Henri Casadesus
Encyclopedia
Violist
-Notable violists:A* Julia Rebekka Adler * Sir Hugh Allen , conductor* Kris Allen * Johann Andreas Amon * Paul Angerer , composer* Steven Ansell * Atar Arad * Cecil Aronowitz...
and music publisher. He was the brother of Marius Casadesus
Marius Casadesus
Marius Casadesus was a French violinist and composer. He was the brother of Henri Casadesus, uncle of the famed pianist Robert Casadesus, and grand-uncle to Jean Casadesus....
, uncle of the famous pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
Robert Casadesus
Robert Casadesus
Robert Casadesus was a renowned 20th-century French pianist and composer. He was the most prominent member of a famous musical family, being the nephew of Henri Casadesus and Marius Casadesus, husband of Gaby Casadesus, and father of Jean Casadesus.-Biography:Robert Casadesus was born in Paris...
, and granduncle of Jean Casadesus
Jean Casadesus
Jean Casadesus was a French classical pianist. He was the son of the renowned pianists Robert and Gaby Casadesus, and grandnephew of Henri Casadesus and Marius Casadesus.Jean Casadesus was born in Paris...
.
Casadesus received his early musical instruction with Albert Lavignac
Albert Lavignac
Albert Lavignac was a French music scholar, known for his essays on theory, and a minor composer.-Biography:Lavignac was borin in Paris and studied with Antoine François Marmontel, François Benoist and Ambroise Thomas at the Conservatoire de Paris, where later he taught harmony...
and studied viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
with Théophile Laforge
Théophile Laforge
Théophile Édouard Laforge was a French violist and first professor of viola at the Conservatoire de Paris....
at the Conservatoire de Paris
Conservatoire de Paris
The Conservatoire de Paris is a college of music and dance founded in 1795, now situated in the avenue Jean Jaurès in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France...
, taking first prize in 1899. From 1910 to 1917, he was the violist of the Capet Quartet
Capet Quartet
The Capet String Quartet was a French musical ensemble founded in 1893, which remained in existence until 1928 or later. It made a number of recordings and was considered one of the leading string quartets of its time.- Personnel :...
.
Along with Camille Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
, Casadesus founded the Society of Ancient Instruments in 1901. The society, which operated between 1901 and 1939, was a quintet
Quintet
A quintet is a group containing five members.It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single unit....
of performers who used obsolete instruments such as the viola da gamba, or Casadesus's own instrument, the viola d'amore
Viola d'amore
The viola d'amore is a 7- or 6-stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin.- Structure and sound :...
.
The quintet was also notable in its day for premiering rediscovered works by long-dead composers. It was later discovered that Casadesus and his brothers, notably Marius Casadesus
Marius Casadesus
Marius Casadesus was a French violinist and composer. He was the brother of Henri Casadesus, uncle of the famed pianist Robert Casadesus, and grand-uncle to Jean Casadesus....
, wrote these works. The Adélaïde Concerto
Adelaide Concerto
The Adélaïde Concerto is the nickname of a Violin Concerto in D Major attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and given the catalog number K. Anh. 294a in the third edition of the standard Köchel catalogue of Mozart's works. Unknown until the 20th century, this concerto was later discovered to be a...
, allegedly by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, is sometimes mistakenly attributed to Henri but is actually by Marius.
However, Henri is thought to have been the author of a "Concerto in D Major for Viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
" ascribed to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
right|250pxCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and second son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach...
, described by Rachel W. Wade in Appendix B of her Keyboard Concertos of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1981), pp. 279-82. This concerto appeared in 1911 in a Russian edition, allegedly "transcribed...for small orchestra by Maximilian Steinberg
Maximilian Steinberg
Maximilian Osseyevich Steinberg was a Russian composer of classical music born in what is now Lithuania.-Life:...
," and was subsequently performed by conductors such as Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
and Serge Koussevitsky, and recorded by both Felix Prohaska
Felix Prohaska
Felix Prohaska was an Austrian conductor.He spent many years conducting at the Vienna State Opera and the Frankfurt Opera, and is noted for his recordings for the Vanguard Classics label of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, and Gustav Mahler.He was...
and Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born conductor and violinist.-Early life:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music at the age of five...
. "Thus," Wade wrote in 1981, "at the present time, the most frequently recorded concerto of C.P.E. Bach is a spurious one."
Henri is also credited with the "Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
Concerto" and the "J.C. Bach
Johann Christian Bach
Johann Christian Bach was a composer of the Classical era, the eleventh and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is sometimes referred to as 'the London Bach' or 'the English Bach', due to his time spent living in the British capital...
