1 September

** 1878 - Friedrich Monhaupt was engaged on this day as solo violoncellist at the court theatre at Cassels

** 1883 - birth of Louis Rosoor (Tourcoing, France) d.1969
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician, teacher & concert organizer

** 1889 - birth of Cornelius van Vliet (Rotterdam, Holland) d.1963
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician

** 1896 - cellist Anton Hekking (1856 -1935) is recorded as entering of the Stern Conservatory as a cello teacher (and notes show he was employed there until 1st September 1899)

** 1900 - birth of Kazimierz Wiłkomirski (Moscow) d.1995
cellist, chamber musician, composer & conductor

** 1904 - Dutch cellist Kato van der Hoeven began studying cello at the Stern Conservatory (she first learned the piano and violin as a child before switching to the cello)

** 1911 - birth of Kômei Abe (Hiroshima, Japan) d.2006
composer, teacher, conductor, cellist and clarinetist.

** 1917 - Kato van der Hoeven's membership in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra ended on September 1st, 1917. Incredibly, after that, the cellist's trace is lost. "Zonder beroep" (no occupation) was even noted in The Hague's death register.

** 1946 - a nice and amazing story today! Cellist Lazlo Varga was supposed to be joining the prominent Léner String Quartet in Switzerland on THIS very day in 1946 for rehearsals prior to a major concert tour that was to start in November. Unfortunately, he had great difficulty obtaining the necessary papers, such as a passport and Russian exit visas, finally obtaining the documents not on today’s date but only nine days before the first advertised concert in Switzerland! He eventually met up with the Quartet in Lausanne, and after seven days of really intense rehearsals, they played 27 concerts in Switzerland in 35 days - on top of that, they had to work up at least thirty different quartets because the cities were so close together that they couldn't repeat the same programme in neighbouring cities!

** 1958 - Erling Blöndal Bengtsson was cello soloist in William Walton - Cello Concerto, with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent {Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

** 1983 - birth of Natalia Maria Przybysz {also known as N'Talia and Natu} (Warsaw)
singer and songwriter, cellist ans bass-guitarrist

** 1984 - first performance of Kalevi Aho - Concerto for Cello and Orchestra 
(Helsinki)

2 September

** 1873 - birth of Walter Lenck (Berlin) d.1952
versatile German artist - sculptor, draftsman, painter, architect, cellist, composer and dramatist {escaping Nazi persecution he emigrated in 1936 to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he was from there on based}

** 1899 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist in (Carlo) Alfredo Piatti - Awake! awake! / David Popper - Scenes from a Masked Ball, Op 3 / William Henry Squire - Serenade/ and Giuseppe Verdi - Il trovatore, Grand Fantasia (arranger unknown) at the Queen’s Hall, London (Prom concert)
not clear  whether with piano or orchestral accompaniment

** 1924 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date by soloists Margaret Fairless & May Mukle at the London Proms

** 1943 - birth of Gayle Smith (U.S.A.)
cellist - and a former ballet dancer! Finalist at the Third International Tchaikovsky Cello Competition in Moscow 1970. Latterly she has described herself as an “entertainment cellist”

** 1946 -Peers Coetmore was cello soloist in Ernest John Moeran - Cello Concerto, with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adrian Boult {Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

** 1954 - in a Promenade Concert - during the Diamond Jubilee Season - at the Royal Albert Hall, London, the soloist was William Pleeth (cello) in Joseph Haydn - Concerto for Cello in D major, Hob. VIIb:2 (arr. François-Auguste Gevaert)  with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent and John Hollingsworth.

** 1981 - first performance of Zulema de la Cruz - Alternancias, for cello and piano
Peter Meyes/cello and Sebastián Mariné/piano (Capilla Real del Hostal de los Reyes Católicos, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain) - this piece was joint award-winner in the Luis Coleman Compositon Prize at the XXIV Curso Internacional de Música Española de Santiago de Compostela.


3 September

** 1704 - birth of Giovanni Battista Costanzi (Rome) d.1778
cellist, maestro di cappella, teacher & composer

** 1772 - birth of Nicola Tacchinardi {born as Niccolò Constantino Fedele Tacchinardi} (Livorno, Italy) d.1859
cellist and tenor Singer, later a vocal teacher

** 1858 - birth of Daniël François van Goens (Paris) d.1904
cellist & composer

** 1859 - birth of Joseph Melzer (Bürgstein, Germany)
cellist, principal cello in the German Opera Orchestra of Budapest, principal cello in Kur-Orchestra of Baden-Baden, principal cello in Breslau Orchestral Union

** 1875 - birth of Ernst Cahnbley (Hamburg, Germany)
cellist, principal cello in orchestras at Hanover, Riga and St. Petersburg. Professor at the Dortmund Conservatoire (and played in the consevatoire quartet), principal cello of Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra; several compositions for violoncello.

** 1892 - in the publication of ‘Era’ (London) on today’s date Auguste van Biene is very frank indeed about his priorities in the publication ‘A Chat with Mr. Van Biene’. Van Biene neither worked with students nor wrote for them; his attitude was surprising, and these were his exact words:
 “to make a living one has to teach, and I hate teaching. If a pupil will let me play to him for an hour, and learn what he can, good. But to say ‘do this, and do this, and do this,’ while the stupid fellow all the time does something else, I will not.”
However, it has since been commented that his violent dislike for teaching has perhaps had a detrimental effect on his legacy and connection to future generations of cellists.

** 1908 - Herbert Withers was cello soloist in Antonin Dvořák - Cello Concerto in B minor, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}
Very bad misunderstandings - they occasionally happen! A new cello concerto by Percy Hilder Miles (1878-1922) was initially dedicated to and rehearsed with the cello soloist Herbert Withers (1880–1961). It was announced for performance on 3rd September 1908 in Henry Wood's Promenade Concerts. However it was not finally performed because the composer voyaged to Australia in April 1908 and the orchestral parts were simply not completed in time. So instead Withers decided to perform the Dvorak Cello Concerto in B minor. It seems the composer was not happy at all with this - for he put a line right through the dedication to Withers! Unfortunately the completed orchestral score is lost, but the cello soloist and piano reduction accompaniment parts seem to survive

** 1910 - Jean Marcel 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}

** 1913 - May Mukle was cello soloist in Victor Herbert - Concerto for Cello No. 2 in E minor, Op 30, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1920 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date by soloists May and Beatrice Harrison at the London Proms

** 1924 - W(alter) Granville Britton was cello soloist in Antonin Dvořák - Cello Concerto in B minor, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1928 - birth of Robert LaMarchina (New York) d.2003
cellist, orchestra principal cello, conductor …hobby french horn

** 1935 - Thelma Reiss (formerly Reiss Smith) was cello soloist in Camille Saint‐Saëns - Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1955 - on this day cellist Paul Tortelier recorded Schumann - Cello Concerto in A minor, with the Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester Leipzig, conducted by Hermann Abendroth

** 1964 - first performance of Priaulx Rainier - Cello Concerto 
soloist - Jacqueline Du Pré (London) {she performed the Elgar - Cello Concerto in the same programme}

** 1968 - birth of Piotr Andrzej Rubik (Warsaw)
pop composer, film and theater music , music producer , conductor, vocalist,cellist & pianist

