Théophile Laforge

Théophile Édouard Laforge ( born March 6, 1863 in Paris, † October 31, 1918 in Paris) was a French violinist and violist and first professor of viola at the Paris Conservatory.

Life and work

Théophile Laforge studied violin at the Paris Conservatory with Eugène Sauzay and finished his studies in 1886, with a first prize. In the same year he got a job as a violinist at the Paris Opera in 1887 and was first violist. In 1887, he was also principal violist of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, now the Orchestre de Paris.

As the Paris Conservatoire in 1894 for the first time invited tenders for the site of a specialized professor of viola, Théophile Laforge received the appointment and knew this place 22 years until his death, which occurred after a brief illness in 1918. During this time, Laforge improved the position of the viola at the Conservatory game and established playing viola literature that has been partly re-written at his instigation, as compulsory pieces for the acquisition of certain statements.

More than a dozen works were dedicated to him, of which the 1906 composed Concert Piece for Viola and Piano by George Enescu is most listed. Other pieces are written by Hélène Fleury- Roy and Henri Marteau.

Among his students who completed their studies with a first prize, were:

• Frédéric Denayer (1878-1946), 1897
• Louis Bailly (1882-1974), 1899
• Henri Casadesus (1879-1947), 1899
• Maurice Vieux (1884-1951), 1902
• Alexandre Roelens: (1881-1948), 1904
• Pierre Villain: (* 1898), 1917
• Léon Pascal: (1899-1970), 1918

Maurice Vieux in 1918 Laforges successor at the Conservatory. Furthermore, it is known that Léon Pascal occupied the site from 1951 to 1969.