Auguste Franchomme

Auguste Franchomme (1808–1884) – French cellist and composer. At first a member of Parisian orchestras, he later became a soloist and chamber musician. He was a friend of Mendelssohn, and also of Chopin, for whom, particularly following the departure of the latter’s secretary Julian Fontana, he became an invaluable support in the onerous tasks of everyday life. Chopin dedicated to Franchomme the Sonata in G minor, Op. 65 for piano and cello (first performed by Chopin and Franchomme – who was an active witness to the successive stages in the work’s composition – in 1848). Thomas Tellefsen also played chamber music with Franchomme, and both musicians were members of Princess Marcelina Czartoryska’s Mozartists Club.