Edouard-Adrien-Nicolas Potjes , born in Nijmegen (Holland) on 13 August 1860 and died on 12 January 1931 in Seattle (United States), was a Dutch composer.

He began his music studies at the age of 7. He received the rudiments of piano from P. Van Merkestein, and learned harmony and counterpoint from Grégoire Van Dyck in Boxmeer

Boxmeer

Boxmeer is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. It incorporates the former municipality of Beugen en Rijkevoort and that of Vierlingsbeek.- Population centres :...

. From 1878 to 1880 he attended composition classes by Richard Hol

Richard Hol

Richard Hol was a Dutch composer and conductor, based for most of his career at Utrecht. His conservative music showed the influence of Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann and the Leipzig school, though as a conductor he offered Dutch audiences the modern music of Hector Berlioz and Richard...

. After that, at Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

, he was pupil of Ferdinand Hiller

Ferdinand Hiller

Ferdinand Hiller was a German composer, conductor, writer and music-director.-Biography:Ferdinand Hiller was born to a wealthy Jewish family in Frankfurt am Main, where his father Justus was a merchant in English textiles – a business eventually continued by Ferdinand’s brother Joseph...

 (composition) and of Jacob Kwast (piano). He graduated from the University of Belgium in 1887.

After completing his studies, Potjes established in Antwerp as a music teacher and in 1885 he had the opportunity to be heard by Liszt

Liszt

Liszt is a Hungarian surname. Notable persons with that surname include:* Franz Liszt , Hungarian composer and pianist* Adam Liszt , father of Franz Liszt* Anna Liszt , mother of Franz Liszt...

; following his advice he applied for the position of piano teacher at the Strasbourg

Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

 Pādagogium and was accepted. He soon left Strasbourg to make an artistic tour in Holland. In the following year (1887), he moved back to Antwerp, continuing to make numerous artistic tours in England and France.

When the professor of piano at the Ghent Conservatory, Max Heynderickx, died in 12 June 1893, a competition was held for his replacement. Several talented artists applied for the position, but the jury decided for Potjes, and he was confirmed by a royal decree on 29 December 1893.

In 1917 he resigned the post he had held for twenty-two years as head of the Virtuoso Piano Department at the Ghent Conservatory to immigrate to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 as a war refugee. He moved to Seattle in 1922, and became a U.S. citizen in 1924. He toured many European countries as a concert pianist, and composed several grand operas. Potjes taught piano, harmony and composition, and taught at the Cornish School for one year. After leaving Cornish School, Potjes spent the rest of his years with his students and in compositions, until he died in 1931.

Potjes was a virtuoso talent as evidenced by the brilliant success he obtained in each of his performances in concerts; it can be cited his Recital in Liège

Liège

Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....

 dedicated to the members of the Legia in January 1896; the one he presented in January 1897 at the Salle Pleyel

Salle Pleyel

The Salle Pleyel is a concert hall in Paris, France. The resident ensembles are the Orchestre de Paris and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.-History and Design:...

 in Paris, where he was applauded for his brilliant performance of works of very different characters: Bach

Bạch

Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...

, Tausig

Carl Tausig

Carl Tausig was a Polish virtuoso pianist, arranger and composer.-Life:Tausig was born in Warsaw to Jewish parents and received his first piano lessons from his father, pianist and composer Aloys Tausig, a student of Sigismond Thalberg. His father introduced him to Franz Liszt in Weimar at the...

, Liszt

Liszt

Liszt is a Hungarian surname. Notable persons with that surname include:* Franz Liszt , Hungarian composer and pianist* Adam Liszt , father of Franz Liszt* Anna Liszt , mother of Franz Liszt...

, Chopin, Saint-Saëns, Rachmaninoff, Schumann

Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....

, Beethoven, etc. And the "Piano Recital Beethoven", at the Cercle des Concerts d'hiver in January 1899, where he delighted the audience with a masterful performance of four Beethoven sonatas.

