Ella Fitzgerald vs Jacqueline du Pré
Two music prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Ella Fitzgerald | Jacqueline du Pré | |
| Field | Music | Music |
| Sub-field | Composer | Classical |
| Born | 1917 | 1945 |
| Died | 1996 | 1987 |
| Country of birth | United States | United Kingdom |
| Star sign | Taurus | Aquarius |
Who they are
Ella Fitzgerald
On the night of November 21, 1934, a seventeen-year-old girl walked onto the stage of the Apollo Theater in Harlem for Amateur Night and froze. She had entered intending to dance — she was a known dancer among her friends in Yonkers — but when she looked out at the audience, something failed. She stood there, in a dress borrowed from a friend, in shoes that didn't fit, before an audience that was already restless. Then she opened her mouth and sang. The audience went quiet. She won first place. The bandleader Chick Webb heard…
Full biography of Ella Fitzgerald →
Jacqueline du Pré
There is a recording made in 1965, when Jacqueline du Pré was nineteen years old, that classical musicians still use as a reference point for what the cello can express. She was performing Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor — a late, elegiac work that Elgar wrote in 1919, after the destruction of the First World War, and which had been considered a minor piece of his output until du Pré played it. Her performance — large-scaled, deeply personal, technically sovereign — transformed the concerto's reputation overnight. It is now considered one of the great…
Full biography of Jacqueline du Pré →
What they share
- Both are held here under Music.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Born in different countries: United States and United Kingdom.
- 28 years separate their births (1917 and 1945).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Ella Fitzgerald or Jacqueline du Pré?
- Ella Fitzgerald. Ella Fitzgerald was born in 1917, Jacqueline du Pré in 1945.
- What field is each of them in?
- Ella Fitzgerald is filed under Music (Composer). Jacqueline du Pré is filed under Music (Classical).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.