1797

Friedrich August Kummer

(5 August 1797 – 22 August 1879)

German cellist, composer, and pedagogue

Here is the first movement of his Cello Duet Op. 22, No 1, played by cellists Hannah Holman and Ann Kim:

1890

Hans Gál

(5 August 1890 – 3 October 1987)

Austrian-British composer, teacher, and author

Photo by Berthold Bing – Israel National Library, Schwadron collection, CC BY 3.0.

Here is his Cello Concerto, Op. 67, performed by cellist Antonio Meneses with the Northern Sinfonia conducted by Claudio Cruz:

1926

Betsy Jolas

Happy 95th birthday!

Franco-American composer

Here is her “Scion” for unaccompanied cello (1973), performed by Anssi Karttunen:

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1944

Christopher Gunning

Happy birthday!

English composer of concert works and music for films and television

Photo by Sl-Ziga. CC BY-SA 3.0.

Here is the first movement of his Cello Concerto: I. Waltz Memories, performed by cellist Richard Harwood with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the composer:

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1975

Eicca Toppinen (Eino Matti “Eicca” Toppinen)

Happy birthday!

Finnish cellist (in Apocalyptica), songwriter, producer, arranger, and drummer

Photo by Tuomas Vitikainen – CC BY-SA 3.0.

Here is a short film of him:

Your Turn

Know of other cellists, cello makers, composers of music played by cellists, or those with a strong tie to the cello world born on this day? This is a work in progress. We’d love to hear from you if you have suggestions, additions, or corrections. Thank you!

We include those with recordings and/or images available online.