He was also a prolific composer. Following is a list of his works (list updated until 1901):

Works

• 1. Grande valse for piano (op. 1) (Ed. A. Uhrig, Cologne)
• 2. Liedercyclus, in German (op. 2)
• 3. Andante for piano (op. 3) (Ed. Augener et Cie., London)
• 4. Ballade, id. (op. 4) (Ed. Schott frères, Bruxels)
• 5. Pastorale, id. (op. 5) (Ed. Augener et Cie., London)
• 6. 2de. valse-caprice, id. (op. 6) (id.)
• 7. Trost der Gerechtigheid, aria (op. 7)
• 8. Drei lieder (op. 8) (Ed. Schott frères, Bruxels) :

  A) Liebster! Nur dich sch'n

  B) Christgeschenk

  C) Ich wollte dasz der Frieden

• 9. Villanella, for piano (op. 9) (Ed. Augener et Cie., London)
• 10. Deux danses (op. 10), id. :

  A) Danse des Aulnes

  B) Danse hongroise

• 11. Valse brillante, in G flat major, id. (op. 11) (id.)
• 12. Nocturne in F sharp major, id. (op. 12)
• 13. Berceuse for guitar and piano (op. 13) (id.)
• 14. Deux danses (op. 14) (Ed. Augener et Cie., London) :

  A) Danse hongroise

  B) Petite valse

• 15. Trois morceaux (op. 15) (Ed. Holzmann, Zürich) :

  A) Gavotte

  B) Nocturne

  C) Air de Ballet

• 16. Illustrations, id., based on the novel by Bulwer Lytton : The last days of Pompeii (op. 16)
• 17. Messe for soprano, tenor and bass, with organ accomp. (harp and strings ad libitum) (op. 17)
• 18. Quatre consolations, for piano (op. 18)
• 19. Bal champêtre, six dances for piano (op. 19) (Ed. Augener et Cie., London) :

  A) Marche

  B) Valse

  C) Intermède (Les Gnomes)

  D) Mazurka

  E) Polka

  F) Galop

• 20. Fantaisie hongroise Czardas for four-hand piano (op. 20)
• 21. Illusions de jeunesse, for piano (op. 21) (Ed. Augener et Cie., London) :

  A) Sérénade

  B) Danse féerique

  C) Idylle

  D) Rêverie

  E) Prière

  F) Bonheur accompli (valse)

• 22. Deux morceaux, id. (op. 22) :

  A) La Babillarde

  B) L'Espiègle

• 23. Sonate, id. (op. 23)
• 24. Envoi de fleurs, works for piano (op. 24) (Ed. Me. Beyer, Ghent) :

  A) Lilas

  B) Aubépine

  C) Pensée

  D) Pervenche

  E) Oeillet

  F) Rose

• 25. Paraphrase de concert, work for piano based on an air (op. 25)
• 26. Sonate, for piano and guitar (op. 26) (id.)
• 27. Quintette, for piano, 2 guitars, contralto and cello (op. 27) (id.)
• 28. Cinq pièces, for piano (op. 28) (Ed. Teerlinck, Ghent) :

  A) Luronne

  B) Berceuse

  C) Sérénade

  D) Marche nuptiale

  E) Mutine

• 29. Cinq pièces, for piano (album for the youth) (op. 29) (Ed. Me. Beyer, Ghent) :

  A) Chant de Noël

  B) La Gracieuse

  C) La Danse des Bayadères

  D) Romance

  E) Les Patineurs

Compositions without indication of opus

• 1. Feuillet d'Album (Ed. Augener et Cie., London)
• 2. Angelus, lied in Flemish (Ed. Faes, Antwerp)
• 3. Lamentation, air dramatique
• 4. Chanson d'hiver, for voice and piano (Ed. Teerlinck, Ghent)
• 5. Ariane, grand opera in three acts, text by Charles Duprez

External links