Biographical Sketches

From "The Worlds Best Music" © 1908

Brassin, Louis
Born in Aix-la-Chapelle, Prussia,  June 24, 1840
His musical education was conducted at the conservatory at Leipzig, under Moscheles. In company with his brothers, Leopold and Gerhard, he made several concert tours in which he rarely failed to draw large and enthusiastic audiences. In 1866 he was appointed instructor at Sterns' Conservatorium in Berlin, but he resigned this position in 1868 to take a similar one at the Brussels Conservatoire. Later he removed to the conservatory at St. Petersburg. Among his best known compositions are "Der Thronfolger", an operetta, twelve etudes  de concert, and a considerable number of galops and waltzes.
He died in St. Petersburg, May 17, 1884

Cadmus, Howard
Born in Newark, N. J., May 10, 1847
He devoted himself to organ work, and published numerous compositions, mostly for the pianoforte. Among them may be mentioned "Ours", "Unique Galop", and the "Queen Bess Gavotte".

Carmichael, (Mrs.) Annie Darling
Born in Maine.
She is of Huguenot descent, from a family distinguished in art, music, and belles-lettres. She was a piano pupil of S. D. Mills, New York. Her writings include many kinds of instrumental music. Among her compositions are "Gondellied", "Love in Song", "Sympathy", and "Remembrance", of which the last named was chosen for "American Composers Night" and played in 1897.

Chaminade, Cecile
Born in Paris, August 8, 1861.
She was a pupil of Le Couppey, Savard, Marsick, and Godard. She is sister-in-law of the famous composer Mosczkowski, from whom she obtained much help. Her ballet airs, in which she excels, many of her varied piano pieces, and her songs are well known. The "Scarf Dance" and "Pierrette" are examples of the first named. She has also written suites for orchestra.

Chopin, Frederic Francois
Born in Zelazowa-Wola, near Warsaw, March 1, 1809.
His father was a Frenchman, his mother a Pole. The genius of Chopin showed itself early, his first public performance being given when he was but nine years of age. His earliest compositions were dances, mazurkas, and waltzes. At nineteen, a finished virtuoso, with his two concertos and some minor pieces in his pocket, he started for Paris, where he settled and remained for the greater part of his life.

In his early years he was vivacious, ready for fun or frolic, but his later life was saddened by an unfortunate episode. In 1837 he began a liaison with George Sand (Mme Dudevant), who for a time reciprocated his affections; but after ten years of romantic connection the friendship was broken. In the latter part of his life he was a victim to consumption, which caused his death.

Chopin was essentially a pianoforte genius, and he is credited with freeing the piano from orchestral traditions and endowing it with its own distinctive style of composition. Rubinstein called him the piano's soul. His works, eighty-six in number, represent an immense amount of care and labor. They include, besides mazurkas and waltzes, concertos, rondos, nocturnes, polonaises, etudes, and other forms of composition, are wonderfully original and finished, and remain a possession of rare musical value.
He died in Paris, October 17, 1848.

Clementi, Muzio
Born in Rome, Italy, 1752.
At nine he was chosen as an organist in competition with older players. Until he went to England in 1766, he studied under Carpani for composition and under Sartarelli for voice. After four years of quiet study in Dorsetshire, Clementi made a sensation as a pianist in London. He spent most of his life in London, where he amassed a fortune as a teacher, pianist, and composer. Among his pupils who afterwards became famous were Moscheles, Kalkbrenner, and Meyerbeer. Clementi perfected the type of the sonata form, an dhis book of etudes, the "Gradus and Parnassum" (1817), is a standard.
He died near Evesham, England, March 10, 1832

Czibulka, Alphons
Born in Szepes-Varallya, Hungary, May 14, 1842
He studied under noted masters at Presburg and Vienna, an din an astonishingly short time acquired an almost perfect mastery of the pianoforte. In 1865 he was made kapellmeister at the Karl Theater in Vienna. A year later, upon his own application, he was appointed to a similar position in the 17th infantry regiment, with which he went through the Italian campaign. He was afterward transferred to the 25th regiment at Prague, and still later was appointed Armee-kapellmeister in Vienna. Although Czibulka wrote an operetta and several other ambitious compositions, it is by his dance music, such as "Love's Dream After the Ball", that he is so well and widely known.
He died in Vienna, October 27, 1894.

Delibes, Clement Philibert Leo
Born in St. Germain-de-Val (Sarthe), France February 21, 1836.
He studied in Paris under Le Couppey, Benoist, Bazin, and Adolphe Adam. From an early period he devoted himself almost exclusively to dramatic compositions, and for these his is best known. In 1865 he obtained an appointment at the Grand Opera, which opened for him a new field. Having been asked in 1866 to aid the Russian musician MInkous in writing a ballet, he exhibited peculiar ability for the work, and he was commissioned to set an entire ballet on the foundation of the comedy "Coppelia". This is considered the most fascinating of all his productions, and by it his reputation was fully established. In 1872, leaving for the time ballet music, he published a series of charming melodies. Later he wrote a grand scena, "La Mort d'Prphee" and two dramatic works. In these, however, his success was only partial. Delibes was always at his best in lighter vein. IN 1881, he succeeded Reber as professor of advanced composition at the Paris Conservatoire.
He died in Paris, January 16, 1891.

Durand, Auguste Frederic
Born in Warsaw, Russian Poland, about 1770.
Until 1787 he remained at home receiving instruction from his father, and was then sent to Paris, where he studied under Viotti. In 1794-95 he traveled with great success. After a very unsettled life, he finally established himself at Strasburg, where he remained a leader of the band until his death, subsequent to 1834, the exact date being unknown.

Dussek, Johann Ludwig
Born in Czaslau, Bohemia, February 9, 1761.
After the completion of his studies, he became an organist, and later, when residing at Amsterdam and The Hague, he devoted much time to composition. His subsequent career was passed as a teacher of prominence in London, and on the Continent as a protege successively of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, Prince von Eisenburg, and Talleyrand. He occupies an important place in the annals of the development of pianoforte playing.
He died in St. Germain-en-Laye, France, March 20, 1812