JANUARY - ON THIS #CELLO DAY

1 January - On this #cello day

** 1793 - birth of Johann Nepomuk Huttner (Czech) d.1839

cellist, theatre orchestra principal cello & chamber musician

** 1820 - birth of Arnaud Dancla (Bagneres-de- Bigorre, France

cellist & composer

** 1879 - birth of Rudolf Krasselt (Baden-Baden, Germany) d.1954

cellist, orchestra principal cello, conductor & opera house artistic director

** 1883 - Busoni finishes his Serenata in G minor, Op.34 for cello and piano

** 1884 - birth of Hugo Kreisler (Vienna) d.1929 {brother of Fritz}

cellist

** 1901 - first performance of Piatti - Danza Moresca, for cello and piano (Piatti’s last composition!)       
soloist - Alfredo Piatti (Italy)

** 1935 - Guilhermina Suggia was cello soloist in Joseph Haydn - Cello Concerto in D major, Hob. VIIb: 2, with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Winter Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1937 - birth of Carlos Prieto (Mexico)

cellist, teacher and writer

** 1942 - first performance of Ross Lee Finney - Cello Sonata No.1

(Pratt Memorial Music Hall, Mount Holyoke College, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA)

** 1955 - first performance of Morton Feldman - Structure II for two cellos; Extensions 5 for two cellos & Three Pieces for Piano 

(New York)

** 1970 - birth of Alexander Boyarsky (Kemerovo, Russia)

cellist & professor {based UK}

 2 January - On this #cello day

** 1857 - birth of Oskar Bruckner (Erfurt, Germany) d.1930

cellist, orchestra principal cello & teacher

** 1859 - birth of {Frederic Karl Edouard} Fritz Giese (The Hague, Holland) d.1896 {son of cellist Joseph Giese}

cellist, orchestra principal cello, king’s cellist {based Holland-USA}

** 1894 - Dvorak finishes writing his Sonatina in G Major, Op.100, usually played on violin & piano, but also existing at least since 1903 for cello & piano 

** 1948 - birth of Kerry Churchill Minnear (Shaftesbury, Dorset, England)

cellist/multi-instrumentalist

** 1989 - birth of Benedict Kloeckner (Germany)

cellist

3 January - On this #cello day

** 1843 - birth of Emil Hegar (Basel, Switzerland) d.1921

cellist

** 1873 - birth of William Bennidiet (or Bennidict) Ebann (Bremen, Germany) d.1945

cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician & professor {based USA}

** 1884 - first performance of George Whitefield Chadwick - Romanze for cello and piano

(Boston, USA)

** 1892 - first performance of Antonín Dvořák - Rondo for cello and piano, Op.94 

(Prague)

** 1916 - birth of Bernard Greenhouse (Newark, New Jersey, USA) d.2011

cellist, chamber music musician& professor

** 1949 - birth of Jeffrey Solow (Los Angeles, USA)

cellist, teacher & music writer

** 1950 - birth of Frank Sumner Dodge (Boston, Massachusetts, USA)

cellist and artistic director of chamber music ensembles

4 January - On this #cello day

** 1809 - birth of Louis Braille (Coupvray, France) d.1852
educator, inventor of reading/writing system ‘Braille’ & accomplished amateur cellist

** 1871 - according to Dvorak’s notes at the end of the cello part, he finished his Cello Sonata in F minor (B20) on this day

we are currently familiar only with a few thematic ideas of the work from Otakar Sourek’s biography of the composer (in 1951 Sourek held the complete cello part in his possession, but now lost)

** 1873 - birth of Otakar Berger (Moogrund on the Aupa, Czech) d.1997

cellist, chamber musician

** 1926 - birth of Paul Olevsky (Chicago, USA) d.2013

cellist, orchestra principal cello & teacher

** 1955 - birth of Wolfgang Tiefensee (Gera, Germany)

politician, former mayor of Leipzig, ex-Traffic and Transportation minister German government … and a cellist with advanced studies completed!

