Jacqueline du Pré

Born in Oxford on 26 January 1945, Jacqueline du Pré was the second child of Derek and pianist Iris du Pré. At four Jacqueline heard the sound of the cello on the radio and asked her mother for "one of those." She started with lessons from her mother before beginning study at the London Violoncello School at five. Before long she was winning local music competitions alongside her sister, flautist Hilary du Pré. Du Pré’s teacher from 1955 to 1961 was William Pleeth. Subsequently she also participated in a Pablo Casals masterclass in 1960, as well as short-term studies with Paul Tortelier in Paris, and with Rostropovich in the Soviet Union in 1966. So impressed was the legendary Rostropovich with his young pupil that at the end of her study with him, he declared her "the only cellist of the younger generation that could equal and overtake [his] own achievement."

In 1971, Jacqueline du Pré’s playing began to decline when she began to lose sensitivity in her fingers. She took a sabbatical in 1971/72 and although she did perform during her sabbatical they were very rare occurrences. In 1973 du Pré resumed her concert activities, but by this time, the symptoms had become severe. In October 1973, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the disease that caused her health to deteriorate until her death in London on October 19, 1987, aged 42. After du Pré’s death, an English rose was named after her. She also left a legacy of recordings which have now been compiled into a set of 17 CDs.