ‘Escuela Superior Musica Reina Sofia’ in Madrid, guest professor at the Hochschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler’ in Berlin, the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin, and the Kronberg Academy in Frankfurt. 

** 1954 - birth of Melissa “Missy” Hasin (Hollywood, California, USA)
cellist (modern) & electric bass

** 1986 - first performance (radio) of Jean-Louis Florentz - Chant de Nyandarua, for Four Cellos (1984)
cellists:  Paul Boufil, Marcel Bardon, Manfred Stilz and Francky Dariel (Radio-France)

** 1996 - first performance of James MacMillan - Cello Concerto
(London)

4 November

** 1692 - birth of Francesco Goffriller (Venice, Italy) d.1750
Italian luthier noted for his cellos

** 1806 - birth of Carl Leopold Boehm {Böhm} (Vienna) d. c1859
cellist, court musician and composer

** 1807 - birth of Carlo Curti (Bologna, Italy)
cellist, professor Parma School of Music; composer of works for cello

** 1874 - first performance of Raff - Cello Concerto No.1 in D minor, Op.193 
 soloist Friedrich Grützmacher with Dresden Orchestra, conducted by Julius Rietz (Hôtel de Saxe, Dresden, Germany) 

** 1900 - cello performance in London - Miss Florence Schmidt with Monsieur Hollman (cello)
unclear as to whether orchestral or chamber concert

** 1904 - Danish cellist Agga Fritsche gave a concert at the Musikaliska Academies in Stockholm. Her programme included Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op.33, which she performed with orchestral accompaniment, Hakon Børresen - Romance for Cello and Piano in D Major, Op.4, as well as compositions by Christian Sinding and David Popper. The newspaper "Idun" attests her "sångbara ton och ganska aktningsvärda teknik" ("vocal tone and quite remarkable technology")

* 1904 - cellist Otto Urack makes his soloist debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Berlin)

** 1906 - birth of Arnold Cooke (Gomersal, Yorkshire, England) d.2005
composer, cellist and pianist - he began composing by the age of 7 or 8; at Cambridge University, Cooke continued to play the cello in the CUMS orchestra and in a string quartet. 

** 1923 - in the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra (China) performance on today’s date on 1923, the invited cello soloist was Mr I. Shevtzoff - conducted by Mr Arrigo Foa

** 1949 - first performance of Rodrigo - Cello Concerto No.1 “Concierto en modo galante’ 
soloist Gaspar Cassadó with Orquesta Nacional de España, conducted by Ataulfo Argenta (Madrid)    

** 1961 - birth of Eduardo Vassallo (Buenos Aires)
cellist, principal cello National Symphony Orchestra in Argentina, a founder member of the National Radio String Quartet of Argentina and a member of the Camerata Lysy in Switzerland; member of ‘El Ultimo Tango’ quintet.  Principal cello City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO). Artistic director of the biennial Latin American cello festival in Buenos Aires. Cello professor at the Royal Northern College of Music, and still teaches at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. 

** 1969 - birth of Philip Sheppard (England) d.1983
cellist, professor, composer, inventor, public speaker & philanthropist 

** 1989 - Release date (premiere screened in Italy) of the film “L’Insegnante di violoncello” {English - “the Cello Teacher”}
directed by Lorenzo Onorati, starring Serena Grandi, Leo Gullota and Michel Rocher 
Leo is a street vendor who, always accompanied by his dog Cagliostro, entertains shoppers on the beach telling stories  to a group of guys who look for adventures chasing the tourists. Because of her busty forms they target Margherita, a music teacher. Meanwhile Mario, a boy on vacation with his father, falls in love with his beautiful cello teacher but she, of course, prefers the father.

** 1993 - Yo-Yo Ma was cello soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andrè Previn (the work and venue not yet noted)

5 November

** 1666 - birth of Attilio Ariosti d.1729
composer, keyboard player, viola d’amore player, cellist…and Servite Friar!

** 1739 - birth of Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton (Tarbolton, Ayrshire, Scotland) d.1819
Scottish politician, canal builder, composer & cellist

** 1805 - birth of Friedrich Wilhelm Grenser {Gränser} (Dresden, Germany) d.1859
cellist, principal cello Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra during nearly 40 years until 1856

** 1882 - David Popper makes his Spanish debut
(Madrid - the Spanish king & queen in attendance)

** 1900 - English cellist Maud Fletcher performed (in Bournemouth?) on this day the Tchaikovsky ‘Pezzo Capriccioso’  for violoncello and orchestra Op.62 in the 9th Philharmonic concert, followed by the performance of the Brahms - Double Concerto in A minor, Op.102 together with her father, an accomplished violinist 

** 1913 - birth of Vivian Leigh {Vivian Mary Hartley} (Darjeeling, India) d. 1967  
actress & school-girl cellist (also pianist)

** 1917 - birth of Claus Adam (Indonesia) d.1983
cellist & composer

** 1929 - solo cellist Gregor Piatigorsky moved to the United States in 1929 and on this day and made his American debut in Oberlin, Ohio

** 1950 - on this day cellist Enrico Mainardi made a live recording of Haydn - Cello Concerto in D Major, with Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Stuttgart, conducted by Carl Schuricht

** 1971 - first performance of Roger Sessions - Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra 
(New York)

** 1973 - first performance of Wuorinen - Grand Union, for cello and drums
(Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA)

** 1973 - birth of Emmanuelle Bertrand (Firminy, Loire, France)
cellist

** 1977 - birth of Steven Sharp Nelson (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
cellist (new-age) & songwriter

** 1981 - a Reid Chamber Concert took place on today’s date at Edinburgh University featuring Philip Norris - cello and Ian Robertson - piano. The ample programme included cello sonatas of Beethoven, Debussy and Brahms, and also 'Four Escapades' composed by this very cellist!

** 1985 - birth of Georgina Sanchez Torres (Valladolid, Spain)
cellist, chamber musican, professor, conductor, composer and arranger

6 November

** 1753 - birth of Jean-Baptiste Sebastien Bréval (Paris) d.1823
cellist & composer

** 1773 - birth of Johann Nikolaus Prell (Hamburg, Germany) d.1849
cellist, chamber musician {father of cellist August Christian Prell}

** 1857 - birth of Karl Ebner (Bippendorf, Bavaria)
cellist, member Court Chapel of Karlsruhe (promoted to solo cellist), member Court Chapel of Munich, chamber musician & and composer of original cello pieces

** 1887 - in the Princes’ Hall, Piccadilly (London) a ‘People’s Concert Society’ performance took place with the main artists Mademoiselle Bertha Brousil (violin), Mr Herbert Bowman (cello), Mr Algernon Ashton and Mr W. Barclay Squire (piano) and Madame Isabel Fassett and Mr Savage Cooper (vocal).

** 1898 - in the series of the Sunday Afternoon Orchestral Concerts given at the Queen's Hall, Langham Place, London, featured soloists were Miss Lillian Blauvelt and Monsieur Hollman (cello)

** 1920 - first performance of Henry Cowell - Sonate for cello and piano
(Community House, Palo Alto, California, USA)

** 1944 - cellist Adolf Steiner recorded the Eugene d'Albert - Cello Concerto in C major , Op.20 with the Gewandhaus Orchestra  at the “Concordia-Festsaal”, Leipzig-Gohlis (Germany)

** 1949 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier recorded (live performance?) the Schumann - Cello Concerto in A minor, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski

** 1951 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier recorded a Nocturne of Lili Boulanger with pianist Ernest Lush in the Abbey Road studios in London

** 1957 - birth of Lori Singer (Corpus Christi, Texas. USA)
cellist & actress

** 1961 - cellist Leonard Rose performed the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto in A minor with the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra (U.S.A.)