** 1981 - birth of Gautier Capuçon (Chambéry, France)
cellist

4 September
** 1835 - birth of Leopold Grützmacher (Dessau, Germany) d.1900 {younger brother of cellist Friedrich, and father of cellist Friedrich}
cellist, member Gewandhaus Orchestra at Leipzig, principal cello in the Grand-Ducal Chapel at Schwerin, first violoncello at Weimar, with the title of a chamber virtuoso, principal cello of the Bayreuth Theatre; occasional composer and editor

** 1871 - birth of Richard Ellinger (Mittelhausen, Germany)
cellist, principal cello of “Grands Concerts de l’Union Français” of Istanbul, member of the ‘Constaninople String Quartet’ and ‘Centola Trio’

** 1890 - birth of Lorenzo de Paolis (Rome) d.1965
cellist, composer and conductor.

** 1914 - Philip Nifosi was cello soloist in Johann Sebastian Bach - Cello Suite No 3 in C major No. 3 Courante / Cello Suite No 3 in C major No. 4 Sarabande / Cello Suite No 3 in C major No. 5 Bourées 1 & 2 {all Proms concert premieres, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1914 - birth of Baldo Rossi (Italy) d.1978
cellist and trombonist, orchestral musician

** 1930 - Beatrice Harrison was cello soloist in Edward Elgar - Cello Concerto in E minor, with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1945 - birth of Christopher van Kampen (Pinner, Middx, England) d.1997
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician 

** 1958 - in a Henry Wood Promenade Concert Joan Dickson (cello) was soloist with the London Philharmonic orchestra conducted by Basil Cameron, in the Royal Albert Hall (London), performing Edmund Rubbra - Soliloquy Op.57

** 1973 - Moray Welsh was cello soloist, along with Ralph Holmes/violin and Anthony Goldstone/piano, in Ludwig van Beethoven - Concerto for cello, cello and piano in C major, 'Triple Concerto', with London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bernhard Klee {Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

** 1982 - birth of Hildur Ingveldardóttir Guðnadóttir (Iceland)
cellist (classical & modern styles)

** 1986 - birth of Neyla Pekarek (Denver, Colorado, USA)
cellist (folk). vocalist & pianist

** 1989 - first performance of John Tavener - The Protecting Veil for cello and strings
(London)
soloist - Steven Isserlis with BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Oliver Knussen (BBC Proms concert, Royal Albert Hall, London)

** 1994 - first performance of Volker David Kirchner - Inferno d’amore, for cello and piano
(Wiesbaden, Germany)

5 September

** 1833 - birth of Jefte Sbolci (Florence, Italy) d.1895
cellist, quartet player & conductor; professor of cello in Florence

** 1898 - birth of Karel Pravoslav Sádlo (Prague) d.1971
cellist & pedagogue

** 1919 - first performance of Villa-Lobos - 3 movements of ‘Pequena Suite’ with orchestra
soloist - the composer (Salão Nobre, Rio de Janeiro)

** 1972 - in the Festival Internazionale/Settimane Musicali di Stresa (Italy), a recital was given at the Teatro del Palazzo dei Congressi, Stresa by Thomas Igloi (cello), with Gerard Wyss (piano)

** 1987 - Colin Carr performs the Elgar Cello Concerto at the Proms
with theBBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Atherton

** 1990 - first performance of Richard Barrett - ‘Dark Ages’ for solo ‘cello with 2 bows, commissioned by the Gaudeamus Foundation {a complex virtuoso work that the composer spent three years working on, 1987-1990!}
soloist - Frances-Marie Uitti

** 1998 - Release date (screened in Venice, Italy) of the film “Hilary and Jackie” {life of Jacqueline Du Pré}
directed by Anand Tucker, starring Emily Watson, Rachel Griffiths and James Frain 

6 September

** 1860 - the second performance ever of Robert Schumann - Cello Concerto in A minor, Op.129, took place on today’s date with the cello soloist Ludwig Ebert {at the Leipzig Conservatoire, Germany}

** 1898 - birth of Boris Blinder (Lutsk,Russia) d.1987
cellist , orchestral principal cello {based USA}

** 1901 - birth of Francesco von Mendelssohn {born as Franz von Mendelssohn} (Berlin) d.1972
cellist, one-time member of the Busch quartet and of the Klingler quartet; also a stage actor and theatre director {he came from a prominent dynasty of bankers and musicians, notably Felix Mendelssohn and his sister Fanny Mendelssohn}

** 1906 - Jacques Renard was cello soloist in Antonin Dvořák - Cello Concerto in B minor, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1932 - Lauri Kennedy was cello soloist in Joseph Haydn - Cello Concerto in D major, Hob. VIIb: 2, with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1947 - birth of Anatoli Krastev (Bulgaria)
cellist & pedagogue

** 1954 - composer Gordon Jacob finished his Divertimento for Solo Violoncello on this day, a work dedicated to Florence Hooton

** 1962 - Janos Starker was cello soloist in Richard Strauss - Don Quixote, Op 35, with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent {Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

** 1968 - Siegfried Palm was cello soloist in Boris Blacher - Concerto for Cello {First performance in England}, with London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt {Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

** 1977 - first performance of Aulis Sallinen - Cello Concerto 
(Lucerne, Switzerland)

** 1985 - first performance of Xoan Alfonzo Viaño Martónez - Transparecias for Two Cellos
cellists: Lito Iglesias and Pedro Halffter Caro (Villafranca del Bierzo, León, Spain)

7 September

** 1819 - ‘The Duport Strad’ - normally in this series there are not mentions of deaths of musicians, but today is an exception - not for the cellist but the cello! Upon Duport’s death on September 7, 1819, the Stradivarius instrument passed to his son (a cellist in Lyon and later piano maker in Paris). Ultimately the instrument came up for sale and it was J.B. Vuillaume, the great Parisian violin maker and dealer, who recognized the possibility of a sale to the cellist Franchomme, who could be considered the natural successor to Duport’s legacy. So this sale was concluded in 1842. Just to mention more recent days, after the cello passing numerous more hands it was sold to the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich in 1974.

** 1855 (some sources 1856)  - birth of Anton Hekking (The Hague, Holland) d.1935
cellist , orchestral principal cello & pedagogue {based Germany-USA}

** 1864 - birth of Otto Lüdeman (Bernkastel, Mosel, Germany)
cellist , royal chamber musician & professor

** 1900 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist in Popper - Suite ‘Im Walde’, Op.50 with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1901 - Jacques Renard was cello soloist in Georg Eduard Goltermann - Romance {unspecified - insufficient information to identify this work: Goltermann wrote at least two pieces for cello entitled 'Romance'} / David Popper - Tarantella, Op 33, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1914 - A ‘Grand Concert’ given by the Barnsley Symphony Orchestra at the Public Hall, Barnsley (England) included Mr Collin Smith as cello soloist, alongside several singers.

** 1920 - in a Promenade Concert at Queen's Hall, London, the soloists were Rosina Buckman and John Huntington (vocal), Mr C. Warwick-Evans (cello) and Olga Carmine (piano).

