Auguste Franchomme

Auguste Franchomme studied at Conservatoire de Paris and Regional Conservatory of Lille. Training under Louis-Pierre Norblin, Pierre Baumann and Jean-Henri Levasseur is recorded. Louise Haenel de Cronenthall, Antoine Vidal and Louis Drechsler are recorded as having studied under Auguste Franchomme. The recorded working language is French. The field of work recorded is music. Employment is recorded with Conservatoire de Paris. Distinctions recorded are Knight of the Legion of Honour.

• Name — Auguste-Joseph Franchomme • Born — 10 April 1808 • Birthplace — Lille, France • Died — 21 January 1884 • Place of death — Paris, France • Instrument — Violoncello • Genre — Classical • Occupation — Cellist, composer

Born in Lille, Franchomme studied at the local conservatoire with M. Mas and Pierre Baumann. He moved to continue his education with Jean-Henri Levasseur and Louis-Pierre Norblin at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he won the first prize in his first year. Franchomme began his career playing with various orchestras and was appointed solo cello at Sainte-Chapelle in 1828. Along with violinist Jean-Delphin Alard, teacher of Pablo de Sarasate, and pianist Charles Hallé, creator of the Hallé Orchestra, he was a founding member of the Alard Quartet. The Quartet was rare for a chamber ensemble of its time because it consisted of professional musicians. Franchomme also belonged to the founding ranks of the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire. Franchomme forged close friendships with Felix Mendelssohn, when the latter visited Paris in 1831, and with Franz Liszt as well as Frédéric Chopin. In 1833, Chopin and Franchomme collaborated to write a Grand Duo concertant for piano and cello, based on themes from Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera Robert le diable. Franchomme also rewrote the cello parts for Chopin's Polonaise Brillante, Op. 3, and was the dedicatee of Chopin's Cello Sonata, Op. 65. With the exception of a trip to England in 1856, Franchomme hardly left Paris, where he became a central figure of the city's musical life. In 1843, he acquired the Duport Stradivarius from the son of Jean-Louis Duport for the then-record sum of 22,000 French francs. He also owned the De Munck Stradivarius of 1730. Franchomme succeeded Norblin as the head professor of cello at the Paris Conservatory in 1846, and his class included Jules Delsart (who succeeded his master), Louis Hegyesi, and Ernest Gillet. He died in his sleep of heart attack on 21 January 1884 at the age of 75, four days after he received the Légion d'honneur.