Louise Farrenc

French composer, pianist, teacher and writer Louise Farrenc was born Jeanne-Louise Dumont in Paris on 31 May 1804. She studied piano with Cecile Soria - a student of Muzio Clementi - and later with Ignaz Moscheles and Johann Nepomuk Hummel. From the age of fifteen she studied composition privately with Anton Reicha.

She married Aristide Farrenc in 1821 and they created a publishing pusiness in Paris, Éditions Farrenc, which became one of the top publishers in France for almost forty years.

She became well known as a pianist and taught piano for nearly thirty years at the Paris Conservatoire. She created Le Trésor des pianistes - an influential book about performing early music.

As a composer, her early music was all for piano, but from the 1830s onwards she began writing pieces for chamber ensemble and orchestra. Her chamber music, mostly written during the 1840s, is generally regarded as her most interesting output. It includes a nonet, two piano quintets and some trios. She also wrote choral music, plus two overtures and three symphonies.

Louise Farrenc died in Paris on 15 September 1875, aged seventy-one. After her death, her music was largely forgotten until the interest in women composers began in the late twentieth century.

 

A selection of articles about Louise Farrenc

Ensemble. Particularly Compelling - Mike Wheeler reports on a recent performance of music by Louise Farrenc, Mendelssohn and Mozart

CD Spotlight. Truly Admirable - Gerald Fenech listens to works by French composer Louise Farrenc. 'An exhilarating addition to the composer's discography, passionately performed and recorded.'

Ensemble. A Delightful Afternoon - Lawrence Budmen listens to the Chameleon Musicians