André Hekking (20 July 186614 December 1925) was a French

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

. Born in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, he studied with

Charles Auguste de Bériot Charles Auguste de Bériot (; 20 February 18028 April 1870) was a Belgian violinist, artist and composer. Biography Charles de Bériot was born in 1802 in Leuven, France (now part of Belgium) into a noble family but was orphaned at the age of n ...

, touring

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

at fifteen. In 1909, he settled in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to become a teacher of the cello, having in the meantime gained a reputation throughout

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

as a

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'', or ; Late Latin ''virtuosus''; Latin ''virtus''; 'virtue', 'excellence' or 'skill') is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, ...

. He joined the faculty of the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or 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 Jean Ja ...

in 1918 and became a professor a year later. He also taught at the American Conservatory in

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

. Among his notable pupils were the cellists

Juan Ruiz Casaux Juan Antonio Ruiz-Casaux y Lopez de Carvajal, V. marqués de Atalaya Bermeja, usually known as Juan Ruiz Casaux (23 December 188916 January 1972) was a noted Spanish Cello, cellist and teacher. Along with Pablo Casals and Gaspar Cassadó, he was a ...

, Charles Houdret, and Grace Vamos. He died in Paris. Hekking was the cousin of Gérard Hekking and the nephew of Anton Hekking, both cellists.

References

*David Ewen, ''Encyclopedia of Concert Music''. New York; Hill and Wang, 1959.

External links

* 1866 births 1925 deaths French classical cellists French music educators Cello educators Musicians from Bordeaux Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris Knights of the Legion of Honour Academic staff of the American Conservatory {{Cellist-stub