Louis Adam
Encyclopedia
Muttersholtz
Muttersholtz is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
– April 8, 1848, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
) was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
composer, music teacher, and piano virtuoso.
Born in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
, he went to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1775. He spent over four decades, from 1797 through 1842, as Professor of Pianoforte 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...
. In addition to being a skilled pianist, he composed a number of piano pieces that were in vogue at the time, especially some variations on Le bon roi Dagobert
Le bon roi Dagobert (song)
"Le bon roi Dagobert" is an old French song featuring King Dagobert and Saint Eligius , two historical people. The song was created in the epoch of the French Revolution, and was intended to ridicule royalty...
. As professor, he was the teacher of a number of notable students, including Joseph Daussoigne-Méhul
Joseph Daussoigne-Méhul
Joseph Daussoigne-Méhul was a French composer and music educator. He served as the first director of the Royal Conservatory of Liège from 1826-1862; having been appointed to that post by William I of the Netherlands. In addition to his duties as director, he also taught courses in harmony and...
, Friedrich Kalkbrenner
Friedrich Kalkbrenner
Friedrich Wilhelm Michael Kalkbrenner was a German pianist, composer, piano teacher and piano manufacturer who spent most of his life in England and France. Before the advent of Frédéric Chopin, Sigismond Thalberg and Franz Liszt, Kalkbrenner was by many considered to be the foremost pianist in...
, Ferdinand Hérold, and Henri le Moine. He also wrote two standard instruction books for piano: Mithode ou principe générale du doigté pour le Forté-piano (1798) and Méthode nouvelle pour le Piano (1802). In 1804 he published an influential work: Méthode de piano du Conservatoire, which contributed to the advancement of piano technique in Paris.
His son, Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Charles Adam was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle and Le corsaire , his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau , Le toréador and Si j'étais roi , and his Christmas...
, was the composer of the score for the ballet Giselle.