** 1964 - first performance of Aram Khachaturian - Concerto-Rhapsody for cello and orchestra 

soloist - Mstislav Rostropovich (Gorky, Russia)

** 1997 - first performance of Claudio Prieto Alonso - Caminando por la Aventura, for eight cellos (1994)

cellists: Octeto de Violoncellos Conjunto Ibérico (Centro Cultural, Middelburg, Holland)

5 January - On this #cello day

** 1863 - birth of Gilbert Raynolds Combs (Philadelphia, USA) d.1934)

pianist,organist, stringed instruments especially cello; composer, teacher, conductor, founder of the Combs Broad Street Conservatory of Music in Philadelphia

** 1885 - first performance of Piatti - Cello Sonata No.1       
Alfredo Piatti/cello & Madame Haas (Cadennabia, Italy)

** 1943 - first performance of Virgil Thomson - Four “portraits” for cello and piano

(Rochester, NY, USA)

** 1944 - birth of Karine Georgian (Moscow)

cellist

** 1948 - William Pleeth was cello soloist in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op 33, with London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Basil Cameron {Winter Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

** 1948 - birth of Miklós Perenyi (Budapest)

cellist

6 January - On this #cello day

** 1830 - birth of Isidore Deswert (Louvain, Belgium) 

cellist, orchestra principal cello & professor

** 1859 - birth of Anotoly Brandukov (Moscow) d.1930

cellist & professor

** 1908 - birth of Sviatoslav Knushevitsky or  Knushevitzky (Petrovsk, Saratov Oblast, Russia) d.1963

cellist & pedadgogue

** 1956 - birth of Alexander Baillie (Stockport, England)

cellist & professor

7 January - On this #cello day

** 1980 - first performance of G. Samuel - In Memorian DQ, for solo cello       
(soloist probably Zara Nelsova)

8 January - On this #cello day

** 1748 - birth of James Cervetto (London) d.1837

cellist, theatre and orchestra principal cello

** 1822 - birth of (Carlo) Alfredo Piatti (Bergamo, Italy) d.1901

cellist, composer & teacher

** 1850 - birth of Alexander Wierzbilowicz (St. Petersburg) d.1911

cellist, orchestra principal cello & professor 

** 1885 - Boris Hambourg (Voronez, Russia) d.1954

cellist, chamber musician & professor  

** 1887 - first US performance of Victor Herbert - Suite for Cello and Orchestra, Op.3

(New York)

** 1892 - birth of Hans Kindler (Rotterdam, Holland) d.1949

cellist, orchestra principal cello & conductor {based USA}  

** 1892 - first performance of Dvorak’s own arrangement of his Slavonic Dance No.8 (Op.46) for cello and piano

Hans Wihan/cello with the composer at the piano (Chrudim, Eastern Bohemia, now Czech Republic)

** 1912 - birth of Rudolf Escher (De Koog, Holland) d.1980

composer & cellist

** 1936 - birth of Eldee Young (Chicago, IL, USA) d.2007

jazz bassist, cellist, composer & bandleader

** 1942 - birth of Toby Saks (New York City) d.2013

cellist, orchestra cellist &founder of the Seattle Chamber Music Society

** 1953 - first performance of Martinu - Cello Sonata No.3      
George Ricci/cello and Earl Wild/piano (Washhington DC, USA)

** 1972 - premiere of Shostakovich - Symphony No.15, Op.141 {the second movement features an important orchestral principal cello line}
All-Union Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, conducyed by the composer’s son Maxim Shostakovich (Moscow)

** 1996 - first performance of Hallgrimsson - Cello Concerto      
soloist - William Conway with Scottish Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Ivor Bolton (BBC Lunchtime concert, London) 

9 January - On this #cello day

** 1651 - birth of Petronio Franceschini (Bologna, Italy) d.1680

cellist & composer

** 1756 - birth of Claude-François-Marie Rigoley, comte d'Ogny (Dijon, France) d.1790

French nobleman, military officer, patron of the arts, Freemason, and founder of the Concert de la Loge Olympique (where he was a third-desk cellist!)

** 1856 - birth of Stevan Mokranjac {Stojanović} (Negotin, Principality of Serbia) d.1914

cellist, educator and composer of choral music

** 1900 - birth of Rudolf Hindemith {Hans Lofer} (Frankfurt, Germany) d.1974
composer, conductor & cellist

** 1921 - birth of Seymour Barab (Chocago, Illinois, USA) d.2014

composer, cellist, organist and pianist

10 January - On this #cello day

** 1760 - birth of Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg (Sachsenflur, Lauda-Königshofen, Germany) d.1802
cellist, conductor & composer

** 1825 - birth of Wulf Christian Julius Fries (Duchy of Holstein)
cellist, orchestra principal cello {based Norway-USA}

** 1948 - birth of Mischa Maisky (Riga, Latvia)
cellist

** 1967 - first performance of Karen Surenovich Khachaturian - Cello Sonata 

(Moscow)

** 1978 - first performance of Lejaren Hiller - Sonata for cello and piano 

(Rome)

11 January - On this #cello day

** 1755 - birth of Frederick Rousseau (France)

cellist, opera orchestra cello, composer and founder of music school

** 1919 - first performance of Delius - Cello Sonata       
Beatrice Harrison/cello and  ?/piano (London)

** 1937 - first British performance of Alan Bush - Concert Piece, Op.17

Norina Semino/cello and composer at piano (Mercury Theatre, London)

** 1983 - first performance of Penderecki - Cello Concerto No.2     
soloist Mstislav Rostropovich (Berlin)

12 January - On this #cello day

** 1882 - first performance of Arthur Foote - Drei Stücke für Pianoforte und Violoncell Op.1

composer at piano - (Boston, USA)

** 1904 - official United Stated ‘soloist’ debut of Pau {Pablo}

Haydn - Cello Concerto in D Major, with American Symphony Orchestra, at New York’s New Lyceum Theatre

** 1916 - birth of William Pleeth (London) d.1999

cellist & professor

13 January - On this #cello day

** 1824 - birth of Ignacy Marceli Komorowski (Poland) d.1857
cellist, theatre orxchestra & song composer

** 1923 - birth of Daniil Shafran (St. Petersburg, Russia) d.1997
cellist

** 1946 - birth of Bogdan Trochanowski {also known as Dan Savicha} (Warsaw) d.2009

cellist, orchestra principal cello, composer and artistic adviser at the Center for Contemporary Music {based Venezuela}

14 January - On this #cello day

** 1811 - birth of Karl Graedener (Rostock, Germany) d.1883

composer, conductor, cellist & teacher {father of Hermann Graedener] 

** 1932 - Gregor Piatigorsky gave a performance in the US White House, before President Herbert Hoover 

** 1982 - first performance of Walker - Cello Concerto  
soloist Lorne Munroe, with New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zubin Mehta

15 January - On this #cello day

** 1811 - birth of Pierre Alexandre François Chevillard (Antwerp, Belgium) d.1877
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician, professor & composer

** 1887 - first performance of Neruda - Cello Concerto No.2

soloist - Davidov? (Vienna)

** 1904 - private recital of Pau {Pablo} Casals invited to the White House by President Theodore Roosevelt

** 1941 - Olivier Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps [Quartet for the End of Time] for clarinet, violin, cello and piano premiered in Stalag VIII-A prison camp in Zgorzelec, Poland

** 1959 - birth of David Johnstone (Reading, England)
cellist, orchestra principal cello, composer, arranger

** 1965 - first performance of Kabalevsky - Cello Concerto No.2 in C minor     
soloist Daniel Shafran, with Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by composer

** 1985 - birth of Fabrice Millischer (Toulouse, France)
trombonist, sackbutist & cellist, orchestra principal trombone & professor

 16 January - On this #cello day

** 1903 - the New York Times give a rave review to cello soloist Alwin Schroeder, performing the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto in A minor in the Carnegie Hall (phrases such as “supreme mastery”) whilst being unimpressed by the work mitself!

** 1936 - first performance of Bridge - Oration {‘concierto elegaico’} for Cello and Orchestra (1929-30)    
(soloist Florence Hooton, BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by composer)

** 1944 - birth of Gunnar Kvaran (Seltjarnarnes nr. Reykjavík, Iceland)

cellist, chamber musician & professor

** 1976 - first performance of Gian Carlo Menotti - Fantasia for cello and orchestra

(RAI radio, Turin, Italy)

** 1976 - birth of Jakob Kullberg (Aarhus, Denmark)

cellist

** 1982 - first performance of Werner Egk - Canzone for cello and orchestra

conducted by the composer (Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg, Austria)

** 1983 - birth of Benyamin Sönmez (Bremen, Germany) d.2011
cellist

17 January - On this #cello day

** 1817 - birth of Wilhelm Lotze (Berlin) d.1890

cellist, court cellist & chamber musician

** 1876 - birth of (Joseph Marcel) Rodolphe Plamondon (Montreal) d.1940
singer (tenor) and also professional cellist

** 1911 - first performance of Reger - Cello Sonata No.4 in A minor, Op.116

(Hamburg, Germany)

** 1947 - birth of Thomas Igloi (Budapest) d.1976
cellist, chamber musician

** 1959 - birth of Salome Kammer (Nidda, Hesse, Germany)

actress, singer and cellist

18 January - On this #cello day

** 1762 - birth of Camillo Barni (Como, Italy)
cellist, orchestra first cello & composer

** 1795 - birth of Joseph Merk (Vienna) d.1852
cellist, teacher& composer

** 1868 - birth of Paul Friedrich Theodore Miersch (Dresden, Germany) d.1956

composer, cellist, orchestra principal cello {based U.S.A.}

** 1873 - first performance of Piatti - Cello Concerto No.2 in D minor, Op.26 
soloist - Alfredo Piatti, conducted by August Manns (London - Crystal Palace Concerts)   

** 1974 - first performance of Alberto Ginastera - Serenata for baritone, cello and nine instruments

(New York)

** 1984 - first performance of Wolfgang Rihm - Erster Doppelgesang for viola, cello and orchestra

(Baden-Baden, Germany)

** 1991 - birth of Julian Schwarz (Seattle, Washington, USA)
cellist & teacher

** 1997 - first performance of Arthur Butterworth - Cello Concerto Op.98

(Huddersfield, England)

19 January - On this #cello day

** 1870 - birth of Jean-Baptiste [Alphonse] Dubois Ghent, Belgium) d. 1938 

cellist, orchestra principal cello, composer & teacher

** 1873 - first performance of Saint-Saens - Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor with orchestra 
soloist - Auguste Tolbeque  (Paris Conservatoire orchestral concert)

** 1895 - birth of Otto Van Koppenhagen (Arnhem, Holland) d.1978

cellist & teacher

** 1925 - birth of Valentin Berlinsky (Irkutsk, Siberia, Russia) d.2008

cellist, chamber musician

** 1973 - birth of Antero Manninen (Finland) 

classical and ‘modern’ cellist (Apocalyptica)

20 January - On this #cello day

** 1783 - birth of Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer (Haselrich, Germany) d.1860

cellist, composer and pedagogue

** 1920 first performance of Bridge - Morning Song for cello and piano

(Royal College of Music, London)

** 1977 first performance of Berio - Il ritorno degli snovidenia, for cello and 30 instruments

(Basle, Switerland)

21 January - On this #cello day

** 1766 - birth of Vincent Houška {Hauschka} (Mies, Bohemia) d.1840

cellist, mandolin player & composer  

** 1786 - Luigi Boccherini is appointed chamber composer to Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia.

** 1892 - birth of Ernst Cohn (Cologne, Germany) 

cellist, trombonist & banjo (light music) {Nazi holocaust victim}

** 1918 - birth of Antonio Janigro (Mila, Italy) d.1989

cellist & conductor

** 1949 first performance of Rawsthorne - Cello Sonata in C Major

Anthony Pini/cello and Wilfred Parry/piano (Wigmore Hall, London)

22 January - On this #cello day

** 1918 - Stanford completed on this day his “Irish Concertino” for solo violin, solo cello and orchestra

** 1939 - birth of Alan Silva {aka Alan Treadwell da Silva} (Bermuda)

jazz bassist, cellist, keyboard player & bandleader

23 January - On this #cello day

** 1864 - concerto debut of David Popper (soloist in Volkmann - Cello Concerto & Servais - Cello Concerto)

concert conducted by Hans von Bülow (Berlin)

** 1916 - birth of Gabor Rejto (Budapest) d.1987

cellist, chamber musician & teacher

** 1922 - first performance of Pujol Pons - Una maravillosa fábula, for cello and piano

Gaspar Cassadó/cello and Blai Net/piano (Asociación de Amigos de la Música, Barcelona)

** 1947 - first performance of Alexander Mosolov - Concerto for cello and orchestra

(Moscow)

** 1982 - Release date (premiere screened in U.S.A.) of the film “Gauche the Cellist” (Sero hiki no Gôshu)
directed by Isao Takahata, starring Hideki Sasaki, Fuyumi Shiraishi, Masashi Amenomori 

Goshu, originally a 1934 short story by Japan’s Miyazawa Kenji, featuring a professional cellist. During the rehearsal for the recitals, his coach becomes angry with him because he is not playing well enough. Goshu seems to feel nothing for the music. Luckily, he finds some very special friends: a cat will help him understand the feeling of the music, the importance of practicing will be shown by a cuckoo, rhythm by a badger, and tenderness by a little mouse. Thanks to them, Goshu will learn the true meaning of music, to finally become a fantastic performer.

24 January - On this #cello day

** 1863 - birth of Ferdinand Hellmesberger (Vienna) d.1940

cellist, conductor and teacher {son of Joseph Hellmesberger, Sr., and brother of Joseph Hellmesberger, Jr.}

** 1864 - first performance of Volkmann - Cello Concerto in A minor, Op.33     
soloist David Popper, conducted by Hans Von Bülow (Berlin)

** 1924 - cellist Jean Gerardy played a concert in the US White House, before President Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge

25 January - On this #cello day

** 1946 - first performance of Richard Strauss - Metamorphosen for ten violins, five violas, five cellos and three basses

(Zurich, Switzerland)

** 1956 - birth of Joan Jeanrenaud {née Dutcher} (Memphis, TN, USA)

cellist, session player, Kronos Quartet

** 1957 - first performance of Walton - Cello Concerto    
soloist Gregor Piatigorsky with Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Charles Munch (Boston, USA)

26 January - On this #cello day

** 1936 - Bloch finishes writing his “Voice in the Dessert” (Voix dans le desert) in its orchestral version (Châtel, Haute Savoie, France) 

** 1945 - birth of Jacqueline Du Pre (Oxford, England) d.1987

cellist

** 1958 - birth of Frédéric Lodéon (Paris)

cellist, conductor and radio personality

** 1958 - birth of Christophe Coin (Caen, France)

cellist, viola da gamba, conductor

** 1986 - first performance of William Bolcom - Fantasia concertante  for viola, cello and orchestra

(Vienna)

** 1990 - first performance of Charles Villiers Stanford - Ballata and Ballabile Op.160 for cello and orchestra

(Belfast, Northern Ireland)

** 1993 - first performance of Roger C. Vogel - Fantasy, for eight cellos
cellists: ?

27 January - On this #cello day

** 1815 - birth of Christian Kellerman (Randers, Denmark) d.1866

cellist, orchestra principal cello & occasional composer

** 1869 - birth of Johannes Smith (Arnheim, Holland) 

cellist, concert artist

** 1897 - birth of Sergei Zakharovich Aslamazyan {Aslamazian} (Armenia) d.1978

cellist & composer 

** 1979 - birth of Rosamund {Mary Ellen} Pike (Hammersmith, London)
actress and former cellist

28 January - On this #cello day

** 1843 - birth of Ferdinand Bockmann (Hamburg, Germany) d.1913

cellist & editor of old cello music

** 1907 - birth of Lev Ginsburg (Mogilev, Belarus) d.1981

cellist, orchestra principal cello, teacher, musicologist, historian & author  

** 1909 - birth of Raya Garbousova (Russia) d.1997

cellist & teacher

29 January - On this #cello day

** 1839 - birth of Hippolyte {François} Rabaud (France) d.1900

cellist & professor

** 1879 - Robert Hausmann performed as soloist in the Schumann Cello Concerto for the first time in his life in Leipzig on January 29, 1879

** 1898 - birth of Fernand Quinet (Belgium)

cellist, composer and conductor

30 January - On this #cello day

** 1829 - Mendelssohn completes his ‘Variations Concertantes’, Op.17

** 1927 - birth of Aleksander Bronisław Ciechański (Poznań, Poland) d.2012

cellist , member of the Warsaw Quintet.

** 1944 - birth of Lynn {Morris} Harrell (Manhattan, New York)

cellist, teacher

31 January - On this #cello day

** 1923 - first performance of Delius - Cello Concerto (1920-21)     
soloist Barjansky, conducted by Ferdinand Lowe (Vienna)

** 1935 - first performance of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco - Cello concerto 

(New York)

** 1965 - birth of Ofra Harnoy (Hadera, Israel)

cellist {based Canada}

** 1967 - birth of Shauna Rolston (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada)

cellist, contemporary music specialist & music educator

** 1985 - birth of Patrick Laird (USA)

cellist, popular music (Break of Reality)

 155 entries for month of January - On this #cello day

{as at April 2019}

ON THIS (CELLO) DAY

This is a feature on offer from Johnstone-Music which is virtually unique in the cello world… It is ongoing and suggestions are welcome - write to us with ideas!

Guidelines:

--   cellists can qualify from any period, but we do not include any event (birth, first performance etc.) after the year 1999, in order to maintain a certain historical perspective!
-   we include births but NOT deaths…..

--   we are especially interested in major professional influences - cellists who are/were orchestral principal cellists, artists with highly publicized and sought after soloist careers, well-established and respected chamber music artists, and cello professors in some of the major musical educational centres recognized around the world.

--   non-classical cellists can be included, if truly having a proven concert experience and fame in other genres.

From these guidelines we may not be able to use every suggestion, but thank you very much in advance for any ideas!!!

All entries are given in good faith and are thoroughly checked, but Johnstone-Music cannot accept responsibility for small inaccuracies, so please use them at your discretion …

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