** 1964 - birth of Martin Tillman (Zurich, Switzerland) 
cellist (popular) & composer 

7 November

** 1825 - birth of Pièrre de Mol (Brussels)
cellist & composer; teacher of violoncello at the Brussels Conservatoire and solo cello at the theatre at Besancon; chorus master at Brussels Opera, and choir training in general; awarded the Prix de Rome for a cantata

** 1841 - Clara Schumann/piano played with Carl Wittman/cello Mendelssohn - Cello Sonata No.1 & Beethoven - Cello sonata No.3

** 1888 - cellist William E. Whitehouse performs for the first time in his career the Brahms - Cello Sonata in F Major, Op.99 in the ‘Wednesday Pop Concerts’ in London (the work had been written barely a couple of years previously) so this may have been a British ‘premiere’

** 1893 - birth of Ennio Bolognini (Buenos Aires, Argentina) d.1979
cellist, orchestra principal cello, composer and conductor (plus guitarist, professional boxer, pilot and flight instructor!) 

** 1912 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in Berlin by soloists Michael & Joseph Press with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

** 1902 - Jacques Renard was cello soloist in Camille Saint‐Saëns - Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1923 - Bax finishes writing his Cello Sonata in Eb Major

** 1935 - first performance of Arnold Schoenberg/Monn - Cello Concerto
soloist - Emanuel Feuermann with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (London)

** 1946 - On this day in 1946 Pau Casals was appointed ‘Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honour’

** 1954 - first performance of Milhaud - Suite Cisalpine, Op.332, for cello and orchestra
(Paris)

** 1963 - in an Oxford Subscription Concert Paul Tortelier (cello) with Geoffrey Parsons (piano) gave a recital

** 1964 - first US performance of Tcherepnin - Solo Cello Suite, Op.76
soloist - Heinrich Joachim (Carnegie Recital Hall, New York)

** 1972 - a most important date in the life of cellist Mischa Maisky - at 9.00am on this day he arrived at Vienna, en route to Israel, in emigration from the USSR after a period of grave problems (including imprisonment) with the Soviet authorities - he has always considered this his ‘second birthday’!

8 November

** 1770 - birth of Friedrich Witt (Württembetg, Germany) d.1836
composer & cellist

** 1770 - Luigi Boccherini is appointed “violincellist of his Chamber and composer of music with the authorisation of H.M. Charles III” by Infante Don Luis of Spain at Aranjuez

** 1783 - the use of various clefs (then more in use than today) were increasingly giving cellists headaches! For example Haydn still used the alto clef in his D Major Cello Concerto. On this day, in Cramer’s Music Magazine there was a proposal for the simplification of clefs:
“One has at last arrived at a stage where it has been found necessary to add to the troubles of the already overburdened violoncellist, the use of tenor, alto, treble, Gand F clefs. It is very disagreeable that composers cannot come to an understanding about the octaves in which to use the G clef, and consequently compel the'player to guess at the real meaning of the composer, and sometimes leave the question entirely undecided. Carlo Graziani, in his Sonata, Op. 2, makes use of the C clef on the second line, called by Rousseau ‘taille clef.’ Lully uses the same as ‘base taille clef.’ The writer of the article advocates the use of this clef ‘for the violoncello, saying that itwill save the use of any other but the F Clef’
However, the simplification in the use of the various clefs was in time due to Boccherini and Bernhard Romberg, who reduced the ‘C’ clefs to the use of the tenor clef only, and who introduced a rule that the G clef, when following the bass clef, had to be read an octave lower than its actual compass. But when following the tenor clef it resumed its usual position.

** 1792 - birth of Carl Louis Voigt (Zeitz, Germany) d.1881
cellist, theatre orchestra, organist & teacher {son of cellist/organist Johann Georg Hermann Voigt}

** 1824 - birth of Ernst Kummer (Dresden, Germany) d. 1860
cellist, member Court Orchestra Dresden {son of Friedrich August Kummer}

** 1870 - birth of May Campbell Taylor (probably Oxford, England)
cellist

** 1881- the public premiere of Brahms - Piano Concerto No.2 in Bb Major, Op.82 {the work features an important orchestral principal cello line}
the composer as soloist with the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra (Budapest)

** 1894 - Dvořák began working on this day his B minor cello concerto in New York.

** 1872 - birth of George Lennart Schnéevoigt (Vyborg, Finland, now in Russia) d.1947
conductor & cellist

** 1927 - in a chamber music concert at the Banbury and District Musical Society (England) a cello recital was given by Guilhermina Suggia

** 1928 - Norina Semino gave a cello recital, accompanied by Harold Craxton, in the Wigmore Hall (London)

** 1942 - first performance of Conrado del Campo - Cello Concerto in A Major, given by Gandía Lahidalga, with the Spanish National Orchestra conducted by Bartolomé Pérez Casas (the cellist was hand-picked by the composer for the premiere)

** 1957 - the Hallé Orchestra principal cello Harold Beck performed the Delius - Cello Concerto on this day with ‘his’ orchestra, conducted by John Barbirolli.

** 1987 - first performance of Isang Yun - Duetto concertante for oboe, cello and orchestra
(Rotweil, Germany)

** 1989 - Rafael Ramos/cello and Miguel Zanetti/piano performed Gabriel Fernández Alvez - ‘Sonata Atenea’ for Cello and Piano (1982-89) in the II Festival de Música Española, Conservatorio Profesional de Música, León, Castilla y León, Spain
the work was dedicated to the composer´s daughter Atenea

** 1991 - live first recording of Carmelo A. Alonso Bernaola - Tiempos: Música para un centenario: Casals, for Spanish National Radio, by José Mará Mañero/cello and Gerardo López Laguna/piano
Escuela Superior de Ingenieros, Bilbao, Basque Country

** 1994 - first performance of Ramón Ramos Villanueva - Tres Piezas for four cellos (1985)
cellists: ‘ Grupo de Violoncellos Ponticello’ (Club Diario Levante, Valencia, Spain)

9 November

** 1782 - cellist Jean Tricklir performed on this day his own double concertos with violinist E. Schick at the Theatre of Hamburg (Germany). They repeated a week later.

** 1835 - on this day the premiere was given of Clara Wieck (Clara Schumann) - Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.7; not only was this three-movement virtuoso concerto remarkable for a 14-year old girl, but the slow movement consisted entirely of a duo between the piano soloist and the principal orchestral cellist! Maybe this influenced Robert to include a slow movement with a second solo cello line in his own cello concerto so many years later too?!!

** 1841 - birth of {Albert} King Edward VII (King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India) d.1910
monarchy …and amateur cellist

** 1872 - before becoming a famed solo cellist Auguste van Biene could frequently be seen as a player in the orchestra, often sitting as principal cellist. In that position and while on tour with De Jong’s orchestra in 1872, Van Biene had a solo passage and earned this comment from the ‘York Herald’ (North Yorkshire, England) in a review titled ‘Grand Orchestral Concert’:
“Mons. Van Biene, in particular, distinguished himself in this selection by his fine ’cello playing. This gentleman will at any time form an excellent substitute for Piatti, the prince of violoncellists.”

** 1896 - Auguste van Biene, apart from expert cellist, became a very good impresario too. He booked an eight-week run of his increasing famous musical play ‘The Broken Melody’ with his British company at the American Theatre in New York City. Today’s date was the American premiere and enthusiastic crowds filled the theatre up. News of Van Biene’s popular success in New York was printed in arts coverage and columns in the major papers across the country including Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Salt Lake City, as well as many small-town papers.

** 1900 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra, with The New Queen's Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1946 - a recital at the Wigmore Hall (London) was given by The Jacques String Orchestra with Harvey Phillips (cello), conducted by Reginald Jacques.

** 1947 - on this day in Fürstenfeldbruck, a “Jungbräukeller stattfindenden Konzert” was announced, starring Georg Horvat playing solos by Frescobaldi-Cassadó, Saint-Saens, J.S. Bach, Ravel and Davidoff. In the second half he was joined by violinist Emanuel Kornblüth and Julius Karr-Bertoli for a performance of Mendelssohn - Trio, Op.49.

