Jane Jackson Roeckel (19 October 1833 – 26 August 1907) was a British composer, inventor, pianist, and philanthropist. She composed songs and works for piano and

piano roll A piano roll is a music storage medium used to operate a player piano, piano player or reproducing piano. Piano rolls, like other music rolls, are continuous rolls of paper with holes punched into them. These perforations represent note contro ...

s, including piano transcriptions of symphonies by composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn. She sometimes published under the pseudonym Jules de Sivrai.

Biography

Roeckel was born in Clifton, England, into a family of artists and musicians. Her father was the Old Water Colour Society and

Bristol School The Bristol School (or Bristol School of Artists) is a term applied retrospectively to describe the informal association and works of a group of artists working in Bristol, England, in the early 19th century. It was mainly active in the 182 ...

painter

Samuel Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed more than $27 billion worldwide, making him the hig ...

; her brother Samuel Phillips Jackson was also a painter; her sister Ada Villiers was a musician; and her uncle was the Austrian composer

Johann Nepomuk Hummel Johann Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 177817 October 1837) was an Austrian composer and pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era. He was a pupil of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Salieri, and ...

. Roeckel studied piano and harmony first with her father, then with

Jacques Blumenthal Jacques Blumenthal (4 October 1829 – 17 May 1908) was a German pianist and composer. Born "Jakob" in Hamburg, he began his musical studies at an early age, receiving instruction from Friedrich Wilhelm Grund, Carl Maria von Bocklet, and Simon S ...

, Charles Halle, Bernhard Molique, Ernst Pauer, and

Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; ; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic music, Romantic era, she exerted her influence o ...

. In 1864, she married Joseph Leopold Roeckel, who was also a composer. Roeckel invented the “Pamphonia,” a device used to learn the different clefs and staves. It was a model of an eleven line stave with movable bars. She composed works for piano rolls for the

Aeolian Company The Aeolian Company was a musical-instrument making firm whose products included player organs, pianos, sheet music, records and phonographs. Founded in 1887, it was at one point the world's largest such firm. During the mid 20th century, it surp ...

, the Melvin Clark Piano Company, and the Wilcox & White Piano and Organ Company. Roeckel was a philanthropist who organized many charitable concerts for struggling artists, helped establish the Bristol Scholarship at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

, and founded the Teachers Provident Association in 1885. Her best known charitable work was bringing the violinist Marie Hall to the attention of

Philip Napier Miles Philip Napier Miles (21 January 1865 – 19 July 1935) was a philanthropist and musician in Bristol, and a descendent of the Napier family. He was High Sheriff of Gloucestershire for 1916–17. Life and family He was the only son of Philip ...

, who became Hall’s benefactor. He paid Hall's living expenses in London while she attended the Royal Academy of Music, and later enabled her to study with Czech violinist

Otakar Ševčík Otakar Ševčík (22 March 185218 January 1934) was a Czechs, Czech violinist and influential teacher. He was known as a Solo (music), soloist and an Musical ensemble, ensemble player, including his occasional performances with Eugène Ysaÿe. ...

in Prague for 18 months. Roeckel’s compositions were frequently performed by the pianist

Arabella Goddard Arabella Goddard (12 January 18366 April 1922) was an English pianist. She was born and died in France. Her parents, Thomas Goddard, an heir to a Salisbury cutlery firm, and Arabella née Ingles, were part of an English community of expatriat ...

. They were published by Chappell & Company and include:

Piano

*arrangements of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

and

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

symphonies *''Danse Russe'' *''Miranda, Shakespearean Illustration No. 1'' *''Reverie-Mazurka''

Vocal

*"Drifting On" *''Moxlyn'' (mixed chorus) *''Our King and Queen'' (soprano or tenor and vocal quartet) *"Remember Me" (by Hugh Conway; arranged by Jules de Sivrai) *"Village Story"

References

External links

Listen to Danse Russe by Jane RoeckelDownload free public domain sheet music by Jane Roeckel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roeckel, Jane 1833 births 1907 deaths British women composers British inventors Pseudonymous artists British philanthropists