HÉLÈNE DE MONTGEROULT - FRANCE
BORN 2 MARCH
Hélène de Montgeroult (b. Lyon, 1764; d. Florence, 1836) was a composer, pianist and teacher, a contemporary of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven whose life spanned the French Revolution. She experienced life under arrest and her first husband was killed as a consequence of their aristocratic status but it is the denial of this status that allowed her to publish her compositions and pursue a teaching career. Alongside political and social upheavals, Montgeroult experienced the transition of keyboard manufacture from harpsichord to fortepiano. She commissioned an early fortepiano from Erard that, through the application of multiple pedals, allowed for the exploration and expression of a range of timbres.
She was the first Professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatoire when it opened in 1795. The faint biographical trace she has left through history tells us that she was a student of Jan Ladislav Dussek, Nicolas Joseph Hüllmandel, Clementi and Reicha; that she had pieces dedicated to her by Julie Candeille, Johann Baptist Cramer, Dussek, Louis Emmanuel Jadi and Phillip Libon. She was an admired duo partner of the virtuoso violinist Viotti with whom she collaborated as an accompanist, improviser and arranger (Gautier).
♫ LISTEN
Piano Concerto No 1. - 3rd Movement by Hèléne de Montgeroult
CAROLINE BOISSIER-BUTINI - SWITZERLAND
BORN 2 MARCH
Caroline Boissier-Butini was both a player in and a key facilitator of the musical life of Geneva in her day. Her first attempts at musical life were threatened by the political turmoil that shook Geneva at the beginning of the 19th century, and the city lacked any exceptional musical personalities during her formative years, yet the young Caroline Butini managed to develop an exceptional talent, probably mostly self-taught. From childhood, her parents encouraged the little pianist to play in their salon. After her marriage to Auguste Boissier, she went on to develop a career as a composer and concert pianist, performing as much as her social rank would permit: she played only in front of invited audiences, and never in concerts for a paying public.
The music of Caroline Boissier-Butini was arranged around her activity as a pianist (and occasional organist). In terms of style, it is typical of its time, still rooted in classicism but moving away from it to give free rein to personal invention, all the while making frequent reference to popular music from Switzerland and elsewhere. Memoirs of her travels, especially to Paris (1818, 1831–1832) and London (1818) as well as Bern, Solothurn and Fribourg (1811), give astute descriptions of the contemporary musical life in these cities.
Piano Sonata No1: I. Allegro
Post Comment
Post a Comment