The Frédéric Kalkbrenner Tradition
Piano Traditions Through Their Genealogy Trees
© 2021, by Daniel Pereira
Doctor of Musical Arts | www.daniel-pereira.com
Adam, Louis
French (Muttersholtz, Bas-Rhin, December 3, 1758 — Paris, April 8, 1848)
Adam was a teacher at the Paris Conservatory from 1797 to 1842. Among his pupils were Frédéric Kalkbrenner and Ferdinand Hérold. He devised two educational methods for the piano: the Principe général du doigté pour le forté-piano and a Méthode du piano du Conservatoire. Adam composed several piano sonatas and other smaller works.
[See the Louis Adam Tradition]
Anderson [née Philpot], Lucy
English (Bath, December 12, 1797 — London, December 24, 1878)
Lucy Anderson was a pianist. In 1822, she became the first woman pianist to perform at the Philharmonic Society concerts in London. She taught Princess, later Queen Victoria and her children. Anderson also taught at the Royal Academy of Music. She married violinist and Master of the Queen´s Music George Frederick Anderson. Arabella Goddard was among her students.
Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel
German (Weimar, March 8, 1714 — Hamburg, December 14, 1788)
C.P.E. Bach was one of the most important composers of the second half of the 18th century, particularly admired as a teacher and composer of keyboard works. In addition to studying music, he was also studied law. His teacher was his father, Johann Sebastian Bach. His Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments, published in two parts in 1753 and 1762, respectively, was to turn into one of the most influential treatises, and the first one to refer specifically to the pianoforte as a separate and distinct instrument. Both Haydn and Beethoven knew it and used it in their teaching. C.P.E. Bach also composed chamber, orchestral and vocal music.
[See the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Tradition]
Blahetka, Anne Marie Leopoldine
Austrian (Guntramsdorf, November 15, 1809 — Boulogne-sur-Mer, January 17, 1885)
Leopoldine Blahetka was a pianist and composer. She was one of the most influential and successful women composers in the 19th century and contributed to elevate the role of the professional female musician in society. Upon Beethoven´s recommendation, she studied with Joseph Czerný. Blahetka performed with Paganini in 1828 in Vienna and concertized extensively in Europe until 1833, when she settled in the south of France and devoted herself to teaching and composition. Among her over 60 published works, we find works for piano and orchestra including the Variations brillantes op. 4, and solo piano pieces such as the Polonaise op. 19, Capriccio op. 48, Nocturne op. 62 and several collections of waltzes.
Carreño, Teresa
Venezuelan (Caracas, Venezuela, December 22, 1853 — New York, June 12, 1917)
Teresa Carreño was a pianist, composer and singer. Both her grandfather and father were musicians, and she received her early musical training with the latter. In 1862, the family moved to New York City, where Carreño made her debut when she was eight years old. She also lived in Paris and Boston, and concertized with great acclaim in Europe, Australia, Africa, South America and in the United States. She championed the works of American composers, particularly the music of Edward MacDowell. Carreño also appeared on occasion as an opera singer. She composed about 80 works including the Marche triomphale op. 8, Ballade op. 15 and Vals Gayo op. 38. Carreño recorded a number of piano rolls for Welte-Mignon and Duo-Art in 1905 and 1914, respectively. She married four times: the violinist Emile Sauret, the baritone Giovanni Tagliapietra, and later his brother Arturo Tagliapietra, and the pianist Eugen d´Albert. Among the pallbearers at her funeral were Paderewski, Hutcheson and Elman.
Chopin, Frédéric-François
Polish (Zelazowa Wola, March 1, 1810 — Paris, October 17, 1849)
Frédéric Chopin was a pianist and composer. His father was from Lorraine, France. He studied with Zywny, Elsner and with Wilhelm Würfel, an eminent pianist. However, in terms of piano training, Chopin was mainly self-taught. His earliest autograph is the Polonaise in A flat major, dated in 1821. On November 1, 1830, he departed for Vienna and would never return to his native Poland. After spending some time in Vienna, Munich and Stuttgart, he travelled to Paris. His Parisian debut took place in the Salle Pleyel on February 26, 1832. In the French capital, Chopin became a famous teacher, composer and pianist, although he did not frequently perform in public. He was in close terms with Hiller, Liszt, Berlioz, Delacroix and Franchomme. In 1838, Chopin and George Sand begun their love affair which was to last until 1847. Chopin spent periods of time in Majorca, Marseilles, Nohant, London and Scotland. His health had always been weak and, by October 1848 he weighed less than 45 kgs. Chopin is among the greatest composers for the piano and wrote numerous pieces including études, mazurkas, nocturnes, waltzes, polonaises, sonatas, impromptus, ballades and two concertos.
[See the Frédéric Chopin Tradition]
Cibbini-Kozeluch, Catherina
Austrian (Vienna, February 20, 1785 — Zákupy, near eská Lípa, August 12, 1858)
Catherina Cibbini-Kozeluch was of Bohemian descent. She was the daughter of the celebrated pianist and composer Leopold Kozeluch, who was her first music teacher. Her circle of friends included Beethoven, Moscheles, Voříšek, Chopin and the Schumanns. She married the lawyer Anton Cibbini, adding since then his last name to hers. In 1825, Cibbini-Kozeluch abandoned the concert stage after she became chaperon to the Empress Carolina Augusta. Her piano compositions include Divertissements brilliants op. 3, Introduction and variations op. 5 and the Six Waltzes op. 6. She was active as an opponent to Metternich during the Vienna uprising of 1848.
Hymen Cowen, Sir Frederic
English (Kingston, Jamaica, January 29, 1852 — London, October 6, 1935)
Sir Frederic Hymen Cowen was a pianist, conductor and composer. Born in Jamaica, he was brought to England in 1856. At the age of six, he published a waltz and, two years after, an operetta. Hymen Cowen performed with such prominent figures as Joachim, Pezze and with the singer Trebelli. He met Liszt, Brahms, Hanslick and Hans Richter. Although Hymen Cowen concertized for a time as a piano virtuoso, he was most successful as an orchestra conductor, leading such as orchestras as the Hallé Orchestra, Liverpool Philharmonic and Scottish Orchestra. He published monograph books on Haydn, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Rossini as well as his autobiography My Art and My Friends. His piano oeuvre includes a Piano Concerto and a Concertstück for piano and orchestra, Minna-Waltz, three Valses caprices, Rondo a la Turque, Fantasy on The Magic Flute and La coquette, among other works.
Czerny, Carl
Austrian (Vienna, February 21, 1791 — Vienna, July 15, 1857)
Active as a teacher, composer, pianist, theorist and historian, he is a fundamental figure in the history of the piano. His most famous students were Franz Liszt, Theodor Leschetizky and Theodor Kullak. His early musical instruction was supervised by his father Wenzel Czerny, who was a pianist, organist, oboist and singer. At the age of ten, he began studies with Beethoven whose lessons, several times a week, employed C.P.E. Bach´s Essay. Czerny proofread many of Beethoven´s works and was admired for the interpretations of the master´s works, all of which he apparently could play from memory. He was not interested in becoming a touring virtuoso and focused on teaching and composing instead. He taught 12 hours a day, charging high fees and amassing a fortune by the end of his life. His numerous compositions include studies, exercises, sonatas, sonatinas and even a Concerto for four hands. Of a great influence are his technical studies such as the opp. 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 and The Art of Finger Dexterity op. 740. Czerny was in close terms with Chopin and with his pupil Liszt, who invited him to collaborate in his Hexaméron variations. He published an autobiography in 1842 titled Erinnerungen aus meinem Leben.
[See the Carl Czerny Tradition]
Dussek, Jan Ladislav
Bohemian (Čáslav, Czech Republic, February 12, 1760 — Saint Germain-en-Laye or Paris, France, March 20, 1812)
Dussek distinguished himself as one of the early touring concert pianists. His musical compositions were exceptionally beloved in his lifetime and his works considerably influenced the development of the romantic piano style. According to Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek, Dussek was the first pianist to play showing his profile to the audience. During the French Revolution he fled to England where he remained for 11 years, appearing in two concerts with Haydn. Dussek married Sophia Corri, a famous singer, pianist and harpist, and got involved in a music publishing company with his father-in-law (Corri, Dussek & Co.). Dussek persuaded Broadwood to extend the piano range from 5 to 6 octaves. Later, when the publishing firm was dissolved, Dussek fled to Hamburg and likely never saw his wife and daughter again. At the end of his life, he became obese, an alcoholic and died of gout.
Fauré, Gabriel
French (Pamiers, Ariège, May 12, 1845 — Paris, November 4, 1924)
Gabriel Fauré was a composer, organist, pianist, teacher and critic. He was one of the most influential French composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, writing in a compositional style that evolved greatly over the course of a few decades. As a child, Fauré spent 11 years at the École Niedermeyer, a religious boarding school, whose curriculum of studies had a lasting impact on Fauré´s style. One of his teachers at the École was Saint-Saëns. Fauré held several positions of assistant organist in Rennes and Paris, including Saint Sulpice and the Madeleine. He was director of the Paris Conservatoire and professor of composition. Ravel, Enescu and Nadia Boulanger were among his students. In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian war, he joined the army and participated in the siege of Paris. His circle of friends included d´Indy, Lalo, Duparc and Chabrier, with whom he founded the Société Nationale de Musique in 1871. He also met Liszt in Weimar. For a time, Fauré was engaged to Pauline Viardot´s daughter, but the relationship fell apart and he ended up marrying Marie Fremiet in 1883, the daughter of a respected sculptor. Fauré´s piano output includes works such as the Fantaisie op. 11, for piano and orchestra, Trois Romances sans Paroles, nocturnes, impromptus, barcarolles, preludes and the Théme et variations. Fauré revised all the piano works of Schumann for Durant and wrote cadenzas for Mozart and Beethoven concertos. He made a few piano roll recordings for Hupfeld and Welte-Mignon between 1904 and 1913. By the end of his life, Fauré suffered of a poor health, with an increasing deafness, sclerosis and lack of breathing.
Goddard, Arabella
English (Saint Servan, January 12, 1836 — Boulogne, April 6, 1922)
Arabella Goddard was a pianist. She studied with Kalkbrenner in Paris since the age of 6. Subsequently, she studied with Lucy Anderson and Sigismond Thalberg in England. She concertized in America, Australia and India. Goddard taught at the Royal College of Music.
Gottschalk, Louis Moreau
American (New Orleans, May 8, 1829 — Tijuca, Brazil, December 18, 1869)
Louis Moreau Gottschalk was a pianist and one of the most relevant American composers of the 19th century. He was recognized as a forerunner of the ragtime. His German-Jewish father was born in London and his mother had left Haiti for Louisiana during the 1790s. At the age of 11, Gottschalk travelled to France to study music. In 1845, Chopin congratulated the young pianist after a recital at the Salle Pleyelin Paris. Gottschalk concertized in Europe, became an idol in Spain under the support of Isabella II, and toured extensively in North America, Canada, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Antilles. After he was forced to leave the USA due to a scandalous affair with a student, he travelled to South America where he continued to perform and had a profound influence on music education and Classical music in several countries. In 1869, he settled in Rio de Janeiro, and organized the “monster concerts” featuring over 650 performers. His vast piano output consists of Classical and popular works including the Souvenirs d'Andalousie, La jota aragonesa, Le banjo, Last Hope, Souvenir de Puerto Rico, Bamboula, Le bananier and the Grande Tarantelle for piano and orchestra. Pianists John Kirkpatrick, Jeanne Behrend and Eugene List have championed Gottschalk´s piano works and contributed to increase an interest in his music.
Greef, Arthur de
Belgian (Leuven, October 10, 1862 — Brussels, August 29, 1940)
Elected member of the Belgian Royal Academy in 1925, he toured extensively in Europe and mastered a vast repertory. In 1892 he offered a series of recitals in Paris representing the history of piano music. He was a champion of Grieg´s Piano Concerto and was regarded its best interpreter by the composer. He wrote two piano concertos and a handful of small piano pieces.
Hallé, Sir Charles
English (Hagen, Westphalia, April 11, 1819 — Manchester, October 25, 1895)
Sir Charles Hallé was a pianist, conductor and teacher. His initial name was Carl Halle, but he changed it to Charles Hallé to facilitate its pronunciation in England and France. In 1836, he travelled to Paris with the intention of becoming Kalkbrenner´s pupil, but he studied with George Osborne instead. He met Chopin, Liszt, Berlioz and Wagner and introduced Beethoven sonatas to Parisian audiences, being the first pianist to perform the complete series in Paris and in London. Chappell published his edition of the 32 sonatas. In 1848, Hallé settled in London where he became active and involved in the city´s musical life. In 1893, he was appointed director and professor at the newly established Royal Manchester College of Music. His second wife was the renowned violinist Wilma Norman-Neruda, with whom he frequently performed in England, Australia and South Africa. Hallé died suddenly from a cerebral hemorrhage.
Haydn, Franz Joseph
Austrian (Rohrau, Lower Austria, March 31, 1732 — Vienna, May 31, 1809)
Franz Joseph Haydn was a composer. He is regarded as the father of the symphony and of the string quartet. Haydn was a friend and mentor of Mozart and a tutor of Beethoven. His younger brother was the composer Michael Haydn. From 1761 to 1790, Haydn worked solely for the Prince of Esterházy at the prince´s palace in what is nowadays Hungarian territory. Haydn´s duties included not only composing, playing chamber music and conducting the orchestras but being responsible for paying the musicians, acquiring and maintaining the collection of instruments and for opera productions. Haydn travelled to London on two occasions between 1791 and 1795. Subsequently, he settled in Vienna for the rest of his life. At his funeral service, Mozart´s Requiem was performed. Haydn´s keyboard oeuvre contains concertos, numerous sonatas, variations, Fantasy in C major and Capriccio in G major. The most extensive catalogue of Haydn´s works was compiled by Anthony von Hoboken, completed in 1978. The keyboard works appear under the Hob. XVI, XVII, XVIIa and XVIII entries. Another in-depth study was conducted by H.C. Robbins Landon.
Herz, Jacques-Simon
German-French (Frankfort-on-the-Main, December 31, 1794 — Nice, January 27, 1880)
Jacques Herz was a pianist. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Louis Pradher. He taught in England and, later, was appointed professor at the Conservatoire. His brother was pianist and composer Henri Herz.
Hummel, Johann Nepomuk
Austrian (Pressburg, now Bratislava, November 14, 1778 — Weimar, October 17, 1837)
One of the most famous pianists and composers of his time, he was also active as a conductor and teacher. The son of a string player and conductor, he was musically precocious since the age of three. A pupil of Mozart, Hummel lived in the Mozart´s household where he met da Ponte, Haydn and other personalities of Vienna. He also studied with Albrechtsberger and Salieri. In 1788, he went on an extended concert tour that took him all over Europe during the next five years. In 1804, he succeeded Haydn at Esterházy and conducted the premiere of Haydn´s The Creation at the palace in Eisenstadt. In 1818 he was appointed grand-ducal Kapellmeister at Weimar, a post he held until his death. Hummel met and had a profound impact on Chopin, Liszt and Schubert, who had dedicated to him his last three piano sonatas until Diabelli posthumously changed the dedicatory to Schumann. He was a prolific composer in virtually all genres of the time and wrote piano concertos, variations, sonatas, preludes, bagatelles, rondos and numerous other pieces, including successful piano arrangements of orchestral works. His Complete Theoretical and Practical Course of Instructions on the Art of Playing the Piano Forte enjoyed a tremendous success and was published almost at the same time in Germany, England and France, selling thousands of copies. He maintained an unsettling but lasting friendship with Beethoven, was one of the pallbearers at his funeral and improvised at the Beethoven´s memorial concert upon the composer´s request. He married the singer Elisabeth Röckel and one of their sons, Eduard, became a pianist.
[See the Johann Nepomuk Hummel Tradition]
Kalkbrenner, Christian
German (Hannoversch Münden, September 22, 1755 — Paris, August 10, 1806)
Christian Kalkbrenner was a violinist, organist, keyboard player and composer. He was the father and first teacher of piano virtuoso Friedrich Kalkbrenner. In the late 1770s, he was appointed Kapellmeister to the Queen of Prussia. After living for a few years in Italy, Christian Kalkbrenner returned to Paris and became Maître des Chœurs et des Écoles at the Paris Opera. He composed a piano concerto and piano sonatas.
Kalkbrenner, Frédéric
French (early November 1785 — Enghien-les-Bains, June 10, 1849)
Kalkbrenner was a pianist, teacher and composer. He was born en route from Kassel to Berlin. His father, Christian Kalkbrenner, gave him his first music lessons. Subsequently, Kalkbrenner studied at the Paris Conservatory and obtained premiers prix in piano and harmony. Between 1803 and 1804, he travelled to Vienna where he met Haydn, who offered him guidance, and also made the acquaintance of Clementi. In 1814, Kalkbrenner settled in England, where he achieved fame as a pianist, teacher and composer. Ten years after, he returned to Paris and found his place among the most prominent virtuosos of his day, not only in France but all over Europe, attaining an international career without precedent. Kalkbrenner invited Chopin to study with him, but the Polish composer declined the offer. However, Chopin dedicated his Concerto in E minor op. 11 to Kalkbrenner. As a composer, Kalkbrenner focused mostly on the piano. He produced piano concertos, 13 sonatas, Élégie harmonique op. 36, Caprice op. 104, and a number of other pieces such as airs variés, romances, rondeaux and waltzes. Ha also wrote pedagogical pieces including the 24 études dans tous les tons opp. 20 and 88, 12 études préparatoires, 25 grandes études de style et de perfectionnement, and the influential Méthode pour apprendre le piano-forte à l´aide du guide-mains. He invented the so-called hand-guide mechanism with the aim of helping the pianist avoid any arm movement and, as a consequence, develop the maximum finger independence possible.
[See the Frédéric Kalkbrenner Tradition]
Kozeluch, Leopold
Bohemian (Velvary, June 26, 1747 — Vienna, May 7, 1818)
Leopold Kozeluch was a composer, pianist, teacher and publisher, and one of the most prominent ambassadors of Czech music in Vienna during the last quarter of the 18th century. He championed the use of the fortepiano instead of the harpsichord. In 1778, Kozeluch settled in Vienna where he became a renowned pianist, teacher and composer. A few years after, his growing reputation and successful professional career allowed him to reject the position as court organist to the Archbishop of Salzburg, succeeding Mozart. In 1792, he was appointed Kammer Kapellmeister and Hofmusik Compositor. Kozeluch published his compositions through his own publishing company. His daughter Catharina Cibbini-Kozeluch was a well-established pianist and composer in Vienna during the early 19th century. Kozeluch composed dozens of sonatas and concertos for either the harpsichord of the piano, and other solo compositions including minuets, dances and caprices.
Lacombe Louis
French (Bourges, November 26, 1818 — Saint Vaast-la-Hougue, Manche, September 30, 1884)
Louis Lacombe was a pianist, composer and writer. Since age eleven, he studied with Pierre Zimmermann at the Paris Conservatoire and won the Premier Prix. He also studied with Czerny in Vienna. His second wife was a famous singer at the Opéra-Comique, Claudine Duclairfiat, a.k.a. Andrée Favel. His piano works include nocturnes, études, valses, melodies and fantasias.
Levant, Oscar
American (Pittsburgh, December 27, 1906 — Beverly Hills, August 14, 1972)
Oscar Levant was a pianist, composer and writer. He performed with the major American orchestras and also achieved recognition as a jazz pianist. As a composer, he produced a piano concerto, popular songs, works for the Broadway stage and film music, including Street Girl and Tanned Legs. He appeared both as actor and musician in a number of films and was the pianist in An American in Paris. He was a friend of George Gershwin and a renowned interpreter of his music. Levant wrote an autobiography published in 3 volumes.
Leybach, Ignace Xavier Joseph
French (Gambsheim, Alsace, July 17, 1817 — Toulouse, May 23, 1891)
Ignace Leybach was a pianist, organist and composer. He studied with Pixis, Kalkbrenner and Chopin in Paris. He was appointed organist at the Toulouse Cathedral in 1844. Leybach published a number of methods for piano, salon pieces and nocturnes.
Matthias, Georges Amédée Saint-Clair
French (Paris, October 14, 1826 — Paris, October 14, 1910)
Georges Mathias was a pianist, teacher and composer. At the Paris Conservatory, he studied with François Bazin, Auguste Barbereau, Augustin Savard and Fromental Halévy. He studied composition with Kalkbrenner and perfected his pianism with Frédéric Chopin. Along with Karol Mikuli, Mathias was one of the most important figures in perpetuating Chopin´s style into the next generation. He taught at the Paris Conservatory from 1862 to 1893 and had numerous illustrious pupils including Teresa Carreño, Isidor Philipp and Alberto Williams. He composed two piano concertos, chamber music some opera transcriptions.
[See the Georges Mathias Tradition]
Moscheles, Ignaz
Bohemian (Prague, May 23, 1794 — Leipzig, March 10, 1870)
Of Jewish descent, besides the piano he studied counterpoint with Albrechtsberger and composition with Salieri in Vienna, where he met Beethoven. The publisher Artaria commissioned him to write a piano reduction of Beethoven´s opera Fidelio. Clementi and Cramer regarded him as an equal and friend, as well as Mendelssohn, whom he taught piano. He also met Chopin and played with him his Grande sonata op. 47. He taught at the Royal Academy of Music and was conductor of the Philharmonic Society, conducting the first performance of Beethoven´s Missa Solemnis in London in 1832. He also taught at the Leipzig Conservatory. He translated and edited Schindler´s biography of Beethoven and published it as The Life of Beethoven. Moscheles established the “historical soirées” in London which championed early music played on the harpsichord. Moscheles commissioned Chopin´s Trois nouvelles études for his piano method. He composed numerous piano works including the Sonate mélancolique op. 49, La marche d´Alexandre op. 32, Präeludien op. 73, sonatas, fantasias, rondos, variations, etudes opp. 70 and 95, piano concertos, and the Hommage á Händel op. 92 for two pianos.
[See the Ignaz Moscheles Tradition]
Nikodim, František
Bohemian (Vilémov, August 1, 1764 — Paris, August 13, 1829)
Nikodim was a pianist and composer. He performed in Vienna and Paris, where he became professor at the Conservatory.
Novaës, Guiomar
Brazilian (São João da Boã Vista, São Paulo, February 28, 1895 — São Paulo, March 7, 1979)
Guiomar Novaës was pianist. She studied both in Brazil and in France, receiving the premier prix at the Paris Conservatory in 1911. In 1922, she married civil engineer Octavio Pinto, who was also a pianist and composer. Novaës made piano rolls and recordings for Victor and Vox, including Chopin´s F minor Concerto and Schumann´s Carnaval. She had a stroke in January 1979 and died shortly after.
Osborne, George-Alexander
Irish (Limerick, September 24, 1806 — London, November 16, 1893)
George Osborne was a pianist and composer. He was the son of an organist. Osborne studied theology and was initially inclined to pursue a religious life. Before studying with Pixis and Kalkbrenner in Paris, he mainly taught himself how to play the piano. He achieved recognition in London, where he settled in 1843, and in Paris, where he became part of the circle of Chopin, Bériot and Berlioz. Osborne composed numerous fantasies and transcriptions, mainly based on opera tunes by Auber, Rossini, Donizetti and Verdi. Osborne was the director of the Philharmonic Society and of the Royal Academy of Music, both in London. His Musical Coincidences and Reminiscences, published in 1882-3, offer a remarkable view of the lives of his contemporaries.
Petri, Egon
Dutch-German-American (Hanover, March 23, 1881 — Berkeley, California, May 27, 1962)
Egon Petri was a pianist and teacher. His father played in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and taught him the violin when Petri was 5 years old. Petri also learned the organ and the horn. He became one of the most respected of Busoni´s pupils, andhelped the Italian master with the corrections of operas and piano works and with the edition of Bach´s keyboard works. He had an active teaching career and held positions at the Royal Manchester College of Music, Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, Cornell University, Mills College and San Francisco Conservatory. He was naturalized American in 1955. Petri made remarkable recordings including the works of his teacher Busoni. He was fluent in 6 languages.
[See the Egon Petri Tradition]
Pfeiffer, Clara
Clara Pfeiffer was a student of both Kalkbrenner and Chopin. She taught her son Georges Jean Pfeiffer.
Pfeiffer, Georges Jean
French (Versailles, December 12, 1835 — Paris, February 14, 1908)
Georges Jean Pfeiffer was a pianist and composer. His father was a partner in the piano company Pleyel, Wolff & Cie. He received piano lessons from his mother Clara Pfeiffer. He was a music critic for Voltaire, juror at the Paris Conservatoire competitions and president of the Music Composers Society.
Philipp, Isidore
Hungarian-French (Budapest, Hungary, September 2, 1863 — Paris, France, February 20, 1958)
Born in Hungary, he was professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatory and at the American Conservatory of Fontainebleau and, during the Nazi invasion of 1940, he fled to the United States. He became a renowned teacher, famous for his capacity to approach and solve any pianistic issue. He published numerous collections of piano exercises and studies, including the Ecole du Mécanisme, Exercices d´extension pour les doigts and Exercices de velocité, and works such as Valse-caprices and concert studies. The Isidore Philipp Archive was established in 1977 at the University of Louisville and is considered the largest Isidore Philipp collection.
[See the Isidore Philipp Tradition]
Pixis, Johann Peter
German (Mannheim, February 10, 1788 — Baden-Baden, December 22, 1874)
Johann Peter Pixis was a pianist and composer, born into a family of musicians. In Vienna, he met Beethoven, Meyerbeer and Schubert. In 1824, he moved to Paris where he was part of the circles of Moscheles, Liszt and Berlioz. Pixis became a highly regarded pianist and teacher during his time. He composed four sonatas, the Piano Concerto op. 100, sets of variations on opera themes and the Concert Rondo op. 120.
Pradher, Louis
French (Paris, December 16, 1782 — Gray, October 19, 1843)
Pradher was an instructor at the Paris Conservatory and director of the Toulouse Conservatoire from 1840 to 1841. He composed a number of operas and music for the piano, including a concerto, sonatas and works for two pianos. He was an eminent teacher who insisted of the independence of the fingers as a fundamental aspect of piano technique. He was the piano teacher to the princesses at the court of Louis XVIII and Charles X.
[See the Louis Pradher Tradition]
Napoleão Dos Santos, Arturo
Portuguese (Oporto, March 6, 1843 — Rio de Janeiro, May 12, 1925)
Arturo Napoleão was a pianist, composer, teacher and publisher. He was a child prodigy and concertized in Europe, Brazil and the United States. Napoleão was admired by Liszt. He settled in Rio de Janeiro in 1866, where he was involved as a pianist, teacher and as a music publisher, having a significant repercussion in Brazilian´s cultural life. Napoleão contributed to the foundation of the Sociedade de Concertos Clássicos. He composed piano études based on Cramer´s studies.
Saint-Saëns, Camille
French (Paris, October 9, 1835 — Algiers, December 16, 1921)
Described by Gounod as the “French Beethoven”, he was a child prodigy and became a virtuoso pianist and organist admired by Liszt, Gounod, Rossini and Berlioz. His official debut took place at the Salle Pleyel at the age of ten performing from memory Beethoven´s Third Piano Concerto and Mozart´s Piano Concerto K. 450, for which he played a cadenza of his own. His concert tours took him to South America, United States, East Asia, Canary Islands, Scandinavia, Africa and Russia, where he met Tchaikovsky. His output covered all genres including a dozen operas, five piano concertos, chamber music works and numerous other brilliant pieces such as the etudes opp. 52, 111 and 135, Suite and Vals nonchalante. He edited a number of works from the French harpsichord repertoire and pieces by Liszt and Mozart. His broad interests included the French classics, religion, Latin and Greek, mathematics and natural sciences.
Silas Edouard
Dutch (Amsterdam, August 22, 1827 — London, February 8, 1909)
Edouard Silas was a pianist, organist and composer. He studied with Louis Lacombe and Frédéric Kalkbrenner. He settled in London in 1850, where he became organist at the Roman Catholic chapel in Kingston upon Thames. He composed dances, impromptus and nocturnes for the piano, and two works for piano and orchestra dedicated to Anton Rubinstein, Fantasia and Elégie.
Simonsen, Rudolph
Danish (Copenhagen, April 30, 1889 — Copenhagen, March 28, 1947)
Rudolph Simonsen was a composer and pianist. He also received a law degree at the University of Copenhagen. He was a teacher at the Copenhagen Conservatory and succeeded Carl Nielsen as its director in 1931. His compositions include the Piano Concerto of 1915.
Stamaty, Camille
Greco-French (Rome, March 13 or 23, 1811 — Paris, April 19, 1870)
Camille Stamaty was a pianist, composer and teacher. He continued Kalkbrenner´s tradition of piano playing in France. While he was deciding between studying music or adventuring into business, he worked at the Prefecture of the Seine. He madehis debut at the Salle Pleyel in Paris in 1835, performing Kalkbrenner´s Grand Duo in D op. 128 for two pianos, with the composer himself. In 1862, he received the Chevalier of the Légion d´Honneur distinction. Stamaty composed several piano works including the Grande Sonate op. 20, and the Sicilienne dans le genre ancient. He also produced pedagogical works as the five-volume L´ecole du pianist classique et modern and the 25 études pour piano op. 11, used by the Paris Conservatory as part of its teaching methods.
Stirling, Jane Wilhelmina
Scottish (Perthshire, July 15, 1804 — Dunblane, February 6, 1859)
Jean Stirling was an amateur pianist. She studied with Chopin, with whom she became very close at the end of his life. Stirling also studied with Chopin´s pupil Thomas Tellefsen. She took Chopin on a tour in England and Scotland in 1848. Chopin dedicated to her the Nocturnes op. 55. She acted as his secretary, agent and business manager and took charge of the disposal of his belongings after his death. Stirling is often referred to as “Chopin´s widow.”
Stojowski, Zygmunt
Polish-American (Strzelce, May 14, 1869 — New York, November 5, 1946)
Zygmunt Stojowski was a pianist, teacher and composer. He studied composition with Zeleński and Delibes. After he concertized in Europe, he moved to the U.S. in 1906, where he became head of the piano department at the New York Institute of Musical Art and at the Von Ende School of Music. Stojowski became an American citizen in 1938. His compositions include two piano concertos, Danses humoresques op. 12, 2 Orientales op. 10 and Aspirations op. 39. His works were performed by such piano virtuosos as Hofmann, Friedman and Grainger. Stojowski also published numerous books on piano teaching.
Tellefsen, Thomas
Norwegian (Trondheim, November 26, 1823 — Paris, October 6, 1874)
Thomas Tellefsen was a pianist and composer. He studied in Paris with Charlotte Thygeson, with Kalkbrenner and, between 1844 and 1847, with Chopin, with whom he became very close. After Chopin´s death, Tellefsen continued teaching some of his students including Jane Stirling. He composed two concertos, mazurkas, Norwegian dances and a Sonata for two pianos among other works.
Thalberg, Sigismond
German or Austrian (Pâquis, near Geneva, January 8, 1812 — Posillipo, near Naples, April 27, 1871)
Sigismond Thalberg was a pianist and composer. He was, next to Franz Liszt, the greatest virtuoso of the mid-nineteenth century in Europe. He played almost exclusively his own compositions, which were mainly fantasias based on opera themes by Rossini, Meyerbeer, Donizetti and Verdi. Although he initially went to Vienna to study for diplomatic service, he became a touring and successful pianist, travelling all over Europe, Brazil, Havana and the United States, where he lived and taught for a few years. His “three-hand effect” technique became very popular. His didactic work L´art du chant appliqué au piano reveals Thalberg´s ability to combine the brilliance of the execution with his preoccupation with imbuing the bel canto into his playing. He married the daughter of Luigi Lablache, an opera singer. He spent the last few years of his life in a villa in Italy as a viticulturist.
[See the Sigismond Thalberg Tradition]
Zimmermann, Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume
French (Paris, March 19?, 1785 — Paris, October 29, 1853)
Pierre Zimmermann was a pianist, teacher and composer. His father was a Parisian piano maker. Zimmermann entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1798, where he became a student of Boieldieu and won the Premier Prix in 1800, surpassing Frédéric Kalkbrenner. He started teaching at the Conservatoire in 1811. Charles Gounod was his son-in-law. He published the Encyclopédie du pianist in 1840.
[See the Pierre Zimmermann Tradition]
© 2021, by Daniel Pereira