Historical Events of May 26
26 May
** 1833 – birth of Jan Seifert (Prague) d. after 1914
Cellist, teacher, professor at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and director of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Society, and known in Russia as Ivan Ivanovich Zeyfert.
Born into a Czech family, from 1853 Seifert played the cello in the orchestra of the Imperial Theatres in Saint Petersburg. He was an instructor at the city's conservatory from its foundation in 1862, while Tchaikovsky was a student there. Seifert also gave tuition to amateur musicians, including the Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich. He also composed small pieces for cello.
** 1906 - a series of “Five Historical Violoncello Recitals” was presented by Boris Hambourg at the Aeolian Hall, London. The performances were given 'to illustrate the development of the cello literature from its earliest beginning to the present day'. On this very day he played the concert:
3. Romantic School - 26 MAY
** 1911 - birth of Maurice Louis Baquet (Villefranche-sur-Saone, France) d.2005
actor and cellist
** 1933 – news was published in ‘Le Ménestrel‘, on May 26, 1933, about the cello music of Henri Gagnebin:
“Geneva. — The twenty-fourth festival of the Association of Swiss Musicians was celebrated this year in the small town of Rheinfelden, where several concerts were given. The participants in this festival heard, among other things, the Sonata for piano and violin by Mr. Frank Martin, whose first performance was given in Geneva last October; a Suite for Solo Cello by Mr. Henri Gagnebin, and a Suite in C for piano, for two hands, by MA-F. Marescotti, a work given for the first time and which Mrs. Marie Panlhès admirably showcased.”
Henri Gagnebin (1886 – 1977) was an organist in Paris, and klater in Geneva. He naturally composed for the organ, his favorite instrument, but he can be highly estimated in works for orchestra, ballets, and religious vocal works of great magnitude
** 1958 - on this day Juan Ruiz-Casaux probably made his last appearance appearing as invited soloist with orchestra, playing the Schumann - Cello Concero in A minor with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, conducted by Pedro Gutiérrez Lapuebte, in a concert in the conservatoire of Málaga.
** 1960 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier finished the recording in Paris of Lalo - Cello Concerto in D minor, with the Lamoureux Orchestra, Paris, conducted by Jean Martinon (the other recording days were the two previous days)
** 1967 - the famous Beatles album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was released on this day in the UK, spending 27 weeks at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart - among the important ‘backing’ musicians was the British cellist Derek Simpson, who played on the songs Eleanor Rigby and Strawberry Fields Forever.
** 1967 - birth of Kristen Marie Pfaff (Buffalo, New York) d.1994
bass guitarrist, cellist (alternative rock)
** 1975 - the Lindsay String Quartet included Thomas Igloi (cello) as special invited guest in a concert given in the Assembly Rooms, Bath (England), as part of the Bath Festival
** 1979 - first performance of Alfred Schnittke - Hymns I-IV for cello and chamber orchestra
(Moscow)
