Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmerman
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Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmerman (17 March 1785 – 29 October 1853), known as Pierre Zimmermann and Joseph Zimmermann, was a French pianist, composer, and music teacher.
Biography[]
Zimmerman was born in Paris on March 19, 1785, as the son of a piano maker.[1] He attended the Paris Conservatory in 1798, studying piano with François-Adrien Boieldieu; while a student there, he won first prizes for piano in 1800 (Friedrich Kalkbrenner came second)[2] and harmony in 1802. He would later study under Luigi Cherubini. Zimmerman became a piano assistant at the Conservatory in 1811 and a full professor there in 1816, serving until 1848; he refused a position as a professor of counterpoint and fugue in 1821. Among his students were Charles Gounod (who married one of his daughters),[2] Georges Bizet, César Franck, Charles-Valentin Alkan, Ambroise Thomas, Louis Lacombe, Alexandre Goria and Lefébure-Wély. In 1842 he denied Conservatory admission to 13-year old Louis Moreau Gottschalk without an audition on account of Gottschalk's American nationality, commenting that "America is a country of steam engines". Zimmerman was often assisted in his teaching by Gounod.
Zimmerman wrote two operas, L'enlèvement (Opéra-Comique, 1830) and Nausicaa (never staged). He also composed two piano concertos, one piano sonata, and numerous other works for piano. His most important legacy is considered his Encyclopédie du pianiste, a complete method of piano playing, including a treatise on harmony and counterpoint.[2]
He died in Paris on October 29, 1853 at the age of 68, and is now buried in the Auteuil Cemetery in the 16th arrondissement.
His daughter Juliette married Édouard Dubufe.
References[]
- ^ Slonimsky, Nicolas (1978). "Zimmerman, Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume". Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (6th ed.). New York: Schirmer Books. p. 1947. ISBN 0-02-870240-9.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 1951
Sources[]
- Don Randel, The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Harvard, 1996, p. 1010-1011.
External links[]
- Alkan-Zimmerman International Music Association
- Alkan-Zimmerman International Piano Competition
- Cimetières de France et ailleurs: Cimetière d’Auteuil, brief biography of Zimmerman and photo of his grave
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- 1785 births
- 1853 deaths
- French classical composers
- French male classical composers
- French Romantic composers
- French classical pianists
- Male classical pianists
- French pianists
- French male pianists
- French music educators
- Piano pedagogues
- French opera composers
- Male opera composers
- Conservatoire de Paris faculty
- Conservatoire de Paris alumni
- 19th-century classical composers
- 19th-century classical pianists
- 19th-century French composers
- 19th-century French male musicians