** 1976 - Lluis Claret/cello and Rosa María Cabestany/piano made a live recording for Spanish National Radio of Enrique Granados - Madrigal (c.1915) in the Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona, Catalonia

** 1979 - in accordance with his desire to return to Catalonia when democracy was restored, the mortal remains of Pau Casals were transferred on November 9, 1979 to his native town, where they now rest in the El Vendrell cemetery

** 1981 - first performance of Ikuma Dan - Nights, for 12 Cellos
The 12 Cellos of the Berlin Philharmonic (Tokyo)

** 1998 - José María Mañero/cello and Gerardo Lópz Laguna/piano made a live recording for Spanish National Radio of Gabriel Ekoreka Grana - ‘Pieza’ for cello and piano (this work was awarded the Cuthberg Nunn Prize)
Museo de las Bellas Artes, Bilbao, Basque Country

10 November

** 1732 - birth of François Cupis de Renoussard (Brussels) d.1808
cellist, composer and music educator (‘Le Cadet’)

** 1834 - birth of Charles Lüstner (Breslau, Germany) d.1897
cellist, member of Kur-Orchestra at Wiesbaden, teacher of cello and piano, a contributor to Riemann’s Dictionary of Music {end of life based in New York}

** 1850 - birth of Anton Lang (Carlsbad, Germany) 
cellist, orchestra principal cello (“Kammer virtuoso”) of the grand ducal chapel at Schwerin, member Bayreuth Orchestra

** 1891 - on an English tour cellist David Popper performed part of his Cello Concerto in C Major at the Crystal Palace concerts (London)

** 1894 - cellist Josefine Donat (b.1867 Vienna) took part in the world premiere of Kitty von Escherich's Romance for violoncello and piano in the Bösendorfer Hall in Vienna. 

** 1917 - first performance of Fauré - Cello Sonata No.1 in D minor, Op.109     
Gérard Hekking/cello and Alfred Cortot/piano (Paris - Societé Nationale de Musique)

** 1920 - Felix Salmond gave a performance of the Elgar - Cello Concerto, with Elgar himself conducting the Birmingham Municipal Orchestra. It was an all-Elgar programmme; the Concerto was framed by Falstaff and the Second Symphony

** 1943 - first performance of Bax - Legend-Sonata in F# minor for cello and piano
(Wigmore Hall, London)

** 1963 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Gordon Epperson, with Anne Koscielny /piano

** 1974 - in a concert at the Holywell Music Room, Oxford, Rohan de Saram (cello) and Michael Hill (piano) performed Edmund Rubbra - Cello Sonata Op.60

** 1976 - Lluis Claret /cello made a live recording for Spanish National Radio of Gaspar Cassadó - Requiebros for Cello and Piano (pub.1931). On the same programme he performed Julio Garreta Arboix - Sonata for cello and piano in F Major (a work dedicated to Pau Casals)
Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona, Catalonia

** 1962 - at the Town Hall, Leeds (England) the Boyd Neel Orchestra (conducted by Lionel Bentley/Raymond Leppard) performed with Paul Tortelier as cello soloist.

** 1990 - Release date (premiere screened in London) of the film “Truly Madly Deeply”
directed by Anthony Minghella, starring Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman and Jenny Howe
A woman dealing with inconsolable grief over the death of her partner gets another chance when he returns to earth as a ghost. The actor Alan Rickman 'plays' solo Bach on the cello in the opening credits (from 3.15). In the film Rickman plays the ghost of a dead musician alongside Juliet Stevenson's grieving character.

** 1992 - Fred Sherry, cello and Charles Wuorinen, piano record Elliot Carter - Sonata for Cello and Piano (1948)

11 November

** 1767 - birth of Bernhard Heinrich Romberg (Dinklafe, Germany) d.1841
cellist, composer and pedagogue

** 1830 - birth of Kanut Kündinger (Scandinavia)
cellist, member of The Royal Orchestra of Munich, cello professor

** 1891 - in the Princes’ Hall, Piccadilly (London) the first of three chamber music concerts featured Messrs Josef Ludwig (violin) and W. E. Whitehouse (cello).

** 1896 - a notable historical concert on this day: the Joachim Quartet (Joachim, Kruse, Wirth, Hausmann on cello), with Moser on 2nd viola, and Hugo Dechert on 2nd violoncello. The programme included the Mozart Quartet D Major, No.10, Brahms - Sextet in G Major, Op.36, and Beethoven - Quartet in E minor, Op.59 (Sing-Akademie, Berlin)

** 1902 - birth of Haydn Rogerson (Southport, Lancashire, England) d. 1971
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician, recording artist, professor

** 1930 - Antonia Butler (cello) and Dora Labbette (vocal) gave a performance at the Palace Hotel for the Paddington Music Club (London).

** 1935 - the ‘Courtauld-Sargent’ Concerts, given at the Queen's Hall (London), invited Pau Casals as cello soloist - the first of two consecutive performances.

** 1937 - first {British} performance of Bloch - Voice in the Dessert, version cello and piano
Luigi Gasparini/cello and Dr. Chisholm/piano (Glasgow)

** 1942 - first performance of Martinu - Variations on a theme of Rossini for cello and piano
Gregor Piarigorsky/cello (USA, Texas, Austin, Hogg Auditorium)

** 1949 - in a concert at RBA Galleries, London (RBA Concert Society) Amaryllis Fleming (cello) was invited soloist performing Edmund Rubbra - Soliloquy, Op.57, with the Alexandra Orchestra conducted by Denys Darlow

** 1956 - birth of Vedran Smailović {the "Cellist of Sarajevo”} (Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina)
cellist, conductor and composer {based Northern Ireland}

** 1962 - on this day cellist Paul Tortelier recorded Schumann - Cello Concerto in A minor, in the London Maida Vale Studios, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Antal Dorati

** 1989 - on this day, just two days after the Berlin wall fell, Mstislav Rostropovich performed, alongside these wall ruins, the Bach - Solo Cello Suite No.2 in D minor

12 November

** 1826 - birth of Achille-Félix Montaubry (Niort, France) d.1898
tenor singer & cellist

** 1833 - a morning and evening performance given on 12th November 1833 in Stoke Church as part of the Stoke-upon-Trent Musical Festival (England). Described as ‘Grand Selections of Sacred Music … from the works of Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, King, etc’, both concerts were in two parts and included a large number of solo and chorus extracts from oratorio compositions, the majority by Handel. Mr Giles also appeared as an obligato cello player at both performances.

** 1833 - birth of Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (St. Petersburg, Russia) d.1887
composer, chemist…and cellist 

** 1881 - the premiere performance of Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No.2 in G Major, Op.44 {the slow second movement is virtually a ‘triple’ concerto of solo violin, solo cello, solo piano and orchestra, using the orchestral principal cello}
soloist - Madeleine Schiller with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Theodore Thomas (New York)

** 1897 - the Orchester-Concerte der Meininger Hofkapelle (Berlin), directed by Fritz Steinbach gave a performance with soloists Joseph Joachim (violin) and Robert Hausmann (cello) 

** 1899 - official Paris debut of Pau {Pablo} Casals
Lalo - Cello Concerto, with Lamoureux Orchestra, conducted by Charles Lamoureux at the Théatre de la République

** 1923 - Alexander Barjansky performed as invited cello soloist inDvorak - Cello Concerto in B minor with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, at the Vienna Konzerthaus

** 1924 - birth of Sam Jones (Jacksonville, FL, USA)
jazz bassist, cellist & composer

** 1929 - in a chamber music concert at the Banbury and District Musical Society (England) a cello recital was given by Guilhermina Suggia

** 1935 - the ‘Courtauld-Sargent’ Concerts, given at the Queen's Hall (London), invited Pau Casals as cello soloist - the second of two consecutive performances.

