Auguste Tolbecque (March 30, 1830 – March 8, 1919) was a French

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

who composed a number of etudes for his instrument. Born in Paris, Tolbecque studied cello with Olive-Charlier Vaslin at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

, where he was awarded the premier prix'' for cello in 1849. He later taught at the Marseille Conservatory from 1865–1871, followed by a period in Paris, where he performed with the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, as well as with the Maurin and Lamoureux string quartets. On January 19, 1873, Tolbecque premiered

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

'' Cello Concerto No. 1'', a work which was dedicated to him by the composer. In addition to his career as a professional cellist, Tolbecque built and constructed a number of historical instruments, and would often perform works on

viola da gamba The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...

during his recitals. Many of his instruments were acquired for the collection of the Brussels Conservatoire (now the Musical Instrument Museum) in 1879.

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* Musicians from Paris 1830 births 1919 deaths French classical cellists French composers French male composers Knights of the Legion of Honour {{Cellist-stub