Louise Farrenc

Born Jeanne-Louise Dumont in Paris, she was the daughter of Jacques-Edme Dumont and sister to Auguste Dumont. Her father was in the fourth generation of a master craftsman dynasty employed by the French Royalty; her brother Auguste was in the fifth and final generation of this chain. Growing up, she lived in an apartment connected to the historic Sorbonne University, where many artist families were housed by the French government. She began piano studies at an early age with Cecile Soria, a former student of Muzio Clementi. When it became clear that she had the ability to become a professional pianist she was given lessons by such masters as Ignaz Moscheles and Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and, given the talent she showed as a composer, her parents decided to let her, in 1818 at the age of fifteen, study composition with Anton Reicha, a professor of counterpoint and fugue at the Conservatoire de Paris. However, she was taught through private lessons as women were forbidden to enroll in the traditional composition classes at that time. In 1821 she married Aristide Farrenc, a flute student ten years her senior, who performed at some of the concerts regularly given at the artists' colony of the Sorbonne, where Louise's family lived. Following her marriage, Farrenc interrupted her studies to give concerts throughout France with her husband. He, however, soon grew tired of the concert life and, with her help, opened a publishing house in Paris, which, as Éditions Farrenc, became one of France's leading music publishers for nearly 40 years. In Paris, Farrenc returned to her studies with Reicha in 1825, after which she re-embarked on a concert career, briefly interrupted in 1826 when she gave birth to a daughter, Victorine, who also became a concert pianist but who died in 1859 aged thirty-two. In the 1830s, Farrenc gained considerable fame as a performer and her reputation was such that in 1842 she was appointed to the permanent position of Professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatory, a position she held for thirty years and one which was among the most prestigious in Europe. Farrenc was the only woman to hold the esteemed position and rank at the Paris Conservatory throughout the 19th century. Accounts of the time record that she was an excellent instructor, with many of her students graduating with first prizes and becoming professional musicians. Despite this, Farrenc was paid less than her male counterparts for nearly a decade. Only after the triumphant premiere of her nonet, at which the famous violinist Joseph Joachim took part, did she demand and receive equal pay. Besides her teaching and performing career, she also produced and edited an influential book, Le Trésor des pianistes, about early music performance style, and was twice awarded the Prix Chartier of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, in 1861 and 1869. Farrenc lived until 15 September 1875, when she died in Paris.

During the 1820s and 1830s she composed largely for the piano. Several of these pieces drew high praise from critics, including Robert Schumann. In the 1830s, she tried her hand at larger compositions for both chamber ensemble and orchestra. It was during the 1840s that much of her chamber music was written. While the great bulk of Farrenc's compositions were for the piano alone, her chamber music is generally regarded as her best work. Throughout her life, chamber music remained of great interest. She wrote works for various combinations of winds and or strings and piano. These include two piano quintets, Opp. 30 and 31; a sextet for piano and winds, Op. 40, which later appeared in an arrangement for piano quintet; two piano trios, Opp. 33 and 34; the nonet for winds and strings, Op. 38; a trio for clarinet (or violin), cello, and piano, Op. 44; a trio for flute (or violin), cello, and piano, Op. 45; and several instrumental sonatas (a string quartet sometimes attributed to her is regarded by specialists as the work of another composer, not yet identified). In addition to chamber music and works for solo piano, she wrote two overtures and three symphonies. Inspired by the symphonic works of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, Farrenc's three symphonies are quite conventional. Her first movements follow traditional sonata form, accompanied by slow, lyrical second movements. Staying true to the form, Farrenc wrote third movements of minuets or scherzos, finishing with fourth movements that showcased Farrenc's skill at writing invertible counterpoint and freely expressive fugues. Her third symphony, Op. 36, was performed at the Société des concerts du Conservatoire in 1849. Missing from her output is opera, a notable gap given the stature of opera as a musical form in France at the time. Sources indicate that she had ambitions to compose opera, but did not succeed in being given a libretto to set to music by the Théâtre de l'Opéra or the Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique. As well as composing, Farrenc was also working as a performer during this time, specializing in the music of Beethoven and Mozart. She later championed the works of the French clavecinistes and English virginalists, performing the modern concert premieres of many pieces by these composers, which were met with poor reception.

Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 32 (1842) Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 35 (1845) Symphony No. 3 in G minor, Op. 36 (1847) Overture in E minor, Op. 23 (1834) Overture in E♭, Op. 24 (1834) Grand variations on the song "Le premier pas", for piano and orchestra, Op. 4 Grand variations on a theme by Count Gallenberg, for piano and orchestra, Op. 25

Andréa la censurado, ballade Je me taisais, romance La tourterelle, romance La madone Le berger fidèle, romance Le prisonnier de guerre, dramatic scene Le suicide, scène et air (music same as Le prisonnier de guerre) Toi que j'appelle

O père qu'adore mon père (hymn by Lamartine), (unaccompanied choir) O père qu'adore mon père (hymn by Lamartine), (choir and piano) O salutaris hostia, (soprano, alto and tenor)