** 1946 - Daniil Shafran (Cello) records Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, Op.40 by Dmitri Shostakovich with the composer at the piano

** 1960 - Mstislav Rostropovich records Schumann - Cello Concerto with the Orchestre National de France, conducted by Leonard Bernstein

** 1985 - birth of István Várdai (Pécs, Hungary)
cellist, festival artistic director

13 November

** 1859 - Hungarian cellist Rosa Suck achieved roaring successes in her solo recitals on 13th & 21st November 1859 in Vienna. Alas, there is no news about her further successes and life stories…

** 1902 - Auguste van Biene’s most famous theatre work - ‘The Broken Melody’ - had already received 1000 performances in 1895 and in a most pertinent “Chat with Mr. Van Biene” (appearing in the Hull Daily Mail (England) on this date in 1902, Van Biene related about the work:
“Of course, London was too superior to look at it. The critics said I ought to keep to the concert platform. They cut the piece up frightfully. But like Disraeli, I said, 'No matter— the time will come when you shall hear me,' and when we celebrated the thousandth performance in London they did hear me, and nothing could be said that was too fine or enthusiastic.”
As a lovely anecdote, to commemorate that mentioned 1000th occasion, he gave everyone at the Grand Theatre in Islington a copy of the sheet music as a souvenir present!

** 1903 - birth of Luigi Silva (Milan, Italy) d.1961
cellist & professor 

** 1915 - first performance of Villa-Lobos - Berceuse [Lullaby] for cello and piano, Op.50  {at the first concert dedicated solely to his works}
(Rio de Janeiro)

** 1930 - Antoni Sala performed as cello soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Society, conducted by Julian Clifford, at the Queen’s Hall (London).

** 1938 - first complete performance of Villa-Lobos - Bachiana Brasileira no.1 for 8(+) cellos
(Casa d’Italia, Rio de Janeiro)

**1941 - cellist Juan Ruiz-Casaux was soloist in both Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto in A minor and Strauss - Don Quixote, with the Orquesta Municipal de Barcelona conducted by Enric Casals

** 1954 - birth of Ernst Reijseger (Bussum, Holland)
cellist (jazz, improvisation & contemporary classical) and composer

** 1961 - Pau {Pablo} Casals is invited to perform in the White House invited by US President John Kennedy - called ‘the most dramatic that the White House has ever seen’. The Washington Post wrote an article titled “White House Bows to Immortal Casals”. Casals, 84 years old, said he played to “symbolize my deep feelings for the American people and the faith and confidence we all have in you {President John F. Kennedy} as leader of the Free World.”

** 1966 - first performance of Leslie Bassett - Cello Duets (five pieces)
cellists: Norman Fischer and Harold Cruthirds (Interlochen, Michigan, USA)

** 1992 - birth of Marza Merophi (Peru)
cellist

14 November

** 1881 - a notable historical concert on this day: Brahms - Piano Quartet in G minor, op.26 (Messrs Stanford, Gompertz, Donkin and Whitehouse on cello), and Beethoven, Serenade, Trio for Violin, Viola and Violoncello, op.8. Also on the programme, violin solos by BOTH Joachim and Sarasate, a cello solo by Boccherini performed by Whitehouse, and songs by Pergolesi, Scarlatti, Parry and Stanford (sung by Mr. Thorndike), in Cambridge University Musical Society (Cambridge, England)

** 1894 - first performance of Gabriel Fauré - Romance for cello and piano, Op.69 
(Geneva, Switzerland)

** 1896 - the London Ballad Concerts, held at the Queen’s Hall (London) gave a performance featuring the vocal soloists Miss Margaret Macintyre, Miss Mary Thomas, Mr Lloyd Chandos and Mr Franklin Clive, with ‘Mr Eaton Fanning’s Select Choir’- and Leo Stern gave some cello solos too.

** 1905 - birth of August Wensinger (Basel, Switzerland) d.1996
cellist, violinist, conductor& professor

** 1919 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date by soloists Alfred Megerlin & Leo Schulz with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Stransky

** 1942 - birth of Natalia Gutman (Kazan, Russia)
cellist

** 1943 - perhaps the greatest media success of Joseph Schuster, principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra - on Sunday, November 14, 1943, when he was scheduled to play Strauss’s Don Quixote under Bruno Walter. However, Walter fell ill on the very concert day and as a replacement a very young Leonard Bernstein conducted his debut with the New York Philharmonic - not only did Bernstein fulfill the role, there was overwhelming enthusiastic response by both the audience and press to ensure Bernstein’s wonderful career was launched - but for that all important ‘kick-off’, Bernstein had to thank the cellist Joseph Schuster! The performance was later released on record.

** 1946 - in a chamber music concert at the Banbury and District Musical Society (England) a cello recital was given by Douglas Cameron (cello) and Eric Harrison (piano).

** 1948 - birth of British Royal ‘Prince Charles’
Aristocrat, but a cello playing student at Trinity College, Cambridge University!

** 1952 - birth of Maria Kliegel (Dillenburg, Hesse, Germany)
cellist & teacher

** 1961 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier finished recording in Zurich the Boccherini - Cello Concerto in Bb Major (version Grützmacher) with the Lucerne Festival conducted by Rudolf Baumgartner

** 1965 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Olga Zilboorg, with Robert Guralnik /piano

** 1972 - on this day cellist Paul Tortelier made a live recording of Elgar - Cello Concerto in E minor, in the London Royal Festival Hall, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adrian Boult

** 1977 - birth of Lucio Franco Amanti (Montreal, Canada)
cellist and composer (jazz/classical) {based Italy)

15 November

** 1793 - birth of Louis Decortis (Liège, Belgium) d.1871
cellist, professor Liège Conservatoire

** 1884 - at the Crystal Palace Saturday Orchestral Concerts (South London) the featured invited soloists on this day were Miss Griswold (vocal) and Monsieur Jules Lasserre (cello).

** 1890 - at the Crystal Palace Saturday Orchestral Concerts (South London) the featured invited soloists on this day were Miss Macintyre (vocal) and Mons. J. Hollman (cello).

** 1897 - cellist May Mukle gave her first recital on 15th November, 1897, to good critical acclaim. The ‘Standard’ certified her:
“ Much depth of expression and firmness of tone” 
and the “Daily Telegraph” commented on the interpretation of the Sonata in D major by Pietro Locatelli that:
“its difficulties were surmounted and its beauties revealed in surprising fashion by the young artist, of whom her master (Mr. Alessandro Pezze) has every right to be proud” 

** 1907 - birth of Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (Berlin) d.1944
German army officer and Catholic aristocrat; a central figure of the German Resistance movement within the Wehrmacht - and a fine cellist!

** 1922 - birth of Doreen Mary Carwithen (Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, England) d.2003
a British woman composer of classical and film music. The second wife of the English musician William Alwyn, she was also known as Mary Alwyn. As a child she had her first music lessons from her mother, a music teacher, starting both piano and violin with her at the age of four, and at the age of 16 she began composing - however, in 1941 she entered the Royal Academy of Music and played the cello in a string quartet and with the college orchestras! Was she a self-taught cellist? She later worked as a Sub-Professor of Composition at the RAM.

** 1927 - Charles Hambourg (cello) gave a recital at the Wigmore Hall (London), assisted by a chamber orchestra conducted by Claude Powell

** 1928 - the Royal Philharmonic Society at the Queen's Hall (London) conducted by Sir Henry J. Wood, gave a performance featuring the soloist Livio Mannucci (cello). The programme also included Schubert - Mass in Eb Major with the Philharmonic Choir.

** 1947 - Felix Salmond gave his last appearance with orchestra on 15th November 1947, performing Bloch - Schelomo in a Bloch festival at Juilliard School, New York

** 1957 - first private performance of Gordon Jacob - Cello Sonata for cello and piano, at the Great Drawing Room, Arts Council of Great Britain, and featuring William Pleeth and Margaret Good (a MacNaghten Concert)

** 1961 - An important performance given by Leonard Rose, playing the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto in A minor, with the Luxembourg Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Louis de Froment. The interpretation was later released on disc.

** 1975 - Mstislav Rostropovich records the 2 Haydn Cello Concertos with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (audio recording)
(Abbey Road, London)

** 1991 - American cellist Barbara Hedlund was the featured soloist in Strauss - Don Quixote with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra {Illinois, U.S.A.} at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Urbana, Illinois, USA with Maestro Paul Vermel.