** 1943 - birth of Friedemann Kupsa (St. Pölten, Austria)
cellist , chamber musician

** 1943 - birth of Rocco Filippini, (Lugano, Italy) d.2021
soloist, chamber musician (Trio di Milano, Quartetto Accardo) and professor {cello professor at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan; the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome; he founded the Walter Stauffer Academy in Cremona {based Switrzerland and Italy}

** 1961 - Paul Tortelier was cello soloist in Dmitry Shostakovich - Cello Concerto No 1 in E flat major {Proms premiere}, with London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Basil Cameron {Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

** 1972 - first performance of Penderecki - Cello Concerto No.1     
soloist Siegfried Palm, with Scottish National Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Gibson (Edinburgh Festival)

** 1974 - Manuel Enríquez/cello and Jorge Noli/piano performed Carlos Cruz de Castro - Intercomunicación (1974) in Mexico City
curiously, the sub-titles are: “Piece for piano and any bowed string instrument. Piece dedicated to Manuel Enríque”

** 1990 - Karine Georgian was cello soloist in Krzysztof Penderecki - Cello Concerto No. 2 {Proms premiere}, with BBC Philharmonic orchestra conducted by Rudolf Barshai {Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

8 September

** 1738 - Francesco Alborea, known under the name "Franciscello", returned to Paris in the summer of 1738 to participate in the Spirituel Concert on August 15th and September 8th, where he impressed his audience with his "great precision", according to the local press.

** 1883 - birth of Oscar Eiler (Wisconsin, USA)
cellist, orchestra principal cello 

** 1903 - Jacques Renard was cello soloist in Jules de Swert - Cello Concerto No. 1 in D minor {London premiere}, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1908 - Aimé Kling was VIOLA soloist in Camille Saint‐Saëns - Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor {arranged by René Pollain for viola and orchestra - Proms premiere of this arrangement}, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1922 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date by soloists May and Beatrice Harrison at the London Proms

** 1925 - Maurice Dambois was cello soloist in Joseph Haydn - Cello Concerto in D major, Hob. VIIb: 2, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1935 - Thelma Reiss (formerly Reiss Smith) was cello soloist in Camille Saint‐Saëns - Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1949 - cellist Daniil Shafran records ‘Variations for Cello and Orchestra on a Rococo theme’, Op.33 by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Kiril Kondrashin

** 1960 -Erling Blöndal Bengtsson was cello soloist in William Walton - Cello Concerto, with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent {Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

9 September

** 1827 - birth of  Great Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich  (St. Petersburg, Russia) d.1892
Russian Grand Duke, admiral of the Russian fleet & fine amateur cellist

** 1897 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist in David Popper - Tarantella, Op 33, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1899 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist in David Popper - Tarantella, Op 33, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert ‘Last Night of the Proms’, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1903 - Gertrude Ess 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}

** 1911 - Jacques Renard was cello soloist in Max Bruch - Kol Nidrei, Op 47, with The New Queen's Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1930 - Maurice Maréchal was cello soloist in Arthur Honegger - Concerto for Cello (first performance in England), with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1931 - Lauri Kennedy was cello soloist, along with Arthur Catterall/violin, in Johannes Brahms - Double Concerto for violin and cello in A minor, with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1939 - birth of Zbigniew Jacek Namysłowski (Warsaw)
jazz saxophonist, pianist & cellist

** 1955 - Florence Hooton was cello soloist in Gordon Jacob - Cello Concerto {World premiere}, with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Charles Groves {Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

** 1959 - Maurice Gendron was cello soloist in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra, and Pezzo capriccioso, Op 62 {Proms premiere}, with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent {Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

** 1975 - first {known} performance of Kurt Weill - Cello Sonata (1920)
Siegfried Palm/cello and Aloys Kontarsky/piano (Berliner Festwochen, Berlin)

** 1976 - first performance of Siegfried Matthus - Cello Concerto 
(Dresden, Germany)

10 September

** 1776 - birth of Nicola Tacchinardi (Livorno, Italy)
cellist, member of the chapel of the Duke of Tuscany, singer, teacher…and painter

** 1825 - birth of Heinrich Mollenhauer (Erfurt, Germany)
cellist (originally violinist), member Royal Band of Stockholm, recitalist, founder of music school {based in U.S.A.}

** 1842 - birth of Carl Wilhelm Oskar (Oscar) Eberle (Crossen an der Oder, Holland) d.1901 {father of cellist Oscar Eberle}
 cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician & teacher

** 1855 - birth of Jules Ciriadès (Namur, Belgium)
cellist & violinist, professor at Charleroi Conservatoire, and Namur Conservatoire

** 1873 - birth of Vladimir Dubinsky (Harkoff, Russia) d.1938
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician  {based USA}

** 1878 - birth of David Millar Craig (Scotland) d. 1965
the BBC's first Controller for Scotland, a regular cello player in Edinburgh, writer of analytical notes for Scottish orchestral concerts in Glasgow and Edinburgh. He published translations of songs and choruses from German, some of these were for BBC performances; he also wrote libretti for ballet, as well as biographical sketches of concert celebrities.

** 1897 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist in William Henry Squire - Chansonette {Proms premiere} and David Popper - Tarantella, Op 33 {Proms premiere}, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London};
Chansonnette, Op. 22, from 1896, is of particular historical significance as an enigmatic tribute to Dvořák and his new Cello Concerto, Op. 104 just after this Concerto was first performed with the Philharmonic Society and cellist Leo Stern on 19th March 1896. The miniature of W.H. Squire pays homage to Dvořak’s larger work in its use of two melody fragments taken from the second subject of the first movement. It is dedicated to ‘A.D.’, almost surely standing cryptically for Antonin Dvořak! W.H. Squire played Chansonnette three times in all at the Promenade Concerts, including for his second appearance there on this day in 1897.

** 1906 - birth of Bertus van Lier (Utrecht) d.1972
composer and cellist

** 1947 - Haydn Rogerson was cello soloist, along with Laurance Turner/violin, in Johannes Brahms - Double Concerto for violin and cello in A minor, with London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Basil Cameron. This was an amazingly long programme!: Brahms - Serenade No.1, Brahms - Double Concerto, Brahms Symphony No.4 - interval - William Schuman - Piano Concerto (first performance in England, with soloist Iris Loveridge) and finishing with Weber - Der Freischütz Overture   {Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

** 1968 - birth of Will Hayes (Manhattan, NY.)
cellist, orchestral musician and collaborator in pop-rock-folk projects, and teacher; a real all-rounder - he has been a certified public school music educator, guest clinician, math and language arts tutor, youth orchestra conductor, Suzuki teaching specialist and private lesson teacher

** 1984 - first performance of Colin Matthews - Concerto for Cello No.1 
(London)

** 1984 - first performance of Colin Matthews - Concerto for Cello No.1 
(London)

** 1995 - Natalia Gutman performs the Elgar Cello Concerto at the Proms
with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, conducted by Neemi Jarvi

11 September

** 1855 - birth of Célestin Cros-Saint-Ange (France) d. 1919
cellist, chamber music (quartet) player & professor {later based Canada}

