Jacqueline du Pré vs James Brown
Two music prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Jacqueline du Pré | James Brown | |
| Field | Music | Music |
| Sub-field | Classical | Composer |
| Born | 1945 | 1933 |
| Died | 1987 | 2006 |
| Country of birth | United Kingdom | United States |
| Star sign | Aquarius | Taurus |
Who they are
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 →
James Brown
James Joseph Brown Jr. was born on May 3, 1933, in Barnwell, South Carolina, and raised in Augusta, Georgia, in conditions of severe poverty during the Great Depression. He shined shoes, picked cotton, and by his own account wore clothes made from flour sacks. He was arrested for petty theft at sixteen and sentenced to hard labor. What emerged from that crucible was not bitterness, though there was plenty of reason for it — what emerged was the most kinetic, most commanding live performer in the history of American popular music, a man who turned…
Full biography of James Brown →
What they share
- Both are held here under Music.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Born in different countries: United Kingdom and United States.
- 12 years separate their births (1945 and 1933).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Jacqueline du Pré or James Brown?
- James Brown. Jacqueline du Pré was born in 1945, James Brown in 1933.
- What field is each of them in?
- Jacqueline du Pré is filed under Music (Classical). James Brown is filed under Music (Composer).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.