Alphonse Jean Hasselmans (5 March 1845 – 19 May 1912) was a

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

-born French

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

ist,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, and

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

Biography

Hasselmans was born in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

, Belgium. He studied initially at the Conservatory in Strasbourg, which was led since 1854 by his father Joseph Hasselmans (1814–1902). He continued his studies with Gottlieb Krüger (1824–1895) in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

and with Ange-Conrad Prumier (1820–1884) in Paris. He began his performing career in the orchestra of the

Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (, ; , ; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of this theatre in which it is ho ...

in Brussels. A series of eight solo concerts in Paris in 1877 resulted in contracts for performances as a soloist with several Paris orchestras. At the death of Prumier in 1884, Hasselsmans succeeded him as professor of harp at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

where he had Caroline Luigini as assistant, a position he held until his sudden death in Paris at age 67. Hasselmans trained a generation of the most important French harpists of the 20th century, including Henriette Renié, Marcel Tournier, Carlos Salzedo, Marcel Grandjany,

Lily Laskine Lily Laskine (31 August 1893 – 4 January 1988) was one of the most prominent harpists of the twentieth century who was born and died in Paris. Born Lily Aimée Laskine to Jewish parents in Paris, she studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with Alp ...

, and Pierre Jamet. He became a French citizen in 1903.Sylvie Janssens: "Hasselmans, Alphonse", in: ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'' (MGG), biographical part vol. 8, Kassel: Bärenreiter (2002), cc. 827–828. Hasselmans' daughter
Marguerite Hasselmans
(1876–1947), was a concert pianist; she was also the mistress of

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. ...

for many years. His son, Louis Hasselmans (1878–1957), was a conductor, especially of opera, whose career took him to the United States, working at the

Chicago Civic Opera The Civic Opera Company (1922–1931) was a Chicago company that produced seven seasons of grand opera in the Auditorium Theatre from 1922 to 1928, and three seasons at its own Civic Opera House from 1929 to 1931 before falling victim to financia ...

and the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

before becoming Professor of Music at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Compositions

Hasselmans composed several dozen original solos for harp, of which his most famous is a concert

étude An étude (; ) or study is an instrumental musical composition, designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early 19th century with the rapidly growing popu ...

entitled ''La Source'' (''The Wellspring''), Op. 44. He transcribed numerous works for harp originally written for other instruments by other composers, and edited important collections of studies by the earlier 19th-century harpist

Nicolas-Charles Bochsa Robert-Nicolas-Charles Bochsa (; 9 August 1789 – 6 January 1856) was a French harpist and composer. His relationship with Anna Bishop was popularly thought to have inspired that of Svengali and Trilby in George du Maurier's 1894 novel ''Tril ...

Discography

*''Alphonse Hasselmans: Music For Harp'', performed by

Floraleda Sacchi Floraleda Sacchi (June 14, 1978) is an Italian harpist, composer and musicologist born in Como. Biography She studied music in Italy, the United States and Canada, with Lisetta Rossi, Alice Giles, Judy Loman, Alice Chalifoux. She has won p ...

, on
Brilliant Classics 94625
CD (2013). Contains: ''Sérénade'', Op. 5; ''Romance'', Op. 6; ''Patrouille'', Op. 18; ''Gitana'', Op. 21; ''Petite valse'', Op. 25; ''Marguerite au rouet, ou Fileuse: Gretchen am Spinnrade'', Op. 27; ''Au monastère'', Op. 29; ''Mazurka'', Op. 31; ''Menuet'', Op. 34; ''Gondoliera'', Op. 39; ''Chanson de mai'', Op. 40; ''Nocturne'', Op. 43; ''La Source'', Op. 44; ''Follets'', Op. 48; ''Gnomes'', Op. 49; ''Guitare'', Op. 50.

References

External links

Scores by Alphonse Hasselmans
from the International Harp Archives on archive.org * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hasselmans, Alphonse 1845 births 1912 deaths 19th-century French classical composers 19th-century French male musicians 20th-century French classical composers 20th-century French male musicians Belgian classical composers Belgian male classical composers Composers for harp Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris French male classical composers French classical harpists French Romantic composers Musicians from Liège