** 1856 - birth of Eugene Sandow (Berlin)
cellist, chamber musician to royal band

** 1865 - birth of Adolf Thomas (Berlin)
cellist, principal cello in the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and of the “Oper des Westens” (opera of the West End), member of National Theatre Orchestra of Norway, chamber musician and teacher in Eosenbach; composer of a few cello pieces

** 1890 - birth of John Wesley Woodward (West Bromwich, England) d.1912 
a British cellist on the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage - he died in the disaster

** 1890 - birth of Miklos Zsámboki (Hungary) d. 1961
cellist & professor

** 1909 - May Mukle was cello soloist in Victor Herbert - Concerto for Cello No. 2 in E minor, Op 30 {First performance in England with orchestra}, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1913 - Charles Warwick-Evans was cello soloist in Erno Dohnanyi - Concertstück for Cello in D major, Op 12, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1956 - Janos Starker was cello soloist in Sergei Prokofiev - Cello Concerto in E minor {Proms premiere}, with London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Basil Cameron {Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

** 1958 - Paul Tortelier performs the Elgar Cello Concerto at the Proms (also performed the work there in 1960)
with theBBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Malcolm Sargent

** 1982 - first performance of Alfred Schnittke - Concerto grosso No.2 for violin, cello and orchestra
(Berlin)

** 1984 - Yo-Yo Ma was cello soloist in Dmitry Shostakovich - Cello Concerto No 1 in E flat major, with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle {Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

12 September

** 1809 - birth of Johann Benjamin Gross (Elbing, Poland)
 cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician & composer

** 1850 - birth of Moritz Hetzel (Stuttgart, Germany)
cellist, principal cello Orchestra of Mannheim, occasional composer for cello

** 1887 - birth of George Georgescu (Sulina, Tulcea County, Romania)
conductor & cellist

** 1905 - 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}

** 1908 - Jean Marcel 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}

** 1909 - May Mukle gave the world premiere of Victor Herbert's Concerto in E minor Op.30

** 1914 - Maud L. Arnold was cello soloist in Jules de Swert - Cello Concerto No. 2 in C minor, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1932 - first performance of part of Villa-Lobos - Bachiana Brasileira no.1 for 8(+) cellos 
(Rio de Janeiro)

** 1934 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date by soloists Isolde Menges & May Mukle at the London Proms

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

** 1954 - premiere of Bernstein ‘Serenade, after Plato's Symposium’ for solo violin and orchestra - (the work features a double cadenza for violin soloist and principal cello}
soloist -Isaac Stern with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra,  conducted by the composer (La Fenice, Venice, Italy)

** 1957 - Florence Hooton was cello soloist in Kenneth Leighton - Cello Concerto {London premiere}, with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent {Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

** 1958 - first performance of Bernd Alois Zimmermann - Canto di speranza, Kantate für Violoncello und kleines Orchester (2nd versión of concerto for cello and small orchestra of 1953)
soloist - Siegfried Palm with Sinfonie-Orchester des Hessischen Rundfunks, conducted by Otto Matzerath (Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, Darmstadt, Germany)

** 1962 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date by soloists Yan Pascal Tortelier and Paul Tortelier at the London Proms

** 1991 - birth of Dobrawa Czocher (Tczew, Poland)
cellist

13 September

** 1806 - birth of {Eduard} Moritz Ganz (Mainz, Germany) d.1868
cellist, orchestra principal cello

** 1856 - birth of Ernest Gillet (Batignolles, Paris) d.1940 {brother of oboist and composer Georges Gillet}
composer and cellist, orchestra principal cello

** 1874 - birth of Arnold Schoenberg (Vienna) d.1951
composer and formerly cellist

** 1899 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist in William Henry Squire - Serenade and David Popper - Scenes from a Masked Ball, Op 3 No. 4 Papillons, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1901 - Clyde Twelvetrees was cello soloist in Frédéric Chopin - Nocturne in E flat major, Op 55.2 (arr. unknown for cello and piano) / Clyde Twelvetrees - Scherzo, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1902 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist in Gabriel Fauré - Romance, Op 69, David Popper - Elfentanz, Op 39 and David Popper - Spanische Tänzen, Op 54 in the Queen's Hall, London (Prom concert)
not clear  whether with piano or orchestral accompaniment

** 1919 - first performance of Henriette Bosmans - Cello Sonata (written same year)
cello/ Marix Loevensohn (the dedicatee) with piano (the composer?) 

** 1924 - Mila Wellerson was cello soloist in Nicolò Paganini - Concerto for Violin No. 1 in E flat major, Op 6 (arr. Mila Wellerson for cello and orchestra in D major) Movement No. 1 Allegro maestoso - Tempo giusto,  with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1927 - Arnold Trowell was cello soloist in Joseph Haydn - Cello Concerto in D major, Hob. VIIb: 2, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1930 - Felix Salmond was cello soloist in Ernest Bloch - Schelomo (British premiere), with the newly formed BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1981 - birth of Anna Wróbel (Warsaw)
cellist, chamber musician, premieres of contemporary works and teacher

14 September
** 1907 - 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}

** 1926 - Arnold Trowell was cello soloist in Joseph Haydn - Cello Concerto in D major, Hob. VIIb: 2 (arr. Arnold Trowell), with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1953 - birth of Tom Cora (Yancey Mills, Virginia, USA) d.1998
cellist (improvisation, jazz & pop) and composer

** 1973 - Pierre Fournier/cello and Jean Fonda/piano performed Beethoven Cello Sonatas Nos. 4 and 5 {first half of a Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

15 September

** 1848 - birth of Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Fitzenhagen (Seesen, Brunswick, Germany) d.1890
cellist, composer, arranger, pedagogue

** 1875 - an advertisement appeared in the press “AMZ” of the publication of  "Concertstück" Op.1 of cellist Jacques Rensburg - however this same music may have simultaneously been published as “Recitativ, Adagio und Allegro in Form eines Concertstückes für Violoncello mit Begleitung des Orchesters” (ca.1873-5)

** 1889 - the great Italian-Anglo cellist Piatti had a fruitful friendship with Charles Villiers Stanford, The composer wrote his second sonata for cello and piano for him in 1889. According to a British newspaper report:
“The chief item at the Monday Popular Concert last night was a new sonata for pianoforte and violoncello by Professor Villiers Stanford. This work, which was composed by Professor Stanford during a visit recently paid by him to Signor Piatti in his Italian home, is in three movements”
We now know the ‘finishing dates’; the first movement is dated September 15; the second September 17, and the third, September 19. Worth investigating!

** 1923 - Jacques Lier 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}

** 1927 - Raya Garbousova was cello soloist in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op 33, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1971 - birth of Asier Polo (Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain)
cellist and professor

** 1962 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date by soloists Yan Pascal Tortelier and Paul Tortelier at the London Proms

16 September

** 1756 - birth of Carl Gottfried Wilhelm Wach (Loebau, Ober Lausitz, Germany)
cellist, double-bassist & violinist - from 1788 he was secretary to the concert society of Leipzig where he was a double bass player. Wach was also a collector of biographical notes, which Gerber later used for his famous dictionary.

** 1860 - birth of Hugo Dechert (Potschappel, Dersden, Germany) d.1923
cellist, orchestra principal cello, royal ‘chamber virtuoso’ & teacher

** 1897 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist in William Henry Squire - Berceuse {Proms premiere}, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1899 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist in William Henry Squire - Chansonette and Tzig-Tzig / Trad. Robin Adair {Proms premiere of this arrangement} / William Henry Squire - Slumber Song {World premiere}, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1942 - cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and her sister were arrested by the ‘Gestapo’ on a German railway station as they tried to escape to Paris, and were brought to prison in Breslau (trial in 5th June 1943)

** 1952 - André Navarra was cello soloist, along with Alfredo Campoli/violin, in Johannes Brahms - Double Concerto for violin and cello in A minor, with London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Basil Cameron {Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

** 1955 - on this day cellist Paul Tortelier finished recording Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto in A minor and Tchaikovsky - Rococo Variations, with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Herbert Menges (not known how many recording days were used)

** 1957 - on this day cellist Janos Starker recorded Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto in A minor, at the Kingsway Hall London, with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini

17 September

** 1840 - birth of Francesco Serato (Castefranco, Italy) d.1919
cellist (originally violinist), member of Bolognese Quartet & teacher

** 1849 - on this day Chopin emotionally wrote to Franchomme: "I love you, and this is all I can tell you now because I am dead tired and weak." Their friendship lasted until the death of the Polish musician on 17th October of that very year.

** 1889 - the great Italian-Anglo cellist Piatti had a fruitful friendship with Charles Villiers Stanford, The composer wrote his second sonata for cello and piano for him in 1889. According to a British newspaper report:
“The chief item at the Monday Popular Concert last night was a new sonata for pianoforte and violoncello by Professor Villiers Stanford. This work, which was composed by Professor Stanford during a visit recently paid by him to Signor Piatti in his Italian home, is in three movements”
We now know the ‘finishing dates’; the first movement is dated September 15; the second September 17, and the third, September 19. Worth investigating!

** 1908 - Herman Sandby was cello soloist in Eugen Albert - Concerto for Cello in C major, Op 20, with The New Queen's Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1922 - birth of Radu Aldulescu (Piteasca, Ilfov County, Romania) d.2006
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician & professor 

** 1944 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Howard Mitchell with Sol Sax /piano

** 1957 - on this day, and in one day, cellist Janos Starker recorded Schumann - Cello Concerto in A minor, at the Kingsway Hall (London), with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Carlo Meia Giulini

** 1960 - first performance of Luigi Dallapiccola - Dialoghi for cello and orchestra
(Teatro La Fenice, Venice, Italy)

** 1974 - Mstislav Rostropovich was soloist in Haydn - Cello Concerto in  C Major and Tchaikovsky - Rococo Variations, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Charles Groves, at the Philharmonic Hall (Liverpool).

** 1978 - cellist Mstislav Rostropovich plays in the East Room of the White House, invited by President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter.  The event was broadcast on national US television

** 1996 - first performance of Colin Matthews - Concerto for Cello No.2 
soloist - Mstislav Rostropovich, with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Colin Davis (Barbicam Hall, London)

18 September

** 1870 - birth of Emil Braun (Lenzburg, Switzerland)
cellist, cello & chamber music professor at Basle Conservatoire, cello teacher in Mülhausen & Colmar (Alsace); solo cellist and viola da gamba player

** 1895 - cellist Elsa Ruegger makes her soloist debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Berlin)

** 1897 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist in William Henry Squire - Summer Dreams, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1902 - Bertie Withers was cello soloist in Jules de Swert - Cello Concerto No. 2 in C minor {First performance in England} / Hugo Becker - Deux morceaux, Op 8 No. 1 Romance in D major / Wilhelm Fitzenhagen - Perpetuum mobile, Op 24, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1907 - English cellist Maud Fletcher married Francis William Beckford (1873–?) in Christchurch, Dorset, on this day. In an article about her most musical father from 1908 she is referred to as "lately married" and “well known, both to London and Bournemouth audiences, as a rare exponent of the violoncello" (Cremona 1908, p. 142).
Sadly, according to the findings in the English press, she subsequently refrained from performing in public as a married woman

** 1908 - Charles Warwick-Evans was cello soloist, along with Arthur Beckwith/violin, in in Johannes Brahms - Double Concerto for violin and cello in A minor, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1914 - Charles Warwick-Evans was cello soloist, along with Arthur Catterall/violin, in Johannes Brahms - Double Concerto for violin and cello in A minor, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1919 - Felix Salmond was cello soloist in Édouard Lalo - Cello Concerto in D minor, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1935 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date by soloists Adolf & Hermann Busch at the London Proms

** 1945 - birth of Roman Jabłoński (Gdańsk, Poland) 
cellist

** 1982 - first performance of Arvo Pärt - Fratres for 12 cellos
(Berlin)

** 1994 - birth of Sarah Hohstadt (Dallas, Texas, USA)
cellist, social media cello producer

19 September

** 1861 - birth of Jan Mulder (Amsterdam)
cellist, member of Sir Augustus Manns’s orchestra in Scotland, chamber musician; founder of successful ‘King Cole club’

** 1889 - the great Italian-Anglo cellist Piatti had a fruitful friendship with Charles Villiers Stanford, The composer wrote his second sonata for cello and piano for him in 1889. According to a British newspaper report:
“The chief item at the Monday Popular Concert last night was a new sonata for pianoforte and violoncello by Professor Villiers Stanford. This work, which was composed by Professor Stanford during a visit recently paid by him to Signor Piatti in his Italian home, is in three movements”
We now know the ‘finishing dates’; the first movement is dated September 15; the second September 17, and the third, September 19. Worth investigating!

** 1901 - birth of Rudolf Matz (Zagreb, Croatia) d. 1988
cellist, composer & pedagogue

** 1930 - birth of Muhal Richard Abrams (Chicago, USA) d. 2017
educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist

20 September

** 1869 - birth of Georg Wille (Greiz, Germany)
cellist, principal cello of Gewandhaus Orchestra, principal cellist Dresden Opera Orchestra, Dresden court ‘concertmeister’ and professor of cello; member of Petri Quartet, member Anno Hilf Quartet of Leipzig

** 1879 - birth of Kato van der Hoeven (Amsterdam)
cellist, woman cellist playing in the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam.

** 1942 - Eduard Rose was deported on this day by the Nazi regime to Weimar, Germany.
Died 24th January 1943, murdered in the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, Bohemia, aged 83 - he was a brother in law of Mahler; a founder member of the Rose Quartet; cellist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and principal cellist of the State Orchestra of Weimar

** 1950 - in the press on this date in history the big news was reporting on the ‘Mme. Suggia Memorial Concert’. The Times (London) reported it as:
“To memorialize the beloved artist upon her death in 1950, conductor Sir Malcolm Sargent and the London Symphony Orchestra gave a performance in her honor at the Royal Academy of Music. With the John portrait hanging in the entranceway, the orchestra performed a program that included the slow movement of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, a selection of Elgar’s Enigma Variations, and the slow movement Elgar’s cello concerto. A young Zara Nelsova played the solo part from within the cello section with the solo chair left empty in the center of the stage.”

