It is no wonder, then, that two of the most intriguing recent CD's of cello music are reissues, one featuring Rostropovich, the other Piatigorsky.

One can hardly accuse him of taking the easy way out, in terms of programming; his was an energetic, concentrated and uncompromising program of avant-garde cello music, most of it unaccompanied.

Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Britten, Lutoslawski, Bernstein, Penderecki, Schnittke and Walton (the list runs on) obliged him with what amounts to a near-comprehensive catalog of 20th-century cello music.

The rest of the composer's extensive cello music was written for others.

And what about a moratorium on setting dance to unaccompanied cello music by Bach?

Ted Mook specializes in contemporary cello music and has a particular interest in microtonality, a language in which composers replace the conventional 12-note octave with one that is more finely subdivided.

Hendry has also recorded virtuoso cello music with Raphael Wallfisch for Chandos Records.

Xenia Jankovic occupies an important place in the study of contemporary cello music.

In 2007, she released her first solo album of looped cello music, Delay.

Mr. Starer has succeeded, first of all, in writing good cello music.