Caroline Montigny-Rémaury (; 22 January 1843 in

Pamiers Pamiers (; ) is a commune and largest city in the Ariège department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the most populous commune in the Ariège department, although it is not t ...

– 19 June 1913 in the

8th arrondissement of Paris The 8th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, the arrondissement is colloquially referred to as ''le huitième'' (). The ar ...

) was a French classical pianist.

Biography

Caroline Montigny-Remaury was the wife of publicist Léon Montigny. When she became a widow, she married Auguste Wieczffinski de Serres (1841–1900), an engineer of the Ponts et chaussées. She was the sister of painter Léontine Rémaury who was the wife of the painter Louis Bauderon de Vermeron, the sister-in-law of

Ambroise Thomas Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas (; 5 August 1811 – 12 February 1896) was a French composer and teacher, best known for his operas ''Mignon'' (1866) and ''Hamlet (opera), Hamlet'' (1868). Born into a musical family, Thomas was a student at the C ...

, director of 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 ...

. She was the mother of Jean-Maurice-Charles Montigny, (born 18 October 1866,

Paris 9th Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, prefect of the

Sarthe Sarthe () is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the '' Grand-Ouest'' of the country. It is named after the river Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers. It ha ...

department, and Alice Montigny, pen name Henry Ferrare, the wife of sculptor Émile Lafont, (marriage on 3 July 1894, Paris 9th). She was a pupil of

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

. She performed in the provinces and abroad, Bordeaux, Lyon, London, where her appearance caused a sensation, and at the

Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne The Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne () is a German symphony orchestra based in Cologne. On some recordings, the orchestra goes under the name "Gürzenich-Orchester Kölner Philharmoniker". Its name comes from its past principal concert venue, the G ...

, where she had been at the request of

Ferdinand Hiller Ferdinand (von) Hiller (24 October 1811 – 11 May 1885) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, writer and music director. Biography Ferdinand Hiller was born to a wealthy Jewish family in Frankfurt am Main, where his father Justus (origin ...

, and where she obtained a real triumph. A virtuoso pianist, she was an inspiration to many composers and was often dedicated pieces by Pierné, Fauré, and Saint-Saëns. In 1880 Fauré dedicated his Barcarolle No 1 in A minor, Op 26 to her. It was premiered by Saint-Saëns at a concert of the Société Nationale de Musique in 1882. In 1886 Saint-Saëns wrote his ''Wedding-Cake'' for her second marriage in 1886 (she then became Caroline de Serres Wieczffinski), and dedicated her his ''Études pour la Main gauche seule, opus 135'' (1912), after she had seriously wounded her right hand, and with which she could no longer play. She died 19 June 1913 aged 70 in her home, 2 Cité Odiot, and was buried at

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...

.Funeral of Mme Caroline Montigny-Rémaury ''

Gil Blas ''Gil Blas'' ( ) is a picaresque novel by Alain-René Lesage published between 1715 and 1735. It was highly popular, and was translated several times into English, most notably by Tobias Smollett in 1748 as ''The Adventures of Gil Blas of S ...

'
21 June 1913
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References

External links

"Piano Works for the Left Hand"
on Gramophone.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Montigny-Remaury, Caroline 19th-century French women classical pianists 19th-century French classical pianists 1843 births People from Pamiers 1913 deaths Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery