MARCH - ON THIS #CELLO DAY

1 March - On this #cello day

** 1832 - birth of Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Grützmacher (Dessau, Anhalt, Germany) d.1903

cellist, composer, arranger & teacher  

** 1875 - first performance of Monasterio - Romanza for cello (written 1874)
Víctor Mirecki Larramat/cello and ?/piano (Madrid)

** 1899 - birth of Marion Cumbo (New York) d.1990

cellist, chamber musician & teacher

** 1935 - Beatrice Harrison returned to the White House, offering works by Roger Quilter, Frederick Delius, Jean Baptiste Senaillé, Édouard Lalo, and Herbert Hughes

** 1950 - first performance of Prokofiev - Cello Sonata in C Major, Op.119     

Mstislav Rostropovich/cello and S. Richter/piano (Moscow, Small Hall of Moscow Conservatory)

** 1995 - release date of the grand recording project “12 Hommages à Paul Sacher pour Violoncelle” by cellists Thomas Demenga and Patrick Demenga (a double CD set) - understood to be the first complete recording ever of these 12 works dedicated to the Swiss counductor, contemporary music enthusiast and music organizer Paul Sacher on the occasion of his 70th birthday in 1976.

** 1999 - first performances of Johnstone - Pilgrim’s Rest; Johnstone - Danxas de Galicia; Johnstone - Lament; and Johnstone - The Prisonner - all these for solo cello

soloist - David Johnstone (“O Camiño de Santiago; A Música do milenio”, Aula de Cultura de Caixa Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain)

2 March - On this #cello day

** 1861 - birth of Anton Hegner (Denmark) d.1915

cellist & composer  {based Denmark-USA}

** 1967 - Joan Dickson was cello soloist in a Reid Orchestral Concert - she performed Kenneth Leighton - Cello Concerto with The Reid Orchestra, conducted by Sidney Newman

** 1899 - birth of Harald Søltoft Agersnap (Denmark) d.1982

composer, conductor, cellist, and pianist

3 March - On this #cello day

** 1898 - birth of Kazimierz Blaschke (Stryj,Poland)

cellist, conductor of chamber orchestras and choirs, educator

** 1926 - first performance of Vierne - Cello Sonata, Op.27

Fernand Pollain/cello and Maguerite Long/piano (rue Rochechouart, Paris)

** 1927 - birth of Martin Lovett (Stoke Newington, North London) d.2020 {son of cellist Sam Lovett}

 cellist, chamber musician

** 1934 - birth of Jimmy Garrison (Miami, FL, USA) d.1976

jazz bassist & cellist

** 1941 - birth of David Darling (Elkhart, Indiana, USA)

cellist, pop, new-age, multi-string cellos

** 1951 - first performance of Murrill - Cello Concerto No.2    

soloist - Vera Canning with BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Basil Cameron (Henry Wood Birthday Promenade Concert)

** 1967 - Homage to Henry Purcell / Inaugural concert to mark the opening of the Purcell Room, presented by the Greater London Council by arrangement with the Apollo Society and given by April Cantelo and Robert Tear (vocals), Raymond Leppard (harpsichord) and Bernard Richards (cello)

** 1976 - birth of Karolina Jaroszewska {Jaroszewska-Rajewska} (Poznań, Poland)

cellist

4 March - On this #cello day

** 1775 - birth of Robert Lindley (Rotherham, England) d.1855

cellist / orchestral principal cello, professor

** 1841 - birth of Friedrich Hilpert (Nuremburg, Germany) d.1896

cellist, court ‘chamber virtuoso’ & music arranger

** 1886 - birth of Paul Bazelaire (Sedan, France) d.1958

cellist, arranger and pedagogue

** 1922 - Ruth Waddell was solo cellist, along with Camillo Ritter (violin) and M. Grierson (piano), in Beethoven - Triple Concerto in C Major, Op.56, with The Reid Orchestra conducted by Donald Francis Tovey, at the Usher Hall (Edinburgh).

** 1936 - first performance of Enescu - Cello Sonata No.2 in G minor  

Diran Alexanian/cello with composer at piano

** 1946 - birth of Ralph Kirshbaum (Denton, Texas, USA)

cellist

** 1997 - first performance of Erkki-Sven Tüür - Cello Concerto 

(Lausanne, Switzerland)

5 March - On this #cello day

** 1765 - birth of Joseph Muntzberger {Muntz-Berger} (Brussels) d.1844

cellist (opera) & professor {based Paris}

** 1809 - first performance of Beethoven - Cello Sonata No.3 in A Major, Op.69

(Vienna)

** 1887 - birth of Heitor Villa-Lobos (Rio de Janeiro, Brasil) d.1959

composer, conductor & cellist

** 1912 - birth of Frank Miller (Baltimore, Maryland, USA) d.1986

cellist, orchestral principal cello & conductor

** 1933 - first {public} performance of Barber - Cello Sonata, Op.6

Orlando Cole/cello and composer at piano (League of Composers concert, New York)

** 1934 - first performance of Arnold Bax - Cello Concerto        

soloist - Gaspar Cassadó with London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Hamilton Harty (London - Queen’s Hall)

** 1967 - first performance of Lukas Foss - Cello Concerto

(Carnegie Hall, New York, USA)

** 1977 - first performance of Ross Lee Finney - the first movement of the Narrative in Two Movements, for cello and 14 instruments

(Urbana, Illinois, USA)

** 1987 - birth of Marie-Elisabeth Hecker (Zwickau, Germany)

cellist

** 1999 - Release date (premiere screened in U.S.A.) of the film “Cruel Intentions”
directed by Roger Cumble, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon 

Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her half-brother Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe), two vicious step-siblings of an elite Manhattan prep school make a wager. It is about Sebastian, an accomplished Don Juan, sleeping with Annette (Reese Witherspoon), a young woman who wants to remain a virgin until her marriage. If Sebastian loses, Kathryn will keep his Jaguar, but if he wins ... he will have her. Sebastian starts working on Annette with his strategies, even with the help of his half-sister. The latter, meanwhile, as a first step encourages Cecile to establish a relationship with Ronald, her cello teacher, but the latter is too embarrassed to even be able to give her a kiss. 

6 March - On this #cello day

** 1660 - birth of Francesco II d'Este {Duke of Modena and Reggio} (Modena, Italy) d.1694

Aristocracy - supporter of ‘the cello’

** 1885 - birth of {Joseph Charles} Rosario Bourdon (Longueuil, Canada) d.1961

cellist, violinist, conductor, arranger & composer

** 1902 - birth of Joyce Sands, born Feldtmann (Clairmont, Western Australia) d.1984

cellist, chamber musician

** 1908 - first performance of Bridge - Two Pieces for cello and piano (Elégie & Scherzo)

(Kensington Town Hall, London)

** 1924 - first performance of Koechlin - Cello Sonata, Op.66 (1917)

M.L.Laggé/cello and Marius-François Gaillard/piano (Concert SMI, Salle des Agriculteurs, Paris)

** 1925 - birth of Eleonore Schoenfeld (Maribor, Slovenia) d.2007

cellist

** 1949 - a fateful day for Gaspar Cassadó….the Casals disciple Diran Alexanian wrote a letter to the New York Times, published on 6th March, 1949, protesting against Cassadó's positive concert reviews reception in the press. Upon learning of Cassadó's appearance in New York, Alexanian had written a letter to Casals. Alexanian included Casals' reply in his letter to the newspaper, and shadows of doubt were placed on Cassadó’s loyalties during World War II when the artist was permanently living in Italy. Much damage was done to his North American career and recording contracts cancelled. Casals did not come to his aid, as did several other important musicians during the 1950s.

** 1969 - first performance of John Gardner - Partita for Solo Cello, Op.98 

(Cardiff, Wales)

7 March - On this #cello day

** 1919 - birth of George Neikrug (New York)

cellist & professor

** 1921 - birth of Mirko Dorner (Budapest) d.2004

cellist, orchestra principal cello,composer and painter {based Germany}

** 1946 - birth of {Sir} Clive Gillinson (Bangalore, India)

cellist,finance director & board of directors of symphony orchestras, executive and artistic director of major concert halls {based Great Britain}

** 1954 - An interesting recital given by Gaspar Cassadó with Helmuth Barth, piano
Programme: Marcello - Sonata No. 4 in a minor // Couperin - Pastorale // Couperin -I Cherubini // Beethoven - "Magic Flute" variations [which set is unclear] // Strauss - Sonata // Dvorak - Indian Lament // Chopin - Minute Waltz // Fauré - Aprés une Rêve // Cassadó - Requiebros

** 1986 - birth of Jan Stokłosa (Krakow, Poland)

composer, arranger, cellist, keyboardist & conductor

8 March - On this #cello day

** 1901 - Was the following actually planned, or an incredible co-incidence?! The initial Boston performances of the Eugen d’Albert Cello concerto in C Major with Alwin Schroeder as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra took place on the very same dates [8 and 9 March] that the work received in its first New York hearings with the dedicatee Hugo Becker as soloist at the Carnegie Hall (Philharmonic Society). Thus BOTH Becker and Schroeder can be credited with giving the US premiere of the work!

** 1923 - first performance of Bax - Sonatina in D minor for cello and piano

Thelma Reiss/cello and Harriet Cohen/piano (Wigmore Hall, London)

** 1932 - birth of Erling Blöndal Bengtsson (Copenhagen) d.2013

cellist, recording artist & professor

** 1945 - birth of Christine Walevska (Los Angeles, USA)

cellist and teacher

** 1972 - first performance of Krzysztof Penderecki - Cello Concerto No.1

(Baltimore, USA)

** 1997 - first performance of Michael Nyman - Double Concerto for Saxophone, Cello and Orchestra

(London)

9 March - On this #cello day

** 1742 - birth of Jean-Baptiste Janson (Valenciennes, France) d.1803 {brother of cellist Louis-Auguste-Joseph)

cellist & composer

** 1742 - birth of Carl Monhaupt (Hamburg, Germany)

cellist, orchestra principal cello

** 1886 - first performance of Saint-Saens - Carnival of the Animals {including for cello ‘The Swan’} (Paris)

** 1891 - first performance of David Popper - Cello Concerto No.3 in G Major, Op.59

soloist - David Popper with Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Karl Goldmark (Budapest)

** 1894 - first performance of Herbert - Cello Concerto No.2, Op.30

soloist - the composer (New York)

** 1904 - Pablo Casals official New York debut concerto

Strauss - Don Quixote (Carnegie Hall, New York)

** 1939 - birth of Rohan de Saram (Sheffield, England)

cellist

** 1993 - first performance of Ennio Morricone - Second Concerto for flute, cello and orchestra 

(Turin, Italy)

10 March - On this #cello day

** 1794 - birth of Olive-Charlier Vaslin (Montreuil-Bellay, France) d.1889

cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician & professor

** 1903 - a nice review on today’s date for Robert Hausmann, that appeared in the ‘Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser’:
“Beethoven’s sonata in A, for piano and ’cello, is one of the finest works extant for that particular combination, and both Mr. Mayer and Mr. Robert Hausmann, who is a professor of the ’cello at Berlin, gave to the performance a character which only mutual sympathy and understanding can supply. In tone and style, Mr. Hausmann’s playing resembles Mr. Fuchs’s, and he may well be content with the comparison. … The two performers again distinguished themselves [in Schumann’s Five Pieces in Folk Style], the balance of tone being correctly maintained, while the precision with which the rapid passages were rendered stood out conspicuously. … In Brahms’s sonata in F, op. 99, the two executants had no easy task, but to players of their calibre this was not a matter of concern.”

** 1951 - birth of Lluis Claret (Andorra la Vella, Andorra)

cellist

** 1971 - birth of Igor Zubkovsky (born Russia)

cellist {based U.S.A.}

11 March - On this #cello day

** 1753 - birth of Pierre-François Levasseur {‘the older’} (Abbeville, France) d. c1815-1820 {not related to Jean-Henri Levasseur }

cellist, theatre/opera orchestra

** 1881 - birth of Ladislav Zelenka (Modřany, Czech) d.1957

cellist, chamber musician & teacher

** 1916 - a New Reid Concert took place on today’s date at the Freemasons' Hall (Edinburgh). The names of the performers were Miss Helen Anderton - singer, Mr Horace Fellowes - violin, Miss Emily Buchanan - viola and Mrs Alexander Maitland - continuo. However,what specially interests the cello world is that the list was completed by Rodolphe Soiron - cello, and he was to give a performance of Debussy - Sonata for violoncello and pianoforte - surely one of the FIRST renditions in all history, and although there is no obvious proof this may well have been a British (or at a minimum Scottish!) premiere. The other composers on the programme were Donald Tovey, Brahms and 3 Scarlatti sonatas (these last probably for the first time too in public!)

** 1929 - birth of Kermit Moore (Akron. Phio, USA) d.2013

cellist, conductor, composer, teacher, and mentor

** 1967 - birth of Jean-Guihen Queyras (Montreal, Quebec)

cellist

** 1979 - first performance of Jan Duchaň - Cello Concerto

soloist -  Michaela Fukačová, with the Moravský komorní orchestr, conducted by Zbynek Mrkos (Besedni dum, Brno city, Czech Republic)

** 1979 - first performance of Malcolm Forsyth - Eight Duets for Young Cellists (1974)

cellists: Amanda Forsyth and Shauna Rolston (University of Alberta, Canada)

** 1988 - first performance of William Bolcom - Capriccio for cello and piano

(Library of Congress, Washington)

** 1998 - Suzana Stefanović performed the Richard Strauss - Romanze at the Fundación Juan March in Madrid - quite possibly a Spanish premiere of the work, for it was left for lost for many decades and only published as late as 1978. Originally conceived for cello and orchestra, she was accompanied on this occasion by the pianist Agustin Serrano

12 March - On this #cello day

** 1849 - birth of Nicasio Jiménez (Trinidad, Cuba) d.1891

cellist, orchestra musician, chamber musician & teacher & occasional violinist

** 1892 - first performance of Saint-Saens - Chant Saphique, Op.91 for cello and piano 

?/cello (Paris)

** 1900 - first performance of Jean Sibelius - Malinconia op.20 for cello and piano

(Helsinki)

** 1917 - first performance of Hindemith - 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op.8

(Kleiner Saalbau, Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany)

** 1964 - first performance of Britten - Symphony for Cello and Orchestra  

soloist - Mstislav Rostropovich, with Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the composer (Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire - recorded by Soviet radio )

13 March - On this #cello day

** 1930 - first performance of Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on Sussex Folk Tunes   

soloist Pablo Casals with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by John Barbirolli (London)

** 1947 - birth of Beat Richner (Zürich, Switzerland)

Swiss physician (founder of children's hospitals in Cambodia) and cellist

** 1988 - first performance of Vivian Fine - Sonata for Violoncello and Piano 

(New York)

** 1995 - first performance of Tan Dun - Yi1: Intercourse of Fire and Water, for Cello and Orchestra  

soloist Anssi Kartunen, with Finnish Radio Orchestra, conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste (Helsinki)

** 1884 - first performance of slow movement to Stanford - Cello Concerto

soloist - Robert Hausmann (CUMS concert, UK)

14 March - On this #cello day

** 1907 - first performance of Widor - Cello Sonata in A Major, Op.80  

(Jules Loeb/cello and composer at piano, Paris)  

** 1909 - first performance of Enescu - Sinfonia Concertante, Op.8 (1901)  

soloist - Joseph Salmon, Concerts Lamourreux Orchestra, conducted by composer (Paris)   

15 March - On this #cello day

** 1838 - birth of Carl Davidov (Goldingen, Latvia) d.1889

cellist and composer

** 1890 - a notable historical concert on this day: an orchestral concert featuring soloists Miss Alice Whitacre (vocal), Joseph Joachim (violin) and Ernest Gillet (cello). The programme included the ‘new’ Brahms Double Concerto for Violin and Violoncello (Crystal Palace , London)

** 1906 - 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 was an ‘All Brahms’ concert and included: Quartet No.3 in Bb major, Op.67, Quintet No.1 in F major, Op.88, and the Sextet No.1 in Bb major, Op.18 (Sing-Akademie, Berlin)

 ** 1918 - Edward Elgar undergoes a tonsillectomy in London - the operation is a success but recovery was to be slow - few people know but while hospitalized, Elgar was to write down the opening theme of his Cello Concerto!

** 1933 - birth of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Brooklyn, New York) d.2020
a very important American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States over 25 years; and an adolescent cellist with happy memories! She said in an interview:
“I took piano lessons from age eight to age sixteen, then for a year at Cornell University, 1952, where I also took Music 101 and 102 - the basic music course. I took cello lessons from 1946 to 1947, then played cello - not well - in my high-school orchestra from 1947 to 1950 - among the best experiences in my growing-up years.”

** 1957 - first performance of Crumb - Solo Cello Sonata       

soloist Camilla Doppman (USA - Ann Arbor, Michigan)

** 1978 - cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich and his wife, soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, have their Soviet citizenship revoked

16 March - On this #cello day

** 1852 - first performance of William Sterndale Bennett - Sonata Duo for cello and piano, Op.32

(London)

** 1885 - first performance of Franz Liszt - Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth, for piano and violin or cello

(Budapest)

** 1891 - birth of Dezyderiusz Danczowski (Battonya, Poland) d.1950

cellist, orchestra principal cello and music educator

** 1901 - the date of the first ever cellist to make a ‘commercial’ recording; and the cellist was Alex Heindl

** 1982 - first performance of William Walton - Passacaglia for solo cello

(London)

17 March - On this #cello day

** 1817 - birth of Julius Stahlknecht  (Posen, Germany)  

cellist, chamber musician & composer

** 1817 - birth of Ferdinand Buchler (Darmstadt, Germany) d.1842

cellist, orchestra principal cello & chamber musician

** 1874 - first joint performance of cellist David Popper and {first wife} Sophie Menter - piano

(Bösendorfersaal, Vienna)

** 1883 - first performance of David Popper - Cello Concerto No.2 in E minor, Op.24

soloist - David Popper, conducted by Anton Rubinstein (St. Petersburg, Russia)

** 1932 - a Reid Historical Concert at Edinburgh University featured the Edinburgh String Quartet (W. Watt Jupp, J. M. Begbie, Miss Margaret Ludwig, and J. Dickson) with guests John Fairbairn - viola and Ruth Waddell - 'cello. The performance included D. F. Tovey - Sonata for two cellos

** 1941 - first performance of Norman Dello Joio - Sonata for cello and piano

?/cellist with composer at piano (the MacDowell Club, New York)

** 1945 - first performance of Myaskovsky - Cello Concerto No.1

soloist Knushevitsky (in Moscow)

** 1981 - first performance of Rodrigo ‘Como una fantasia’ for solo cello

soloist - Carlos Prieto (Mexico City)

18 March - On this #cello day

** 1832 - birth of Jules-Joseph} Ernest Vieuxtemps (Brussels) d.1896

cellist, orchestra & opera principal cello {based England}

** 1834 - birth of Otto Kitzler (Germany) d.1915

cellist, conductor and orchestration teacher (of Bruckner!) {based in Austria}

** 1870 - Friedrich Grützmacher performed as soloist in the Schumann Cello Concerto probably for the first time in his life at a Frankfurt Museum Concert on March 18, 1870

** 1904 - Richard Strauss accompanied cellist Leo Schulz, in a performance of his Cello Sonata in F Major, Op.6

(New York)

** 1954 - birth of Jan Diesselhorst (Marburg, Germany) d.2009
cellist, orchestra musician (Berlin Philharmonic), chamber musician and orchestral academy teacher

** 1981 - birth of Alberto Martos Lozano (Granada, Spain)

cellist and composer

19 March - On this #cello day

** 1740 - birth of Joseph F. Weigl (Bavaria) d.1820

cellist

** 1761 - Luigi Boccherini, eighteen years old, gives a concert entirely programming music by himself

(Florence, Italy)

** 1847 - birth of Constantin Dimitrescu (Blejoi, Rumania) d.1928

composer, teacher & cellist

** 1868 - birth of Luigi Stefano Giarda (Viña del Mar, Chile) d.1952

cellist, conductor, composer & teacher

** 1894 - birth of Jasper Joseph Inman Kane (San Diego, USA) d.1975

cellist, film director, film producer, film editor and screenwriter, director of Western films

** 1896 - first performance of Dvorak Cello Concerto in B minor

soloist Leo Stern (London)

** 1942 - first performance of Bohuslav Martinu - Cello Sonata no.2 

(New York)

** 1944 - birth of Myung-Wha Chung (Seoul, South Korea)
cellist

** 1991 - birth of Pablo Ferrandez (Madrid)

cellist

20 March - On this #cello day

** 1768 - Luigi Boccherini makes his official Parisian debut

(Salle des Suisses in the Palais des Tuileries)

** 1914 - birth of Martin Bochmann (Großdeuben, nr. Leipzig, Germany) d.1983

cellist, orchestra principal cello, professor {later based England} - father of composer/cellist Christopher and violinist Michael

** 1920 - Arthur Williams was solo cellist, with violinist Jelly D'Aranyi in Brahms - Double Concerto for violin and violoncello, Op. 102, with The Reid Orchestra conducted by Professor Donald Francis Tovey, at the McEwan Hall (Edinburgh). Also in the programme were works of Dvorak, Beethoven and Mozart.

** 1932 - a ‘Professor Tovey's Sunday Concert’ at Edinburgh University featured Guilhermina Suggia - cello and D.F. Tovey - piano. They performed a mammoth all-Beethoven programme consisting of: Sonata in G minor, Op.5, No.2, Sonata in C Major, Op.102, No.1, Sonata in D Major, Op.102, No.2, and Sonata in A Major, Op.69

** 1959 - Martinu finishes (in the space of one week) his ‘Variations on a Slovak folk melody’, for cello and piano

21 March - On this #cello day

** 1881 - birth of {Peter} Herman Sandby (Holbaek, Denmark) d.1965

cellist, orchestral principal cello

** 1914 - birth of Paul Tortelier (Paris) d.1990

cellist, orchestral principal cello, professor & composer

** 1926 - the cellist Bernard Beers, with Professor D. F. Tovey - piano, gave a recital at Synod Hall (Edinburgh), performing J.S. Bach - Sonata in G minor, J. Roentgen - Sonata in B minor, Op.56, a Cello sonata (not specified) by Boccherini, and Brahms - Sonata in F major, Op.99

22 March - On this #cello day

** 1972 - first performance of Wolfgang Rihm - Grat for cello

(Darmstadt, Germany)

** 1995 - first performance of Gavin Bryars - The South Downs for cello and piano

(Bath, England)

23 March - On this #cello day

** 1928 - Beatrice Harrison records the cello concerto of Elgar - a new recording was made by the electric process on 23rd March 1928 where two turntables were recording simultaneously.  Using modern digital technology, these two recordings made at the same session have been combined to create a new stereo version.  It also stands as the most accurate representation of what Elgar intended his famous concerto to express at this time in history.

** 1982 - first performance of Barja Iglesias - 5 Melodies (1961-66)

Carlos Baena/cello and Ramona Sanuy/piano (Casa de la Radio, RNE, Madrid)

24 March - On this #cello day

** 1773 - birth of Pierre-Louis Hus-Desforges (Toulon, France) d.1838

cellist, conductor & composer  

** 1923 - Guilhermina Suggia was solo cellist in Elgar - Cello Concerto in E minor, Op.85, with The Reid Orchestra conducted by Donald Tovey, at the Usher Hall (Edinburgh). She also performed J.S. Bach - Solo Suite No.3 in C Major.

** 1932 - Guilhermina Suggia was solo cellist in Dvorak - Cello Concerto in B minor, Op.104, and Haydn - Cello Concerto in D Major, with The Reid Orchestra conducted by Donald Tovey, at the Usher Hall (Edinburgh).

** 1950 - first performance of Virgil Thomson - Concerto for cello and orchestra 

(Philadelphia, USA)

** 1954 - birth of Hank Roberts (Terre Haute, Indiana, USA)

cellist (jazz/electric) & vocalist

25 March - On this #cello day

** 1867 - birth of Arturo Toscanini (Parma, Italy)  d.1957
conductor & cellist

** 1927 - first performance of Florence Schmitt - Final, for cello and orchestra

(Salle Erard, Paris)

** 1939 - first performance of Villa-Lobos - the aria from Bachianas Brasileiras no.5 for soprano and eight cellos

(Rio de Janeiro)

** 1960 - first performance of Henry Cowell - Four Declamations with Return, for cello and piano 

(New York)

*** 1960 - first performance of Morton Feldman - Durations 2, for cello and piano  

(New York)

** 1966 - first performance of Simon Laks - Dialogue for Two Cellos (1964)

cellists: Jean & Mireille Réculard (Châtea, Saint Ouen, France)

* 1966 - birth of Melora Creager (Kansus City, Misuri, USA)

cellist, songwriter, and modern chamber (founder of Rasputina)

** 1977 - birth of Natalie Clein (Poole, Dorest, England)

cellist

** 1997 - first performance of David L. Young - Lexicon for 3 Violoncelli (one of a series of works titled “Val Camonica Pieces”)

cellists:  Clare Brassil, Fiona Furphy and Jane Tallon (La Mama Theatre, Melbourne, Australia)

26 March - On this #cello day

** 1879 - first performance of Stanford - Cello Sonata, Op.9

Robert Hausmann/cello and the composer at piano

** 1925 - birth of Eleonore Schoenfeld (Marinor, Slovenia) d.2007

cellist, recording artist & pedagogue

27 March - On this #cello day

** 1710 - birth of Joseph Abaco {full name Joseph Marie Clément Ferdinand dall'Abaco} (Brussels) d.1805

cellist, court chamber orchestra & composer

** 1753 - birth of Franz Mensi (Bistra, Croatia)

catholic priest, composer & cellist

** 1902 - birth of Paul Hermann (Budapest) d.1944

cellist, chamber musician & composer

** 1927 - birth of Mstislav Rostropovich (Baku, Azerbaijan SSR) d.2007

cellist, chamber musician & conductor. Champion of new cello repertoire.

** 1942 - first performance of Martinu - Cello Sonata No.2         

Lucien Laporte/cello and Elly Bontempo/piano

** 1943 - Frieda Belinfante - cellist, conductor, human rights and active anti-Nazi resistance member - was part of the CKC resistance group that organised and executed the bombing of the population registry in Amsterdam on March - On this #cello day 27th, 1943, which destroyed thousands of files and hindered Nazi attempts to compare forged documents with documents in the registry

** 1959 - birth of Michaela Fukačová (Brno, Czech Republic)

cellist {based Denmark}

** 1963 - birth of Thomas Grossenbacher (Switzerland)
cellist & professor

** 1979 - first performance of Sofia Gubaidulina - In croce for cello and organ

(Kazan, Russia)

28 March - On this #cello day

** 1801 - premiere of Beethoven - Ballet ‘The Creatures of Prometheus’ or ‘Prometheus’ (German: Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus), Op. 43 (the overture features an important orchestral principal cello solo line}

(Burgtheater, Vienna)

** 1865 - birth of Leo Schulz (Posen, ex-Germany) d.1944

cellist, principal cello cello, composer & professor

** 1869 - birth of Christian Sibelius (Hämeenlinna, Finland) d.1922 {brother of Jean Sibelius}

Finnish doctor and professor of psychiatry - but also a gifted chamber musician (a cellist)

** 1892 - a notable concert took place at the London ‘Popular concerts’ at St. James’s Hall, with the famed clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld introducing (proably for the first time ever in Britain) the Barahms Clarinet Quintet. The string players were no less famous: Joseph Joachim, Louis Ries, Ludwig Strauss and Alfredo Piatti!

** 1939 - At the Royal Albert Hall in London Pau Casals performed at a charity concert for refugee children.

** 1972 - first performance of Bernstein - Three Meditations from Mass for cello and piano

Stephen Kates/cello with composer at piano

29 March - On this #cello day

** 1773 - birth of Charles-Nicolas Baudiot (Nancy, France) d.1849

cellist, first cello king’s chapel, teacher & composer

** 1859 - birth of Hermann Heberlein (Markneukirchen, Germany)

cellist, composer & music educator

** 1859 - birth of Eduard Rosa {Rosemblum} (Jassy, Romania) d.1943

cellist {Nazi holocaust victim}   

** 1860 - concert ‘debut’ of David Popper (performing Servais - Souvenir de St. Petersburg, Op.15)

Orchestra of the Prague Conservatoire, conducted by Hans von Bülow (Ständisches Theater, Prague)

** 1903 - birth of Nerón (Antonio) Ferrazzano (Buenos Aires) d.1977

cellist, double bassist, composer, tango specialist  

** 1928 - birth of Derek Simpson (Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England) d.2007

cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician & professor

** 1947 - birth of Aage Kvalbein (Oslo, Norway)

cellist,chamber musician & pedagogue

** 1989 - first radio broadcast performance of Peter Racine Fricker - ‘Aspects of Evening’ for cello and piano, Op.90

Alexander Baillie/cello and Piers Lane/piano (BBC radio) 

** 1991 - first performance of John Corigliano - ‘Of Rage and Remembrance’, for mezzo-soprano, boy soprano, chorus, percussion, eight cellos, and four double basses

(Seattle, USA)

30 March - On this #cello day

** 1830 - birth of Auguste Tolbecque (Paris) d- 1919

cellist & professor

** 1885 - first performance of Piatti - Bergamasca 

soloist - Alfredo Piatti (last popular concert of season, Bergamo, Italy)

** 1913 - the Academy of Music of Budapest announces that David Popper’s cello classes were cancelled until further notice due to an accident in which Popper had fractured his arm!

** 1916 - first performance of Sibelius - Cantique and Devotion, Op.77 for cello and orchestra

soloist - Ossian Fohstöm with Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the composer

31 March - On this #cello day

** 1691 - birth of Francesco Alborea (Naples, Italy) d.1739 

cellist, Imperial chamber musician & professor {based Austria}

** 1890 - Richard Strauss accompanied cellist Alvin Schröder, in a performance of his Cello Sonata in F Major, Op.6

(Leipzig, Germany)

** 1894 - Alexander Mackenzie, the then principal (director) of the Royal Academy of Music, spoke about Alfredo Piatti in the occasion of “Musical Events – The Joachim and Piatti Jubilee”, praising his contributions to the development of chamber music in England, on 31st March, 1894:
“Your constant co-operation in the quartet at the Popular Concerts, from the first, has been not only a fundamental source of strength to the Institution itself, but an important factor in that growing love for chamber music which has been so conspicuous a feature in our recent musical progress. The example of your faultlessly pure style and your rare artistic discretion has been of incalculable value, and we have good reason to feel proud that so illustrious a master of his instrument as yourself should have made London his home during a considerable portion of every year.”

** 1919 - birth of Fritz Lustig (Germany) d.2017

cellist and financial career (accountancy & credit control)  {a German-Jewish emigrant to England during the Nazi era}

** 1965 - first performance of Robert Linn - Dithyramb, for eight cellos 

cellists: Ensemble from the American String Teachers Association, conducted by the composer /Dallas, Texas, USA)

** 1968 - first performance of Roger Sessions - 6 Pieces for cello

(New York)

** 1994 - birth of Thomas Batuello (The Bronx, New York, USA)

actor & cellist

 ** 1999 - first performance of Joshua Missal - Invocation and Dances, for Four Cellos
Group “Quatra Celli” in Los Angeles (USA), and subsequently on tour

186 entries for month of March - On this #cello day

{as at October 2020) 

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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