David Popper Archives

Expanding the Cello Repertoire to Include Women Composers

Several years back I discovered a recording of a beautiful concerto written by the French pianist and composer, Marie Jäell. I immediately fell in love with it’s infectious melodies and knew I wanted to be able to play the piece. I discovered it was unpublished but the manuscripts were housed in the Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg. A friend helped me obtain them so that I could prepare a score for cello and piano. The Jäell concerto is the first known cello concerto written by a woman. Marie Jäell wrote the concerto in 1882 and dedicated the concerto to the cellist Jules Desart who performed the premier. One may assume that he helped her understand cello technique as the work is in a very comfortable key for cello [...]

By Wendy Velasco|2024-07-05T20:01:23-04:00January 30th, 2023|Categories: Artistic Vision, Repertoire|Tags: Franz Liszt, Cello Repertoire, Saint-Saëns, Marie Jäell, Women Composers, Xavier Phillips, Dvorak, cello concerto, David Popper|

Schools of Cello Playing: Germany

CelloBello is thrilled to announce a new partnership with Interlude.hk, a website featuring wonderful articles on all aspects of music and the arts. In this reciprocal arrangement, our two websites will share blogs of mutual interest to our readers. We encourage you to pay Interlude.hk a visit and explore their wide range of fascinating content. We begin our exchange by featuring one of their most prominent authors, the former Associate Principal Cello of the Minnesota Orchestra, Janet Horvath. Following is the first in her series on the various national schools of cello playing. _____________________________ Bernhard Romberg Tracing one’s roots is a popular pastime today. In music, the schools of cello playing can be traced genealogically through the connection we have with our teachers, and their teachers. Just as [...]

By Janet Horvath|2024-07-05T20:14:13-04:00February 11th, 2022|Categories: Historical|Tags: Friedrich Grützmacher, Bernhard Cossmann, Julius Klengel, Janos Starker, Alfred Piatti, Emanuel Feuermann, Friedrich Dotzauer, Hugo Becker, Bernhard Romberg, David Popper, German School, Schools of Cello Playing, Friedrich August Kummer|

A Biographical Sketch of David Popper

The following was written for inclusion in a new performing edition of the High School of Cello Playing that will be released soon. Robert Battey David Popper (1843-1913) It’s not commonly known that the composer of the famous Hungarian Rhapsody and cello professor at the storied Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest was actually Bohemian (Czech). David Popper was born in Prague to Jewish parents, his father a cantor at two large synagogues. Popper’s musical talent was evident from early childhood, first at the piano and then on the violin, which he studied from age 6 to 12 (this was not so unusual; others who began on the violin included Piatti, Servais, Becker, Casals, and Carter Brey). But at his audition for the Prague Conservatory, Popper was accepted with the curious [...]

By Robert Battey|2024-07-08T12:44:34-04:00January 20th, 2021|Categories: Historical|Tags: Franz Liszt, Etudes, Biography, Biographical Sketch, David Popper|