- Louis Diémer
Louis-Joseph Diémer (
February 14 ,1843 ,Paris –December 21 ,1919 , Paris) was a Frenchpianist andcomposer .Life
Diémer studied at the Paris Conservatoire, winning "premiers prix" in piano, harmony and accompaniment, counterpoint and fugue, and solfège, and a "second prix" in organ. His teachers were
Antoine Marmontel for piano,Ambroise Thomas for composition andFrançois Benoist for organ.He quickly built a reputation as a virtuoso and toured with the violinist
Pablo de Sarasate . At the Conservatoire he taught, among others,Édouard Risler ,Alfred Cortot ,Lazare Lévy ,Alfredo Casella ,Yves Nat andRobert Casadesus .Diémer was also instrumental in promoting the use of historical instruments, giving a series of harpsichord performances as part of the 1889 Universal Exhibition and contributing to the founding of the
Société des instruments anciens .Diémer's output as a composer was extensive, including a
piano concerto and a quantity of salon pieces, all more or less forgotten these days.Works dedicated to Diémer
César Franck composed his "Variations Symphoniques" for him, andEdouard Lalo dedicated his piano concerto in F minor to him.Recordings
Diémer was also among the earliest pianits to record for the
grammophone . His recordings are said to show the best aspects of the 19th-century French piano school—clarity, point, and control in rapid, detaché passages and limpidpianissimo scales . They clearly attest to Diémer's title in the French press as "the king of the scale and thetrill [Schonberg, Harold C., "The Great Pianists" (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987, 1963), 287] ." They also give evidence to comments made by his pupilLazare Lévy , who himself would become an influence on the French musical scene. Lévy wrote, "The astonishing precision of [Diémer's] playing, his legendary trills, the sobriety of his style, made him the excellent pianist we all admired [Schonberg, 287] ."Notes
References
Books and other written materials
*Schonberg, Harold C., "The Great Pianists" (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987, 1963)
External links
* [http://www.lib.umd.edu/PAL/IPAM/diemerschool.html The French School: Louis Diémer and his Pupils]
* [http://www.music.ed.ac.uk/russell/instruments/hd7pt176915/hd7pt176915louisdiemer.html Louis Diémer and the 1769 Taskin harpsichord]
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