Historical Events of April 6
6 April
** 1815 - birth of {Friedrich} Robert Volkmann (Lommatzsch, Saxony, Germany) d. 1883
composer, teacher, organist & cellist {based Austria & Hungary} - composer of a former very important cello concerto (1860)
** 1865 – an unusual programme was performed on this date by the Löwenberg Orchestra; apart from the first Symphony of Maurer, and shorter pieces by Schumann, Berlioz, Glinka and Gade, David Popper was soloist in three shorter works too. These were:
Bach/Gounod: Meditation (Ave Maria) // Pergolesi: Air // Kletzer: Rhapsodie hongroise, Op.7.
** 1892 - a concert appearance of cellist Josefine Donat (b.1867 Vienna) is documented in the “Österreichische Musik- und Theaterzeitung” for 6th April 1892, playing with the pianist Henriette Hemala and the violinist Anna von Baumgarten the Brahms - Piano Trio in C minor, Op.101.
** 1905 - a notable historical concert on this day: the Joachim Quartet (Joachim, Kruse, Wirth, Robert Hausmann on cello), with Moser on 2nd viola, and Hugo Dechert on 2nd violoncello. The programme included Beethoven - Quartet in C minor, Op.18/4, Mozart - Quintet Eb Major, and Brahms - Sextet No.2 in G Major, Op.36 (Sing-Akademie, Berlin)
** 1917 - birth of Ede Banda (Budapest) d.2004
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician and professor
** 1922 - cellist May Mukle premiered Maurice Ravel's Sonata for violin and violoncello (violinist?) in Paris - unfortunately it was received with great reservations and even a negative reception by audiences and critics and yet is now one of the most poetic works of chamber music ever written by Ravel
** 1925 - Adele Clement, French cellist, performed tours in Morocco and Algeria in 1923 and 1925; in its number of April 6th, 1925, L'Echo d'Alger wrote:
“The concert given last Tuesday by Melle Adèle Clément, virtuoso cellist, is undoubtedly one of the most representative that we will have given this season.”
** 1933 - birth of William Stokking Jr. (Ventnor, New Jersey, USA) d. 2014
cellist, orchestra principal cello
** 1937 - the ‘Courtauld-Sargent’ Concerts, given at the Queen's Hall (London), invited Gaspar Cassado as cello soloist - the second of two consecutive performances.
** 1946 - first performance of Jerzy Fitelberg Solo Cello Sonata
soloist - Stefan Auber / the Pittsburgh Chapter of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) at the Exhibition Hall at the College of Fine Arts of the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University), U.S.A.
** 1972 - cellist Tibor de Machula performed as soloist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, in Dvorak - Cello Concerto, Op.104. Three concerts, in Amsterdam (6th and 9th April) and Den Haag (7th April), conducted by Bernard Haitink
** 1978 – on the 6th, 7th, 8th and 11th of this month, cellist Lorne Munroe performed as invited soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Jochum), in the Avery Fisher Hall (New York)
** 1987 – on 6th and 7th April. 1987, cellist Ofra Harnoy recorded a series of Vivaldi cello concertos with the Toronto Chamber Orchestra, at St. Timothy Church, Toronto
** 1997 – the premiere took place of Srđan Dedić’s Concerto for cello and chamber orchestra (written the previous year) with Walter Despalj, and the Prague Symphony Orchestra, in the festival ‘Music Biennale Zagreb’. However, the composer revised the work in 2003, and this last version has been recorded by Nikola Ružević for Cantus.