** 1965 - Pierre Fournier finished recording today, with pianist Rudolf Firkusny, the two Brahms Cello Sonatas in Berlin (they had used several recording days of that week)

21 September

** 1931 - birth of Malcolm Tait (Vancouver, Canada)
cellist, orchestra principal cello & professor

** 1937 - Gaspar Cassadó was cello soloist in Richard Strauss - Don Quixote, Op 35, with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1951 - first performance of Grazyna Bacewicz - Cello Concerto No.1 
(Warsaw)

** 1953 - birth of David Pereira (Macksville, New South Wales, Australia)
cellist

** 1976 - Pierre Fournier (cello) and Walter Klien (piano) gave a special 'Tribute to Igloi' recital at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (London South Bank) - Thomas Igloi had a brilliant performing career which was terminated unexpectedly by his death at the age of only 29

** 1977 - on this day cellist Paul Tortelier finished recording Dvorak - Cello Concerto in B minor, in London, with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by André Previn (the recording days were 18th to 21st September ’77)

** 1981 - birth of Nicole Camille Richie {née Escovedo} (Berkeley, California, USA)
actress, ice-skater and amateur cellist!

** 1981 - birth of Yelian He (Shanghai, China)
cellist {based Australia}

22 September

** 1733 - birth of Anton Fils {Johann Anton Filtz} (Eichstätt, Germany) d.1760  
cellist & composer

** 1798 - publication of the Variations on Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen for cello and piano op.66 by Ludwig van Beethoven is announced in the Wiener Zeitung

** 1823 - birth of Moritz Karasowski (Warsaw) d.1892
cellist, royal court musician, music writer & composer

** 1891 - on this day the 36-year old cello virtuoso Alwin Schroeder sailed from Europe to New York City along with his wife Paula and two daughters (reports mention an infant son who died during, or shortly after the voyage), on the invitation of Arthur Nikisch, then principal conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

** 1899 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist in Jules Massenet - Thaïs Intermezzo 'Meditation' Act 2 Scene 2 (probably featured cello soloist but not 100% proved) and David Popper - Scenes from a Masked Ball, Op 3 No. 4 Papillons, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1904 - Robert Thrane was cello soloist in Georg Eduard Goltermann - Concerto for Cello No. 1 in A minor, Op 14, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1910 - Jacques Renard was cello soloist in Richard Strauss - Don Quixote, Op 35, with The New Queen's Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1930 - ‘The Times’ newspaper (England)  on this date reported on the programming of the ‘BBC Symphony Concerts”, quoting:
“When the BBC Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1930 by Sir Adrian Boult, its inaugural season featured guest appearances by Casals, Cortot, Stravinsky, Bartók, Dohnányi, Rubinstein, Szigeti, Myra Hess, and Adolph Busch. In this elite company, it was Suggia who starred on opening night at Queen’s Hall with a performance of the Saint-Saëns concerto.”

** 1936 - Thelma Reiss (formerly Reiss Smith) was cello soloist in Edward Elgar - Cello Concerto in E minor, with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1971 - Release Date (premiere), in Italy of the film Il merlo maschio (The Male Blackbird), known in the United Kingdom as ‘The Naked Cello’ or as ‘Secret Fantasy’ in the United States, is an daring Italian film in the ‘commedia sexy all'italiana’ style, and presents a theme of candaulism that was very rare at the time. It was filmed in 1971 by director Pasquale Festa Campanile, and starred Laura Antonelli and Lando Buzzanca.
Niccolò Vivaldi (Lando Buzzanca) is a frustrated cello player whose career has stalled and who is unappreciated by his orchestra director. He discovers that the real beauty of his wife, Costanza (played by Laura Antonelli), arouses in him admiration for her, and thus reflecting on him. From then on, he decides to show her in public in order to gain personal glory. He takes photographs of her in poses that gradually became more and more pornographic, and he begins to show these images to his friend and colleague Cavalmoretti (Lino Toffolo) and in a moment of madness to all the other members of the orchestra. Eventually, in a crescendo of exhibitionism, she playfully encourages him to photograph her nude in sensual poses, and finally he exposes her completely nude (by an apparent accident with her dress) in front of everyone at Verona's Arena during the showing of Aida. Costanza is among the choristers - in the middle of the performance she takes off her clothes in front of a large audience and stands stark naked on the stage! Niccolò is admitted to a psychiatric clinic. So "Il Merlo Maschio" is about the cello ... and women!

** 1991 - first performance of Peter Sculthorpe - Lament for cello and strings
(Sydney)

23 September

** 1823 - on 23rd and 25th of September of this year, the Yorkshire Grand Musical Festival took place. They were two-part Miscellaneous Selections, consisting primarily of vocal music but with orchestral overtures/symphonies at the start of each part and with occasional instrumental solos/concertantes given by Mr Lindley (cello) and Mr Nicholas (flute)/Signor Puzzi (horn) and Mr Mori (violin).

** 1823 - birth of Leopold Alexander Zellner (Agram, Germany) d.1894
cellist, organist, oboist & composer; professor of music theory at the Vienna Conservatoire, and instituted historical concerts in the Austrian capital. Various compositions for cello

** 1866 - birth of Sydney Brooks (Birmingham, England)
cellist, performer and professor at the royal Academy of Music (London), occasional composer of cello pieces

** 1869 - birth of Friedrich Siegfried Buxbaum (Vienna) d.1948
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician

** 1895 - Mabel Chaplin was cello soloist in David Popper - Romance in G major, Op 5, Scenes from a Masked Ball, Op 3 No. 4 Papillons, and Im Walde, Op 50 No. 4 Reigen {all Proms premieres}, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London - probably the FIRST ever appearance at The Proms by a soloist of Cello!}

** 1898 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist in Wilhelm Bernhard Molique - Concerto for Cello in D major, Op 45 No. 2 Andante {Proms premiere}, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1914 - Felix Salmond made his Proms début, playing Eugen d’Albert - Cello Concerto, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Henry Wood. Britain had declared war on Germany only the previous month ….

** 1921 - May Mukle was cello soloist, along with Marjorie Hayward/violin, in Johannes Brahms - Double Concerto for violin and cello in A minor, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1945 - the New London Orchestra conducted by Constant Lambert, at the Cambridge Theatre (London), presented the second of two concerts featuring Pau Casals (cello) accompanied by Gerald Moore/Harriet Cohen (piano)

23 September

** 1823 - on 23rd and 25th of September of this year, the Yorkshire Grand Musical Festival took place. They were two-part Miscellaneous Selections, consisting primarily of vocal music but with orchestral overtures/symphonies at the start of each part and with occasional instrumental solos/concertantes given by Mr Lindley (cello) and Mr Nicholas (flute)/Signor Puzzi (horn) and Mr Mori (violin).