16 November

** 1782 - cellist Jean Tricklir performed on this day his own double concertos with violinist E. Schick at the Theatre of Hamburg (Germany). This was their second concert together within the space of 7 days: In a report, given by Cramer, it said:
“Since Lolli's time the house has never been so crammed as on these occasions.”

** 1807 - birth of François George-Hainl (Issoire, France) d.1873
cellist & conductor

** 1895 - at the Crystal Palace Saturday Orchestral Concerts (South London) the featured invited soloists on this day were Rina Allerton (vocal) and ‘Herr David Popper’ (cello).

** 1897 - on 16th November, 1897, Dutch cellist Kato van der Hoeven became a member of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra and, according to the current state of research, is perhaps only the second woman cellist after Valborg Lagervall to be accepted into a permanent professional symphony orchestra in Europe (though she had already appeared as invited soloist with the orchestra two years previously). 

** 1905 - at the Broadwood Concerts (London), the famous ‘Bohemian String Quartet’ played a string quartet by Tchaikovsky, and the quintet of Schubert with Mr Karl Fuchs as invited cellist.

** 1905 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in Dresden by soloists Felix Berber and Julius Klengel with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Steinbach

** 1924 - in a trio concert at Synod Hall (Edinburgh), and apart from trios of Beethoven and Schubert, the cellist Bernard Beers and Donald Tovey - piano also performed a Boccherini Cello Sonata

** 1925 - at the Beethoven Hall, Berlin, a recital was offered by Gaspar Cassadò (cello)

** 1928 - Alexander Schuster gave a recital “cello evening” in Berlin.

** 1943 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier finished recording the Schumann - Cello Concerto in A minor, in Berlin, with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Wilhelm Fürtwangler (only 2nd and 3rd movements thought to survive)

** 1945 - first performance of Milhaud - Elégie for cello and piano
(New York)

** 1949 - Lorne Munroe won the only Naumburg Award granted in 1949 and as a result made his formal New York recital debut on this day 16th November at Town Hall, NY, playing works of Haydn, Weber, Dvořák, and Fauré. 

** 1961 - Joan Dickson was cello soloist, along with Louis Carus - violin and Hester Dickson - pianoforte in a Reid Orchestral Concert - they performed Beethoven - Triple Concerto in C Major, for Violin, Cello, Piano and Orchestra, Op.56, with The Reid Orchestra, conducted by Sidney Newman. However our cellist returned to the podium in the second half to also perform Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor. Sir Adrian Boult was also credited as guest conductor, though it is not clear which work or works he directed.

** 1984 - on this day cellist Paul Tortelier finished recording, with violinist Yehudi Menuhin, of the Brahms - Double Concerto in A minor, in the London Abbey Road Studios, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Paaco Berglund (the other recording day was the previous day)

** 1987 - birth of Beatriz Blanco (Valladolid, Castilla y León, Spain)
cellist and profesor

** 1991 - Karel Husa’s Cello Concerto was performed by Lynn Harrell, with the USC Symphony conducted by Daniel Lewis (the work had been premiered a couple of years previously, but underwent a certain revision, reaching its definitive form for the performance on this day)

 ** 1999 - José Miguel Gómez/cello and Juan Carlos Garvayo/piano performed Alvaro Guijarro Pérez - Dos impresiones Nocturnos for celloand piano in the Centro Cultural “Conde Duque”, Madrid in a concert recorded live by Spanish National Radio.

17 November

** 1849 - birth of Adolf Hartdegen (Cassel, Hesse, Germany)
cellist, principal cello Thomas Symphony Orchestra (U.S.A.), principal cello Boston Philharmonic Club, member New York Beethoven Quartet; composer for the cello

** 1855 - birth of Giuseppe Campanari (Venice) d.1927
Italian-American baritone singer & cellist

** 1916 - first performance of Villa-Lobos - Cello Sonata No.2
(Salão Nobre, Rio de Janeiro)

** 1927 - at the Beethoven Hall, Berlin, a ‘Bach Brahms Evening’ was offered by Max Baldner (cello) and Dr V. Ernst Wolff (piano)

** 1939 - in the National Gallery, London, a recital was given by Lionel Tertis (viola), Cedric Sharpe (cello) and William Murdoch (piano).

** 1961 - An important performance given by Leonard Rose, playing the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations, with the Luxembourg Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Louis de Froment. The interpretation was later released on disc.

** 1962 - birth of Torleif Thedéen (Sweden)
cellist, chamber musician & professor

** 1975 - Mstislav Rostropovich records the 2 Haydn Cello Concertos with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (full video recordings) 17th to  19th November
(Abbey Road, London)

** 1978 - Lorne Munroe gave a soloist performance of Schumann - Cello Concerto in A minor, with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, in Ottawa, Winnipeg, Canada 

** 1992 - first performance of Herbert Howell s - Threnody for Cello and Orchestra (this is the slow movement of the incomplete Fantasia for Cello and Orchestra, probably composed late 1930s)
soloist - Raphael Wallfisch with English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by  Martin Neary (Westminster Abbey, London)

** 1994 - first performance of Alfred Schnittke - Sonata for cello and piano No.2
(London)

18 November

** 1843 - first performance of Mendelssohn - Cello Sonata No.2 in D Major, Op. 58  
Carl Wittmann/cello with composer at piano (Leipzig Gewandhaus, Germany)

** 1858 - Karl Schlesinger enters the Imperial Chapel, Vienna, as violoncellist

** 1875 - first performance of Brahms - Piano Quartet in C minor, Op.60
with David Popper on cello and the composer at piano (Vienna)

** 1892 - cellist Leo Schrattenholz makes his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Berlin), later twice winning the Mendelssohn Prize

** 1909 - at the Beethoven Hall, Berlin, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra performed with ‘Dr. Serge Barjansky’ as cello soloist.

** 1922- at the Whitney Wood (England) a recital was given by Ruth Tanner (cello), accompanied by Ruth Eyre

** 1924 - in a chamber music concert at the Banbury and District Musical Society (England) a cello recital was given by Guilhermina Suggia

** 1933 - birth of Madeleine Charlotte Moorman (Little Rock, Arkansas, USA)  d.1991
cellist & contemporary avant-garde music specialis - known as the “Jeanne d’Arc of new music”, founder of the Annual Avant Garde Festival of New York; improvisor in “TV Bra for Living Sculpture” (1967); featured artist in the book “Topless Cellist: The Improbable Life of Charlotte Moorman”

** 1946 - at the Royal Albert Hall (London) the London Symphony Orchestra in a Decca Concert, performed with invited cello soloist Guilherminia Suggia.

** 1951 - birth of Heinrich Schiff (Gmunden, Austria) d.2016
cellist & conductor

19 November

** 1796 - birth of Pièrre {Peter} Baumann (Lille, France) d.1872
cellist, professor at Lille Conservatoire,

** 1807 - birth of George François Hainl (Issoire, Puy-de-Dome, France) d.1873
cellist, conductor at the theatre of Lyon, conductor of the Grand Opera of Paris; composer with 3 operas and pieces for cello

** 1837 - cello virtuoso Karl Ignaz Hemmerlein, the son of cellist Anton, was for one period of his life director of the court orchestra at Fulda (Dermany). After his return to Bamberg he conducted for a number of years the opera at that town, and an amusing story is related in connec tlon with that period of his musical career: On 19th November, 1837, he made the daring innovation to conduct the opera “Zampa” with a black lacquered baton instead of the customary ‘fiddle’ bow, and to assist the singers here and there by singing the notes of their entries. This upset the conservative Bamberg audience! Before long Hemmerlem found himself installed in a comfortable arm-chair, the four legs of which were SCREWED down to the platform!

** 1887 - at the Crystal Palace Saturday Orchestral Concerts (South London) the featured invited soloists on this day were Mrs Henschel (vocal) and Franz Neruda (cello), and included the first performance of Neruda, Concertstück for Violoncello and Orchestra, in C minor.

