Charles-Louis Hanon

Charles -Louis Hanon ( born July 2, 1819 in Renescure, † March 19, 1900 in Boulogne -sur -Mer ) was a French pianist and composer. He is best known for his work The Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises, which became a standard for many modern piano teacher.

Life

Charles -Louis Hanon was born in northern France in the village Renescure on July 2, 1819. He received organ lessons from a local teacher. It is not known whether he received a further musical education. At the age of 27 he moved from Renescure to Boulogne -sur -Mer, where he lived with his brother François, also a musician.

Music was never the sole focus of Hanon: he was also a devout Catholic, a Third Order Franciscan and a member of the Community of St. Vincent de Paul. Given his spirituality was Boulogne -sur -Mer is an ideal choice for its location: In addition to its beautiful churches, the city also contained numerous religious schools and non-profit organizations.

Works

His first published work dates from 1854: the mountains of Savoy, a fantasy for piano. Several works for the dissemination and teaching of piano, organ and harmonium followed.

Charles -Louis Hanon is best known for his work The Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises known. Focus of the exercises is to develop fluency, independence, strength and perfect equality of the fingers. It was first published in 1873 in Boulogne -sur -Mer and has become a widespread practice work. It has been translated into 12 languages ​​and adapted in the recent past for various instruments (accordion, guitar) and musical styles (jazz ). The exercises are partially open to criticism, to promote unmusical music.