** 1823 - birth of Leopold Alexander Zellner (Agram, Germany) d.1894
cellist, organist, oboist & composer; professor of music theory at the Vienna Conservatoire, and instituted historical concerts in the Austrian capital. Various compositions for cello

** 1866 - birth of Sydney Brooks (Birmingham, Emgland)
cellist, performer and professor at the royal Academy of Music (London), occasional composer of cello pieces

** 1869 - birth of Friedrich Siegfried Buxbaum (Vienna) d.1948
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician

** 1895 - Mabel Chaplin was cello soloist in David Popper - Romance in G major, Op 5, Scenes from a Masked Ball, Op 3 No. 4 Papillons, and Im Walde, Op 50 No. 4 Reigen {all Proms premieres}, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood
{Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London - probably the FIRST ever appearance at The Proms by a soloist of Cello!}

** 1898 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist in Wilhelm Bernhard Molique - Concerto for Cello in D major, Op 45 No. 2 Andante {Proms premiere}, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1914 - Felix Salmond made his Proms début, playing Eugen d’Albert - Cello Concerto, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Henry Wood. Britain had declared war on Germany only the previous month ….

** 1921 - May Mukle was cello soloist, along with Marjorie Hayward/violin, in Johannes Brahms - Double Concerto for violin and cello in A minor, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1945 - the New London Orchestra conducted by Constant Lambert, at the Cambridge Theatre (London), presented the second of two concerts featuring Pau Casals (cello) accompanied by Gerald Moore/Harriet Cohen (piano)

24 September

** 1859 - birth of Julius Klengel (Leipzig, Germany) d.1933
cellist, composer and pedagogue

** 1879 - birth of Joseph Malkin (b. Propoisk, near Odessa, Ukraine) d.1933 {birthdate also given as 25 Sept}
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician {based USA}

** 1901 - Jacques Renard was cello soloist in Alexander Glazunov - Chant du ménéstrel, Op 71 {First performance in England} / Édouard Lalo - Cello Concerto in D minor - No. 2 Intermezzo, with The New Queen's Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1902 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra  / William Henry Squire - Consolation, with The New Queen's Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1922 - a review appeared about Guilhermina Suggia on today’s date in the Daily Herald (London) in the article ‘Music of the Week’ touching on the extremes of praise and criticism of her playing:
“In the first movement of the Dvořák, her intonation was surprisingly faulty, but after this it was perfect. … Madame Suggia played with all her characteristic rhythmic verve and beauty of style. She is one of the few ’cellists living who can stand comparison to Casals.”

** 1929 - birth of Günther Johannes Paetsch (Stuttgart, Germany) d.1997
cellist and co-founder of the Paetsch Family Chamber Music Ensemble {based U.S.A.}

** 1975 - on this day cellist Paul Tortelier recorded Lalo - Cello Concerto in D minor, in Bedford (England), with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Louis Frémaux

** 1978 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by the National Gallery Orchestra, with cellist Evelyn Elsing as invited soloist, conducted by Richard Bales

** 1983 - first performance of Hans Werner Henze - Capriccio for cello 
(Linz, Austria)

** 1986 - birth of Lionel Bringuier (Nice, France)
conductor, cellist and pianist.

25 September

** 1744 - birth of Frederick William II, King of Prussia (Stadtschloss, Berlin, Prussia) d.1797
Royalty…and a keen amateur cellist!

** 1812 - birth of Jacob {Jacques} Franco Mendes (Amsterdam) d.1889
cellist & composer

** 1823 - on 23rd and 25th of September of this year, the Yorkshire Grand Musical Festival took place. They were two-part Miscellaneous Selections, consisting primarily of vocal music but with orchestral overtures/symphonies at the start of each part and with occasional instrumental solos/concertantes given by Mr Lindley (cello) and Mr Nicholas (flute)/Signor Puzzi (horn) and Mr Mori (violin).

** 1899 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist in William Henry Squire - Slumber Song, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1899 - birth of Ricard Lamote de Grignon i Ribas (Barcelona) d.1962
composer, orchestral conductor, cellist, opera orchestra cellist

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

** 1917 - Charles Warwick-Evans was cello soloist in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op 33, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1917 - Hindemith - 3 Pieces for cello and piano, Op.8 published by Breitkopf und Härtel  

** 1926 - Howard Bliss 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}

** 1952 - birth of Ola Karlsson (Sweden)
cellist, orchestra principal cello, conductor and professor

** 1967 - birth of Clive Greensmith (England)
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician and professor

** 1962 - birth of Pieter Wispelway (Haarton, Holland)
cellist

** 1966 - first performance of Shostakovich - Cello Concerto No.2, Op.126   
soloist Mstislav Rostropovich with USSR Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Evgeny Svetlanov (Moscow - Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire)       

 ** 1996 - Carlos Prieto /cello and Chiqui Martín /piano made a live recording for Spanish National Radio of Gaspar Cassadó - ‘Sonata nello stile antico spagnuolo’ for Cello and Piano (1925) and Tomás Marco - ‘Primer Espejo de Falla’, for cello and piano
Foundation Juan March, Madrid

26 September

** 1738 - cellist Giuseppe Clemens Ferdinand (Barone d’all Abaco) advances to the post of ‘director of the electoral chamber music’ to the Elector of Cologne in Bonn - his salary was 1000 Rhenish guilders (florins).

** 1835 - premiere of the opera ‘Lucía de Lammermoor’ of Donizetti on this day in the Italian Theatre of Paris; nearly the very end of the opera features an important cello solo

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

** 1905 - Jacques Renard was cello soloist in Joseph Haydn - Cello Concerto in D major, Hob. VIIb: 2 {Proms Premiere}, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1928 - Herbert Withers was cello soloist, along with Boris Pecker/violin, in Johannes Brahms - Double Concerto for violin and cello in A minor, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1939 - Emanuel Feuermann was due to be cello soloist in Haydn - Cello Concerto in D major, Hob. VIIb: 2, with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood - BUT the Concert cancelled due to outbreak of World War II {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1975 - first performance of Bunting - Elegy, for cello and piano, and first radio broadcast of Francis Routhe - Cello Sonata
Christopher Bunting/cello and Ernest Lush/piano (BBC radio concert broadcast)

** 1980 - cellist Lluis Claret gave the premiere of Joan Guinjoan - Cello Concerto (in its definitive form) with the Orquestra Cuitat de Barcelona conducted by Ernesto Halffter
Palau de la Música, Barcelona - promoted by the SIAM (Iberoamerican Society of Musical Arts)

** 1995 - Carlos Prieto/cello and Chiky Martín/piano performed Rodolfo Halffter - Sonata for cello and piano, Op.26, recorded live by Spanish National Radio
Auditorio de la Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo, Alicante, Spain

** 1999 - Release date (premiere screened in U.S.A.) of the film “A Song from the Heart” (Español: “Melodías del corazón”)
directed by Marcus Cole, starring Amy Grant, D.W. Moffett and Alexandrea Purviss
this poignant love story stars Amy Grant as a beautiful, blind concert cellist who falls for a famous, self-centered pianist but doesn't realize that true love is right before her eyes

27 September

** 1802 - birth of August Theodor Müller (Brunswick, Germany) d.1875
cellist, founder member of famous Müller String Quartet

** 1869 - birth of Georg Wille (Greiz, Germany) d.1958
cellist, principal cello Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,  principal cello Hofkapelle in Dresden, and cello professor on Berlin and Dresden

** 1878 - birth of Karl Klein (Aix-la-Chapelle, Germany)
cellist, principal cello Municipal Orchestra of Dusseldorf, teacher Düsseldorf Conservatoire (and member of the Conservatoire Quartet); member  of the ‘Rhenish Trio for chamber music’; composer of cello music and songs