** 1921 - Pau Casals performed as cello soloist in the Queen's Hall Symphony Concerts (London) ( ? work ?)

** 1923 - birth of František Sláma (Bohemian-Moravian Highlands) d.2004
cellist, early music specialist

** 1936 - Gaspar Cassadó was cello soloist in a Reid Orchestral Concert - he performed a “Adagio and Rondo” for violoncello and orchestra by Dvořák (Silent Woods, and Rondo, Op.94?) and then together with Jelly D'Aranyi - solo violin they performed Brahms - Double Concerto, Op.102, with The Reid Symphony Orchestra conducted by Donald Tovey. The violinist also performed Beethoven - Violin Concerto, and a piece of Mendelssohn.

** 1950 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist David Wells, with Anita Simkins/piano

** 1994 - first performance of Wolfgang Rihm - Von Weit for cello and piano
(Stuttgart, Germany)

20 November

** 1759 - birth of Nikolaus Paul Zmeskall (Leštiny, Hungary) d.1833
cellist & composer

** 1897 - the ‘Crystal Palace Saturday Concerts’ (South London) included the soloists Mr Edward Lloyd (vocal) and Herr Robert Hausmann (cello) in the orchestral performance

** 1934 - in a chamber music concert at the Banbury and District Musical Society (England) a chamber recital was given by Isobel Baillie (vocal) and Thelma Reiss (cello).

** 1951- Arthur Troester was cello soloist with the Hamburg Radio Symphony, conducted by Dr. Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt at the Free Trade Hall Inaugural Festival of Concerts, Manchester, England

** 1959 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier made a recording with violinist Dino Francescatti of the Brahms - Double Concerto, with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bruno Walter, at the American Legion Hall, Los Angeles, U.S.A.

** 1966 - first performance of Bassett - Music for cello and piano
(California State University at Fresno, USA)

** 1970 - birth of Iagoba Fanlo (San Sebastián, Basque Country)
cellist, orchestra principal cello, professor (Madrid, Barcelona, masterclasses etc.), chamber musician

** 1976 - first performance of Iannis Xenakis - "Retours-Windungen", for 12 Cellos
The 12 Cellos of the Berlin Philharmonic (Bonn, Germany)

21 November

** 1859 - Hungarian cellist Rosa Suck achieved roaring successes in her solo recitals on 13th & 21st November 1859 in Vienna. Alas, there is no news about her further successes and life stories…

** 1873 - birth of Ossian Fohström (Helsingfors, Finland)
cellist, successful solo tours in the far east of Europe

** 1889 - 16-year old English cellist Maud Fletcher performed on this day a Sonata in G minor Op.59 by Camillo Schumann

** 1891 - on an English tour cellist David Popper performed in Schubert’s Quartet in D minor, but also as soloist ina Tartini Adagio and a minuet of his own composition,  at the Monday Popular Concerts at St. James’s Hall, London

** 1918 - first performance of Bridge - Mélodie for cello (or violin) and piano
(Royal College of Music, London)

** 1922 - Jean Gerardy as cello soloist gives the North American premiere of Elgar - Cello Concerto in E minor, with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski in Carnegie Hall, New York. . Felix Salmond would gladly have given the American première of the Elgar Concerto, but he was pre-empted by the Belgian!

** 1943 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Bernard Greenhouse with Earl Wild/piano

** 1989 - American cellist Lynn Harrell gave a benefit concert for the Jewish Community Cemntre of Chicago, alongside members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He also acted as conductor in this concert.

** 1995 - first performance of Gavin Bryers - Cello Concerto ‘Farewell to philosophy’
Julian Lloyd Webber and the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by James Judd (Barbican Hall, London)

22 November

** 1847 or 1850 (sources differ!)  - birth of Adolphe Fischer (Brussels) d.1891
cellist & composer of salon music for the cello

** 1857 - first performance of Robert Volkmann - Cello Concerto in A minor, Op.33, with the soloist Karl Schlesinger. The work was written during 1853-55 and its premiere was unfortunately delayed due to a serious illness of Karl Schlesinger; however the public interest, and also that of the critics was enormous during the wait!

** 1876 - birth of Bonaventura Dini I Facci (El Vendrell, Catalonia) d.1936
cellist, singer (tenor) & teacher 

** 1893 - Dvorak notes down a sketch of two themes in New York of a planned sonatina for cello and piano, no doubt inspired by the sketches for the violin and piano sonatina completed on this day; however he never returned to finish the cello work despite the fame of the violin sonatina

** 1899 - a concert took place at the Royal Albert Hall, London, titled “Messrs. Harrison's Grand Evening Concert”; this was a two-part vocal concert with occasional solo pieces for organ, piano, violin and cello. The cello soloist was announced as ‘Mons. Hollman’.

** 1902 - birth of Emanuel Feuermann (Kolomyja, Galicia, Austro-Hungarian empire, now Ukraine) d.1942
cellist, chamber musician & teacher {based USA}

** 1934 - Pau Casals was cello soloist in the world premiere of Donald Tovey - Cello Concerto in C Major, Op.40, in the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, with The Reid Symphony Orchestra conducted by Donald Tovey. This was prior to performances of the work soon after in London and further afield. Despite being recognized as one of the longest cello concertos in existence - almost an hour duration - Casals still had the energy to perform Haydn - Cello Concerto in D Major with the orchestra after the interval!

** 1945 - Barber finishes writing his Cello Concerto, Op.22       

** 1951 - in a chamber music concert at the Banbury and District Musical Society (England) a chamber recital was given by Amy Shuard (soprano), Eileen Croxford (cello) and Colin Kingsley (piano).

** 1957 - first public performance of Gordon Jacob - Cello Sonata for cello and piano (the venue not known but took place in London), featuring William Pleeth and Margaret Good

** 1976 - birth of Fernando Velázquez (Getxo, Vizcaya, Basque Country)
cellist, composer and film music writer

** 1986 - birth of Zack Clark (USA)
cellist, pop music (Simply Three)

23 November

** 1785 - King Carlos III of Spain agrees to give Luigi Boccherini the first cello position to open and to support him financially for an interim period

** 1901 - in the Queen’s Hall Symphony Concerts (London) the performance featured the cello soloist Hugo Becker, with vocal soloist Mr Ffrangcon-Davies. This concert also included the first London performance of F. H. Cowen, Orchestral Poem - 'A Fantasy of Life and Love'

** 1910 - Dr. Serge Barjansky performed a concert in the Bechstein Hall in London (now the Wigmore Hall)

** 1922 - Pau Casals performed as cello soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Society. This concert also included the first London performance of Strauss - Suite ‘Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme’.

** 1959 - a recital at the Royal Dublin Society, was given by Derek Simpson and Fiona Cameron 

** 1995 - first performance of Bernardo Adam Ferrero - Música para un perfume, for 6 cellos
cellists: Grupo de Violoncellos Mare Nostrum (Joyería Gracia, Valencia, Spain) 

** 1999 - José María Mañero/cello and Gerardo López Laguna/piano recorded Federico Mompou - El Pont (1982), for cello and piano for Spanish National Radio
Escuela Superior de Ingenieros, Bilbao, Basque Country

24 November

** 1795 - birth of Josif Josifovich Genishta (Russia) d.1853
composer, conductor, pianist & cellist

** 1821 - birth of Joseph Friedrich Eduard Giese (Koblenz, Germany) d.1903 {father of cellist Fritz Giese}
cellist & teacher {based Holland}

** 1844 - birth of Jules Delsart (Valenciennes, France) d.1900
cellist, teacher & arranger

** 1866 - first performance of Sullivan - Cello Concerto in D Major 
soloist - Alfredo Piatti, conducted by August Manns (Crystal Palace, London)

** 1883 - at the Crystal Palace Saturday Orchestral Concerts (South London) the featured invited soloists on this day were Miss Mary Davies (vocal) and M. Fischer (cello). This event included the first English performance of Carl Reinecke - Cello Concerto in D Major, Op.82.

