Jacques van Lier

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Jacques van Lier (1875–1951) was a Dutch-British cellist known for his playing, teaching, and prolific work arranging music for the cello. He spent much of his career in Germany and England and earned a reputation as a skilled interpreter and a generous teacher.

Born in The Hague, van Lier came from a musical family. He started performing as a child and studied in The Hague and Rotterdam. By 16 he joined the Sinfonieorchester Basel and soon became its solo cellist. He then joined the Berliner Philharmoniker as second cellist and quickly rose to the lead cello chair. In Berlin he married pianist Lina Coen in 1899, and they had a daughter, Felicia “Sousie,” in 1901. The marriage ended in 1907.

Van Lier balanced performing with teaching and arranging. He left the Berlin orchestra to devote himself to teaching at the Klindworth-Scharwenka conservatory and to making cello arrangements. In 1899 he helped form The Dutch Trio, a piano trio famous across Europe, with Coen and others, and the group remained active until 1910. He also performed with notable musicians, including Otto Klemperer, and gave concerts in Vienna.

With the outbreak of World War I, van Lier moved to Eastbourne, England, and soon settled in London. He became known as “the cellist of continental fame,” gave frequent BBC radio performances, and premiered new works, such as John David Davis’s Cello Concerto in 1921. He also performed at The Proms in 1923, playing Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with the New Queen’s Hall Orchestra. His career in Britain grew, and he became a British citizen in 1937.

Van Lier was a dedicated arranger, publishing hundreds of cello arrangements and helping to keep works from the 17th and 18th centuries alive for cellists. He published and promoted arrangements of music by many composers and was admired by fellow musicians, some of whom dedicated works to him. He recorded for Vocalion Records in 1926, earning praise as “the Paganini of cellists.”

His family endured tragedies during the Holocaust, including his sisters’ families in the Netherlands and others connected to him. Jacques van Lier died in 1951 in Angmering, Sussex, leaving behind a legacy as a performer, teacher, and prolific arranger who helped expand the cello repertoire and inspired generations of players.