PERSONAL belongings which offer an intimate glimpse into the life of a celebrated Jersey cellist regarded as one of the 20th century’s greatest musicians are expected to fetch tens of thousands of pounds at auction this week.
More than 100 lots belonging to Jacqueline du Pré – including handwritten letters, family photographs, school reports and even her childhood teddy bear – are due to go under the hammer tomorrow at Gardiner Houlgate auctioneers in Wiltshire.
Ms du Pré, whose father was born in Jersey, became an international star while still in her teens and is particularly remembered for her interpretation of Elgar’s Cello Concerto.
The collection on offer charts her journey from a cello-obsessed child to international acclaim and, ultimately, the illness which brought her performing career to a premature end.
Her sister, Hilary Finzi, said many of the items had remained packed away by the family for decades.
“Unboxing and unwrapping everything brought memories flooding back to us, together with many tears,” she said. “Mum and Dad had kept everything. We had, too.”
Auctioneer Jamie South described the collection as a “remarkable archive” unlike anything relating to du Pré previously offered at public auction.
“These items tell the story of Jacqueline du Pré’s life. Through her letters and documents, we see her becoming the most talented cellist in the world and then her tragic decline. It’s heart-breaking stuff,” he said.
“We also learn smaller things like her hatred of travel, her loneliness when abroad, her love of the English spring. It’s an extraordinary glimpse into the very soul of this great performer.”
Ms du Pré was born in Oxford in 1945, but Jersey occupied a place in her family history – and was a connection she herself highlighted at the height of her fame when interviewed by the New York Times in London in 1967, shortly before her 22nd birthday.
“The name du Pré comes from Jersey, Channel Islands,” she told the newspaper, adding that her father had been born in the Island and that his family had lived in Jersey for centuries.
Ms Ms du Pré had already performed in the Island by then – a photograph held in the JEP archive records the musician appearing at the annual celebrity concert at the Jersey Festival of Music in May 1962, when she was just 17.
More than 600 people packed into Springfield for the concert, with the JEP reporting that the teenage musician received a “magnificent reception” on her first appearance in her father’s native Island.
The archive caption records that the audience was “fascinated” by the young cellist, who was already being described as a leading authority’s potential choice to become Britain’s greatest-ever cellist.
Ms du Pré’s fascination with the cello began early – she recalled in the 1967 New York Times interview hearing the instrument on the radio at the age of four and immediately telling her mother: “I’d like one of those.”
Her mother, pianist Iris Greep, remembered that the young girl received a cello for her fifth birthday and, to make the hard work of learning more enjoyable, her mother composed small pieces accompanied by words and drawings for her daughter to practise.
Ms du Pré’s first public performance followed when she was seven. At 11 years old, competing against musicians as old as 21, she won the Suggia International Award, giving her five years of tuition in Britain and overseas.
By 16, she was making her debut at Wigmore Hall – a landmark performance which nearly came unstuck when a cello string loosened during a Handel sonata, forcing the then-teenager to stop playing and explain the problem to her audience.
Rather than derail the recital, Ms du Pré later recalled that the interruption won the audience’s sympathy and settled her nerves.
Her career subsequently took her around the world.
The New York Times profile described a musician whose mastery was already considered beyond doubt. She had studied under Paul Tortelier in Paris and Mstislav Rostropovich in Moscow, with Rostropovich telling her that he felt he had found somebody to “carry on my work”.
Her recording of Elgar’s Cello Concerto became particularly celebrated and helped cement an international reputation which survives decades after her death.
Du Pré’s career was cut short after she developed multiple sclerosis. She stopped performing in the 1970s and died in 1987, aged 42.
Mr South said it was almost impossible to predict what the newly released collection would fetch.
A smaller auction of 20 lots last year realised more than £25,000, while he expects the latest collection to sell for “tens of thousands of pounds”.
The life of Jacqueline du Pré
1945: Jacqueline du Pré was born in Oxford. Her father, Derek du Pré, had been born in Jersey, and Jacqueline later told the New York Times that the du Pré family had been established in the Island for centuries.
Age four: She heard a cello on the radio and immediately wanted one. Her mother bought her an instrument for her fifth birthday.
Age seven: She gave her first public performance; at 11 she won the Suggia International Award against competitors aged up to 21.
1961: Aged 16, she made the Wigmore Hall debut which established her as an exceptional new talent.
1962: The 17-year-old du Pré performed before an audience of more than 600 at Springfield during the Jersey Festival of Music. The JEP recorded a “magnificent reception” for her first concert in her father’s native Island.
1967: The New York Times profiled her as she prepared for an American tour of more than 20 concerts. By then her performances had been selling out for six years and she was already being compared with the greatest cellists of the age.
1987: Du Pré died aged 42 after her career had been curtailed by multiple sclerosis.
