Alphonse Hasselmans

Alphonse Hasselmans ( born March 5, 1845 in Liege, Belgium, † May 19, 1912 in Paris) was a French harpist, composer and educator.

Life

He worked from 1884 until his sudden death in 1912 as professor of harp music at the Paris Conservatory. There, he promoted a generation of great French harpists of the 20th century, including Henriette Renié, Marcel Tournier, Carlos Salzedo, Marcel Grandjany, Lily Laskine, Lili Boulanger and Pierre Jamet. His daughter Marguerite Hasselmans (1876-1947) was a concert pianist and long-time lover of Gabriel Fauré. His son Louis Hasselmans (1878-1957) was a conductor, especially of opera. Whose career took him to the United States at the Chicago Civic Opera and the Metropolitan Opera before he was Professor of Music at Louisiana State University. Many composers have dedicated works Hasselmans. One of these is "Choral et Variations " for harp and orchestra by Charles -Marie Widor. Hasselmans himself played the solo part in the premiere in March 1900.

Work

Alphonse Hasselmans composed several dozen works for harp. His most famous composition is a concert étude entitled La Source ( The Source ). He also arranged many other artists' works for harp. In addition, he edited an important collection of etudes living in the 19th century composer Robert Nicolas -Charles Bochsa.