** 1883 - birth of Hanns Pick (St. Gallen, Switzerland) d.1957
cellist, orchestra principal cello, professor & conductor {based USA}

** 1893 - birth of Walter {August Wilhelm} Schulz (Frankfurt-Oder, Germany) d.1968
cellist, viola da gamba, university professor & conservatoire director

** 1896 - birth of {Felix} Robert Mendelssohn (Berlin) d.1951
highly acclaimed ‘amateur’ concert cellist, who even recorded as soloist; later based in the U.S.A. {the great grandnephew of the famous composer Felix Mendelssonn-Bartholdy}

** 1902 - Bertie Withers 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}

** 1913 - Beatrice Eveline was cello soloist in Léon Boëllmann - Variations symphoniques, Op 23, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1917 - cellist Juan Ruiz-Casaux performed as soloist, with Sres. Bordas and Cubiles, in the Beethoven - Triple Concerto in C Major, in San Sebastian (Basque country)

** 1921 - Charles Warwick-Evans was cello soloist in Richard Strauss - Don Quixote, Op 35, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1924 - W(alter) Granville Britton was cello soloist in Antonin Dvořák - Cello Concerto in B minor, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1928 - May Mukle was cello soloist in Erno Dohnanyi - Concertstück for Cello in D major, Op 12, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

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

** 1935 - birth of Natalia Shakhovskaya (Moscow) d.2017
cellist & professor

** 1935 - first performance of Hans Pfitzner - Concerto for cello and orchestra, Op.42 
(Frankfurt, Germany)

** 1987 - first complete performance of Ross Lee Finney - Narrative in Two Movements, for cello and 14 instruments
(Cleveland State University, Cleveland, USA)

** 1994 - first recording of Cristobal Halffter - Fandango, for eight cellos
cellists: Octeto de Violoncellos Conjunto Ibérico, conducted by Elias Erizcuren (Casa Velazquez, Madrid)

28 September

** 1798 - on September 28th, 1798, the “Arpeggio Harmonic for cello and bass” went on sale for ‘20 reals’ for each handwritten copy of Pablo Vidal according to an announcement of the ‘Gazetta of Madrid’

** 1809 - in concert programmes for 28th and 29th September 1809 the names Mrs Billington, Mr and Mrs Vaughan and Messrs Bartleman, Braham and Goss are given as vocal soloists both days. That for 28th September refers to Franz Cramer as a ‘cello obligatto’player but provides no further information regarding the instrumentalist

** 1879 - birth of Iwan D’Archambeau (Herve, Belgium) d.1955
cellist, chamber musician

** 1899 - Paul Bazelaire was cello soloist in Karl Yulievich Davydov - 4 Pieces, Op 20 No. 2 Am Springbrunnen  {Proms premiere}, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1900 - William Henry Squire was cello soloist, along with Arthur W Payne/violin and Evelyn Suart or Percy Pitt/piano, in Ludwig van Beethoven - Concerto for cello, cello and piano in C major, 'Triple Concerto' {Proms premiere}, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1929 - Arturo Bonucci was cello soloist in Richard Strauss - Don Quixote, Op 35, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

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

** 1951 - birth of Sergei Pavlovich Roldugin (Sakhalin, Latvia)
cellist and businessman (oil industry) {based St. Petersburg}

29 September

** 1809 - in concert programmes for 28th and 29th September 1809 the names Mrs Billington, Mr and Mrs Vaughan and Messrs Bartleman, Braham and Goss are given as vocal soloists both days. That for 29th September cites Mr Holmes (bassoon) and Robert Lindley (cello) as concerto performers in the concert.

** 1879 - birth of Willem Willeke d.1950
cellist

** 1918 - birth of Karl Anderson (Vaterland, Norway) d.1970
cellist, orchestral principal cello (and occasional composer)

** 1923 - cellist May Mukle played the world premiere of Rebecca Clarke's Rhapsody for violoncello and piano at the Berkshire Music Festival in Pittsfield / MA (U.S.A.) with pianist Myra Hess - Mukle's commitment to unknown and new music was legendary!

** 1928 - Livio Mannucci was cello soloist in Richard Strauss - Don Quixote, Op 35, with Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1931 - cellist Paul Hermann married Ada Weevers were married in Amersfoort  (Holland) on September 29th, 1931, and they then moved to his apartment in Berlin.
Ada described her first experiences as a newly-wed in a long letter to her younger brother, Jaap. The newlyweds couldn't afford to “just go to any concert” ….it was too expensive. As an alternative, they listened to concerts on the radio and sometimes attended ‘house’ concerts. The programmes were invariably modern: Hindemith, Stravinsky. Previously this music was performed in concert halls, but now in the absence of sufficient public, in private homes. These concerts often attracted more than a hundred people, and there was a sense of belonging together, everybody shook hands with one another. Ada estimated that Paul knew at least a third of the public, including Hindemith.

** 1946 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Howard Mitchell, with Sol Sax /piano

** 1963 - first performance of Grazyna Bacewicz - Cello Concerto No.2 
(Warsaw)

** 1987 - first performance of Colin Matthews - Five Duos for cello and piano
(London)

** 1988 - first performance of Ruth Gipps - Scherzo and Adagio for solo cello, Op.68
soloist - David Johnstone (St. John’s Smith Square, London)

** 1989 - first concert performance of Cristobal Halffter - Fandango, for eight cellos
cellists: Octeto de Violoncellos Conjunto Ibérico, conducted by Elias Erizcuren (Stuttgart, Germany)

30 September

** 1846 - birth of Friedrich Monhaupt (Dannenberg, Germany)
cellist, member theatre orchestra of Altona, member en Trêves Municipal Orchestra, solo cellist in the court chapel at Senders hausen, solo cellist at the court theatre at Cassels, chamber musician (Cassel String Quartet)

** 1897 - birth of Gaspar Cassadó (Barcelona, Catalonia) d.1966
cellist & composer/arranger

** 1903 - Herbert Withers was cello soloist in Hugo Becker - Concerto for Cello in A major, Op 10 {London premiere}, with The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1913 - when Elisabeth Kuyper performed her cantata for women's choir, solos, declamation and orchestra with a “semi-professional women's orchestra” in Amsterdam on 30th September, 1913, cellists Kato van der Hoeven and Nella Gunning were among the performers.

** 1918 - birth of Aldo Parisot (Natal, Brazil) d.2018
cellist & pedagogue

** 1922 - birth of Oscar Pettiford (Okmulgee, Oklahoma, USA)
jazz cellist, double bassist & composer

** 1947 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier finished recording Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto in A minor in the London Abbey Road studios, with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Walter Susskind (the other recording day was the previous day)

** 1975 - first performance of Jean Francais - Aubade, for 12 Cellos
The 12 Cellos of the Berlin Philharmonic (Berlin)

** 1976 - first performance of Leonid Bashmakov - Concerto for Cello and Orchestra 
(Helsinki)

** 1979 - birth of Rushad Robert Eggleston (Camel, California, USA)
cellist, composer, wild jazz vocalist & kazoo player

** Birthday - Cecilia De Montserrat Campa Ansó Spanish cellist, professor & head of Strings Madrid Superior Conservatoire