** 1886 - first performance of Brahms - Cello Sonata Nio.2 in F Major, Op.99
?/cello with composer at piano (Kleiner Musikverein, Vienna)

** 1902 - at the Beethoven Hall, Berlin, a recital was given by Joseph Thibaud (piano) and André Hekking (cello).

** 1924 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in Berlin by soloists Emanuel & Siegmund Feuermann with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

** 1924 - birth of Lorne Munroe (Winnipeg, Canada) d.2020
cellist, orchestra principal cello (New York Phil., Philadelphia Orch.) & professor

** 1928 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in Berlin by soloists K. Klingler and Francesco von Mendelssohn with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Max Trapp

** 1938 - Guilhermina Suggia was solo cellist in Elgar - Cello Concerto in E minor, Op.85, and Lalo - Cello Concerto in D minor, with The Reid Orchestra conducted by Donald Tovey, at the Usher Hall (Edinburgh).

** 1939 - in the National Gallery, London, a cello recital was given by Thelma Reiss (cello) and John Hunt (piano).

** 1949 - in a chamber music concert at the Banbury and District Musical Society (England) a cello recital was given by Antonio Brosa

** 1992 - first performance of John Tavener - Eternal Memory for cello and strings
(Wellington, New Zealand)

** 1995 - first performance of Gavin Bryars - Cello Concerto ‘Farewell to Philosophy’
soloist - Julian Lloyd Webber with English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by James Judd (Barbican, London)   

** 1995 - Mstislav Rostropovich receives the ‘Grand Officer of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas’ (Lithuania, 24th November 1995)

25 November

** 1870 - birth of Marguerite (Anastasie) Baude (Valenciennes, France)
important French woman cellist, chamber musician

** 1889 - first performance of Tchaikovsky - Pezzo Capriccioso, in the version for cello and orchestra
soloist Anatoly Brandukov with composer conducting the Russian Musical Society

** 1891 - in the Princes’ Hall, Piccadilly (London) the second of three chamber music concerts featured Messrs Josef Ludwig (violin) and W. E. Whitehouse (cello).

** 1891 - first performance {in orchestral version} of David Popper - Requiem for 3 cellos and orchestra (with cello co-soloists Delsart and Howell) Op.66; programme also included Popper’s Suite ‘Im Walde’ for cello and orchestra, and Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor}
soloists - David Popper, Edward Howell & Jules Delsart, conducted by F.H. Cowen (St. James’s Hall, London)

** 1893 - at the Crystal Palace Saturday Orchestral Concerts (South London) the featured invited soloists on this day were Mr Eugene Oudin (vocal) and Julius Klengel (cello), and included the first English performance of Klengel - Cello Concerto No.3.

** 1922 - Pau Casals performed as cello soloist in the Queen's Hall Symphony Concerts (London) ( ? work ?)

** 1925 - The Oxford Subscription Concerts organized a Violoncello and Vocal Recital by Pablo Casals and Susan Metcalfe-Casals, accompanied by Fanny Davies.

** 1934 - a ‘Professor Tovey’s Sunday Concert’ at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall on this day featured Pau Casals - cello and Donald Tovey - piano; they performed Beethoven - Cello Sonata No.3 in A Major, Op.69 and Roentgen - Sonata for pianoforte and violoncello in B minor, op. 56. Casals also offered the J.S. Bach - Solo Suite No.6 in D Major

** 1943 - first performance of Bohuslav Martinu - ‘Sonata da Camera’ for cello and chamber orchestra 
(Geneva, Switzerland)

** 1945 - first performance of J.E. Moeran - Cello Concerto given by cellist Peers Coetmore, with the Orchestra of Radio Eire conducted by Michael Bowles at the Capitol Theatre, Dublin

** 1946 - cellist Bernard Michelin gives the premiere of the Cello Concerto by Marcel Landowski with the (French) National Orchestra; the concert was broadcast on Radio

** 1948 - a Reid Chamber Concert took place on today’s date at Reid School of Music (Edinburgh) featuring Joan Dickson - cello and Sydney Newman - piano. The performance included J.S. Bach - Solo Suite No.4, Beethoven - Cello Sonata in C Major, Op.102/1, and one of the first ever performances of Martinu - Cello Sonata No.2

26 November

** 1857 - birth of Giuseppe Magrini (Milan, Italy) d.1926
cellist & professor

** 1860 - birth of Georges Papin (Paris)
cellist, principal cello Paris Opera Orchestra, member Nadaud Quartet, viola da gamba player, solo cello of the Paris Conservatoire Concerts; composer for the cello

** 1881 - birth of Leo Smith (Birmingham, England) d.1952
cellist, orchestra principal cello, composer, writer, music critic, music educator

** 1891 - a London Symphony Concert was given at St. James Hall (London) featuring Jean Gérardy (cello) and Mr John Probert and Mr Plunket Greene (vocal soloists).

** 1899 - cello performance in London - Madame Sobrino with W.H. Squire (cello)
unclear as to whether orchestral or chamber concert

** 1901 - in the Queen’s Hall Symphony Concerts (London) the performance featured the cello soloist Hugo Becker.

** 1905 - cello concerto/concertante performance in the Bechstein Hall, London, featuring ‘Senor Casals (cello)’
work?

** 1910 - at the Beethoven Hall, Berlin, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra performed with ‘Dr. Serge Barjansky’ as cello soloist.

** 1912 - Dr. Serge Barjansky performed as invited cello soloist in a concert with the London Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of the composer Edward Elgar. The Boston Public Library today has a quote from those times “The soloist was Dr. Serge Barjansky, a very accompanist artist with a highly temprtalmental style”

** 1922 - Felix Salmond makes his North American solo debut, playing Bruch - Kol Nidrei and Strauss - Don Quixote, with the New York Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walter Damrosch

** 1938 - first performance of Sergei Prokofiev - Cello Concerto 
(Moscow)

** 1937 - birth of Andrzej Sylwester Zieliński (Wągrowiec, Poland)
cellist, academic teacher, in 2001 Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage

** 1954 - on this day cellist Enrico Mainardi finished recording Schumann - Cello Concerto in A minor, with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Fritz Lehmann (probably there were 3 recording days)

** 1961 - at the Town Hall, Leeds (England) the Scottish National Orchestra performed with Joan Dickson as cello soloist.

27 November

** 1741 - birth of Jean-Pierre Duport (Paris) d.1818
cellist - court cellist  (‘The Older’)

** 1864 - first German performance of Rubinstein - Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor, Op.65
soloist - David Popper with Löwenberg Court Orchestra (Löwenberg, Germany)

** 1880 - at the Crystal Palace Saturday Orchestral Concerts (South London) the featured invited soloists on this day were Mr Edward Lloyd (vocal) and Monsieur Hollman (cello), and the programme included the first English performance of Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto in A minor, Op.33.

** 1897 - in the Queen’s Hall Symphony Concerts (London) the performance featured the cello soloist David Popper. This concert also included Beethoven - Symphony No.9 with the Queen’s Hall Choral Society.

** 1923 - The Oxford Subscription Concerts organized a Violoncello and Vocal Recital by Pablo Casals and Susan Metcalfe-Casals, accompanied by Fanny Davies.

** 1935 - on this day British cellist Felix Salmond, now resident in the U.S.A. performed a mammoth recital of all five Beethoven cello sonatas (in the order 1-4-2-5-3!) with the invited pianist Ernest Hutcheson, at the Casimir Hall of the Curtis Institute of Music

** 1936 - first performance of Alan Bush - Concert Piece for Cello and Piano, Op.17 {the manuscript is in the British Library, London}
Juliette Alvin/cello and Alan Bush/piano), Prague {they repeated the performance in Prague two days later)

** 1939 - cellist Benar Heifetz gave a performance, recorded live, as cellist in Camille Saint-Saëns 'Carnival of the Animals’

** 1944 - Douglas Cameron gave a cello recital for the Royal Dublin Society Members' Hall, Ball's Bridge (Ireland)

** 1945 - Samuel Barber completed the writing of his Cello Concerto, Op.22, on today’s date in 1945. It was the second of the three concertos he wrote in all.

