Composers with good-sized numbers of works for solo cello?
 

I know only of Bach as a major composer of works for solo cello, so any others would be appreciated for this budding cellist.

Beethoven composed 5 amazing sonatas for solo cello and piano. Throughout the Romantic period several composers had a few cello sonatas here and there. I know Brahms and Rachmaninoff each composed two. One of my favorite is Rachmaninoff's Cello Sonata in G Minor Op. 19:

Friedrich Dotzauer
Luigi Boccherini
Domenico Gabrielli
Antonio Vivaldi
Friedrich Grutzmacher
Jean-Baptiste Bréval

Those are just some composers who've written pieces for cello, both sonatas and concertos. I'm not actually familiar with any of their cello pieces in terms of playing it (difficulty, etc), so a Google search for their cello works might help you :)

I'm listening to some cello pieces by one of Bach's composer sons, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. He seems to have enjoyed composing for cello (who wouldn't?).

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Cello concerto A minor, 1st movement
Peter Bruns, cellist
A frenzied, slightly moody movement that is quite nice, I feel, but long, long, long:



Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Cello Concerto in A Major, Wq. 172, 1st movement
Caroline Dale, cellist, who plays beautifully:love:
A stately, content movement:

http://sparebricks.fika.org/sbzine11/images/DG02.jpg

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Cello Concerto in A Major, Wq. 172 - 3. Allegro assai
A pleasant, happy movement:

Excellent suggestion, Vegangelica! C.P.E. Bach is overlooked way too often.

Why, thank you, Burning Down! :)

But I have to confess...the only reason I thought of C.P.E. Bach is because you posted about him yesterday! :p: Before reading your post, I didn't even realize any of J.S. Bach's children *were* composers. :o:

Well, in that case I'm glad to have introduced you to him!

He has already been mentioned,but Luigi Boccherini is one of the main men for cello music.