Anner Bylsma (born Anne Bijlsma, 17 February 1934 – 25 July 2019) was a Dutch

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 played on both modern and period instruments in a historically informed style. He took an interest in music from an early age.Classic Dutch - Cellist Anner Bylsma, Radio Netherlands Archives
/ref> He studied with Carel van Leeuwen Boomkamp at the

Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire ( nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Netherl ...

and won the ''Prix d'excellence'' in 1957. In 1959, he won the first prize in the

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), usually known in English by his Castilian Spanish name Pablo Casals,

Competition in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Later he was for six years (from 1962 to 1968) the principal cellist of the

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ( nl, Koninklĳk Concertgebouworkest, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, based at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). Considered one of the world's leading orchestras, Queen Beatrix conferred the "R ...

. He became an Erasmus Scholar at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1982. He was the author of the book ''Bach, the Fencing Master'', a stylistic and aesthetic analysis of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

's cello suites. He was one of the pioneers of the "Dutch Baroque School" and rose to fame as a partner of

Frans Brüggen Franciscus ("Frans") Jozef Brüggen (30 October 1934 – 13 August 2014) was a Dutch Conducting, conductor, recorder player and baroque flautist. Biography Born in Amsterdam, Brüggen was the last of the nine children of August Brüggen, a textile ...

and Gustav Leonhardt, who toured extensively together and made many recordings. Bylsma continued to be a towering figure in the baroque cello movement. In 1979, Bylsma recorded the six suites for unaccompanied cello (BWV 1007–1012) by J. S. Bach, the first of its kind on a period instrument. He later went on to recreate the same music in 1992 on the large

Servais Stradivarius The ''Servais Stradivarius'' is an antique cello crafted in 1701 by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona (1644–1737). One of only sixty-three extant cellos attributed to Stradivari, it was crafted from exceptional wood reserved by ...

and on a five-string

violoncello piccolo 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, ...

. Bylsma was married to the Dutch violinist Vera Beths (mother of Dutch actress

Katja Herbers Katja Mira Herbers (born 19 October 1980) is a Dutch actress. She is best known for portraying Dr. Helen Prins on the WGN America drama series ''Manhattan'' (2014–2015), Emily Grace in the HBO science fiction drama series ''Westworld'' (2018� ...

). He had a son and a daughter, documentary filmmaker Carine Bijlsma.

References

External links

*
Interview with Anner Bylsma
April 18, 1989 * Anner Bylsma: ''Bach, the fencing master: Reading aloud from the first three cello suites.'' Basel: Bylsma Fencing Mail, 2nd ed., no date. . (Self-published) 1934 births 2019 deaths Harvard University staff Dutch classical cellists Musicians from The Hague Players of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Royal Conservatory of The Hague alumni Dutch performers of early music 20th-century Dutch musicians 20th-century Dutch male musicians 21st-century Dutch musicians 21st-century male musicians 20th-century classical musicians {{cellist-stub