** 1995 - Belén Aguirre/cello and Inmaculada González/piano performed Manuel José Seco de Arpe - Esculturas Románticas for cello and piano (c.1994) in a concert recorded by Spanish National Radio
Conservatorio Superior de Música, Murcia, Spain

28 November

** 1784 - birth/baptism of Ferdinand Ries (Bonn, Germany) d.1838 
composer, pianist, music writer (Beethoven’s secretary!) & cellist

** 1812 - birth of Constant Noel Adolphe Warot (Antwerp, Belgium) d.1875  
cellist, professor & composer  

** 1886 - birth of Umberto Bedetti (Leghorn, France)
cellist, principal cello in the Concerts Hasselmans, principal cello in orchestra of Monte Carlo & chamber musician

** 1890 - the historical version for solo cello of the Erlkönig of Schubert was adapted by the great German cellist Bernhard Cossmann in 1890 for the exclusive use of his student Heinrich Kiefer, as the autograph edition indicates in the dedication on the fifth page of the manuscript after the last chord of the transcription: "Übertragung der  Erlkönig von Schubert für Cello allein, zum alleinigen Gebrauch für Heinrich Kiefer"; "Fr[an]kf[urt] 28. Nov. [18]90" von B. Cosßmann [English: Transcription of the Erlkönig of Schubert for solo cello, for the exclusive use of Heinrich Kiefer, Frankfurt 28. Nov. 1890 by B. Cossmann.]

** 1891 - at the Crystal Palace Saturday Orchestral Concerts (South London) the featured invited soloists on this day were Madame Emily Spada and Mr Philip Newbury (vocal) with Master Jean Gerardy (cello).

** 1903 - in the Queen’s Hall Symphony Concerts (London) the performance featured the cello soloist ‘Monsieur Jean Gerardy’ and Miss Muriel Foster (vocal)

** 1906 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in Vienna by soloists Soma Picksteiner & Paul Grümmer

** 1912 - in the Large Town Hall, Reading (England) the Berks Symphony Orchestra, conducted by W. H. Phelps, featured soloists Gertrude Higgs (vocal) and Mr B. Patterson Parker (cello).

** 1946 - first performance of Milhaud - Cello Concerto No.2
(New York)

** 1955 - Christopher Bunting and Peter Wallfisch gave a recital at the Royal Dublin Society Members' Hall, Ball's Bridge (Ireland)

** 1969 - first performance of Armando Blanquer Ponsoda - Elegía for cello and piano (1959)
Santiago Cantí /cello and Pilar Mompó /piano (Círculo Industrial, Alcoy, Alicante, Spain)

** 1981 - first performance of Rudi Spring - Szene 1 for cello and orchestra
(Prague)

** 1983 - birth of Ben Sollee (Lexington, Kentucky, USA) 
cellist (popular), singer-songwriter & composer

29 November

** 1827 - in the first ‘Halifax Subscription Concert’, given on 29th November 1827 at the New Assembly Rooms, Halifax (England), the programme provided only the names of the vocal and instrumental soloists, who were: Mr Archer, Mr Walton, Miss Farrar and Madame Cornega (vocal), Mr Nicholson (flute) and Mr Crouch (cello).

** 1894 - a London Symphony Concert was given at St. James Hall (London) featuring guest soloists Miss Agnes Janson (vocal) and David Popper (cello).

** 1899 - English cellist May Campbell Taylor played at the Hampstead Conservatoire in London, among other performers - with the pianist Fanny Davies and was accompanied by her brother Colin Moncrieff Taylor. The cellist is known to have performed: Massenet - Elegie, Chopin - Polonaise A flat major, Davidov - ‘At the fountain’. Jackson’s Oxford Journal wrote at this time: “great richness and purity of tone” 

** 1901 - a Concert Recital was given by Madame Kirkby Lunn (vocal), Mr Hugo Becker (cello) and Mark Hambourg (piano) on 29th November 1901 at The Dome, Brighton (England)

** 1906 - cellist Otto Urack makes his conducting debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Berlin)

** 1915 - first performance of Villa-Lobos - Pequena Suite for cello and piano
(Rio de Janeiro)

** 1918 - After a performance by Guilhermina Suggia in the ‘Concerts at Reigate’ series the Surrey Mirror (England) wrote on this date:
“The Holmesdale Society has always shown a strong partiality for ’cellists, and, in Mme. Guilhermina Suggia, they were fortunate in welcoming for the second time one of the indisputably first-rank among living executants. What relief it is to listen to gorgeously full intonation and perfect technique, with entire absence the dynamic sawing, the straining after impossibly broad effects that [to] many the “modern” school affect.”

 ** 1951 - An interesting recital given by Gaspar Cassadó with Maria Italia Biagi, piano
Programme: Vivaldi - Sonata, Op. 3 No. 9 // Haydn - Sonata in C [No. 3] // Strauss - Sonata, Op. 6 // Respighi - Adagio con variazioni // Debussy - The girl with the flaxen hair // L. Vierne - Poissons chinois // Cassadó - Acquarelli Musicali

** 1958 - on this day cellist Enrico Mainardi finished recording Tartini - Cello Concerto in A Major, with the Lucerne Festival Strings, conducted by Rudolf Baumgartner (probably there were 2 recording days)

30 November

** 1817 - birth of J.B. van Volxem (Uccleles-Bruxelles, Belgium)
cellist, composer & choral director  

** 1877 - first performance of Tchaikovsky - Rococo Variations
(soloist Fitzenhagen, Russian Musical Society of Moscow, conducted by N. Rubinstein)

** 1883 - first performance of Busoni - Serenata in G minor, Op.34 for cello and piano
?/cello with composer at piano (Vienna)

** 1894 - first performance of Arthur Foote - Cello Concerto, Op.33
(Chicago, USA)

** 1903 - Jean Gerardy (cello), Egon Petri (piano) and Johan Messchaert (baritone) performed at the ‘Monday Popular Concerts’ (promoted by Johann Kruse)

** 1907 - first performance of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor - Variations on an Original Theme for cello
(Croydon, England)

** 1909 - birth of Joy Hall [Stalman] (England)
cellist, chamber musician (Delmé Quartet), session musician (oncluding Bond films, and Beatles music), one of first three females (apart from harpists) to be employed by the London Symphony Orchestra, teacher at Wells Cathedral School

** 1930 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date by soloists Guidi & Scipione with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Stokowski

** 1930 - birth of Michael Tilmouth (Grimsby, England) d. 1987
musicologist, pianist, cellist, conductor and, harpsichordist (he became the first Tovey professor of Music at the University of Edinburgh Faculty of Music from 1971 until his death in 1987)

** 1935 - on this day Enescu completes the fourth and last movement to his second Cello Sonata in Vienna (he probably initially started the work in June of that year, in Bucharest)

** 1960 - Mstislav Rostropovich records Tchaikovsky - Rococo Variations with the USSR State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky

** 1952 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Joseph Druian, with Yvonne Druian/piano

** 1958 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Guy Fallot, with Monique Fallot /piano

** 1972 - a Reid Chamber Concert took place on today’s date at Reid Concert Hall (Edinburgh) featuring Joan Dickson - cello and Hester Dickson - piano. The performance consisted in: J.S. Bach - Sonata in D major, BWV 1028, Barber - Cello Sonata, Op.6, Beethoven - 12 variations on 'Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen' from "Die Zauberflöte” and Pizzetti - Cello Sonata in F Major

** 1972 - in a concert by the Reading Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maurice Miles, Heather Harrison (cello) was soloist in Edmund Rubbra - Soliloquy, Op.57, at Reading Town Hall

** 1994 - Rafael Ramos/cello and Josep Colom/piano performed Gonzalo de Olavide Casenave - “Precipiten: para violonchelo y piano” (1993) in a concert recorded by Spanish National Radio
Foundation ‘Juan March’, Madrid