Concerto," which are both for viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
as well. These are often referred to as "The Handel/Casadesus Concerto" and "The J.C. Bach/Casadesus Concerto". Scholarly criticism has confirmed that both these concerti were written by Henri Casadesus in the style of their purported composers.
Selected works
Stage- Le rosier, Opera buffa in 3 acts (1914); libretto by Maurice Devilliers
- Les plaisirs champêtres, ou, Les tentations de las bergère et l'amour vainqueur, Ballet in 1 act (1924); music derived from Plaisirs champêtres and Divertissement by Michel Pignolet de Montéclair
- Cotillon III, Opera buffa in 3 acts (1927); libretto by Gabriel Alphaud and Pierre Maudru
- Sans tambour ni trompette, Operetta in 3 acts, 4 scenes (1931); libretto by Pierre VeberPierre VéberPierre-Eugène Veber was a French playwright and writer.-Theatre 1897–1910:*1897: Dix ans après, comedy in one act, with Lucien Muhlfeld, premiered in Paris at the Théâtre de l'Odéon 5 April 1897...
and Henry de Gorsse - Valses de France, Fantasie musicale et grand spectacle "Sur des airs célèbres de Gounod, G. Bizet, B. Godard, L. Delibes, Hervé, O. Métra, Lacome, P. Delmet" in 2 acts, 18 scenes (1943); libretto by Eddy Ghilain and Albert WillemetzAlbert WillemetzAlbert Willemetz was a French librettist.Albert Willemetz was a prolific lyricist. He invented a new type of musical, with a humorous and "sexy" style...
- La petite-fille de madame Angot, Operetta
Orchestral
- Concerto in D major for small orchestra (ca.1905, published 1912); original "for four viols concertante"; falsely attributed to Carl Philipp Emanuel BachCarl Philipp Emanuel Bachright|250pxCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and second son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach...
- Divertissement bressanBresseBresse is a former French province. It is located in the regions of Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne, and Franche-Comté of eastern France. The geographical term Bresse has two meanings: Bresse bourguignonne , which is situated in the east of the department of Saône-et-Loire, and Bresse, which is located...
, Suite for orchestra (published 1943) - Divertissement Provençal, Suite for orchestra (published 1943)
-
- Cortège et danse des treilles
- L'Erbeto di frisoun
- Le pas du cap de juven
- Tambourin
Concertante
- Concerto (Suite) in D major for violin or viola and piano or orchestra (ca.1905, published 1931); original "for four viols concertante"; falsely attributed to Carl Philipp Emanuel BachCarl Philipp Emanuel Bachright|250pxCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and second son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach...
- "Handel" Concerto in B minor for viola and orchestra (published 1924); falsely attributed to George Frideric HandelGeorge Frideric HandelGeorge Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
- "J.C. Bach" Concerto in C minor for viola and orchestra (published 1947); falsely attributed to Johann Christian BachJohann Christian BachJohann Christian Bach was a composer of the Classical era, the eleventh and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is sometimes referred to as 'the London Bach' or 'the English Bach', due to his time spent living in the British capital...
Chamber music
- Suite for string quartet (or string orchestra) (published 1931); falsely attributed to Carl Philipp Emanuel BachCarl Philipp Emanuel Bachright|250pxCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and second son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach...
- La ronde des saisons for woodwind quintet (published 1987)
- 24 préludes pour viole d'amour avec accompagnement de clavecin, piano ou harpe (24 Preludes) for viola d'amoreViola d'amoreThe viola d'amore is a 7- or 6-stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin.- Structure and sound :...
with accomapniment of harpsichordHarpsichordA harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
, piano, or harp (1931)
Pedagogical works
- Technique de la viole d'amour (Technique of the Viola d'amoreViola d'amoreThe viola d'amore is a 7- or 6-stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin.- Structure and sound :...
) (1931)
Piano
- Pieces from Cotillon-jazz (1927)
-
- C'est moi, One-step
- Jeux innocents, Fox-trot
- Loulou, Fox-trot
- Radix, One-step
- Marche ternaire (1935)
- Le jardin des amours (1939)
- Pavane
- Passepied
- Menuet tendre
- Canarie
- Les Récréations de la campagne (1947)
Vocal
- Quatre chansons cambodgiennes (4 Cambodian Songs) for voice and piano (1931); French words by Fernand Rouvray
- Quatre chansons françaises (4 French Songs) for voice and piano (1933); words by Léon Guillot de Saix
- Normandie for voice and piano (1935); words by René Dorin
Film scores
- Barranco, Ltd (1932)
- Colomba (1933)
- Le crime du chemin rouge (1933)
- Le gardian
- Paris New-York (1940)
- Matin de France (1942)
- Les mystères de Paris (Mysteries of Paris) (1943)