Ernest Eugène Altès (March 28, 1830 – July 8, 1899) was a French

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists * List of contemporary classical violinists * List of jazz violinists * List of popular music violinists * List of Indian violinists * List of Persian violinists * Li ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

Life

He was born in

Paris 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 ...

, the younger brother of the flute-player Joseph-Henri Altès. Sons of a soldier and brought up in the regiment, the boys were taught by their father to play the violin and

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from their earliest years. At age 12, Altès wrote an air with variations for violin and piano, which was shown to

François Habeneck François Antoine Habeneck (22 January 1781 – 8 February 1849) was a French classical violinist and conductor. Early life Habeneck was born at Mézières, the son of a musician in a French regimental band. During his early youth, Habeneck w ...

, and procured his entrance into the

Paris Conservatory 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 ...

. In 1843 he entered Habeneck's violin class; two years later he gained a second ''accessit'' for violin, in 1847 the second prize, and in the following year the first prize. In 1849 he obtained a second prize for harmony under François Bazin, after which he spent some time in studying advanced composition with

Michele Carafa Michele Enrico Francesco Vincenzo Aloisio Paolo Carafa di Colobrano (17 November 1787 – 26 July 1872) was an Italian opera composer. He was born in Naples and studied in Paris with Luigi Cherubini. He was Professor of counterpoint at the Pa ...

. From 1845 onwards he played in the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

band, and in 1846 was admitted to the

Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire The Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire () was a symphony orchestra established in Paris in 1828. It gave its first concert on 9 March 1828 with music by Beethoven, Rossini, Meifreid, Rode and Cherubini. Administered by the phi ...

. In 1871 Altès was appointed deputy conductor at the Opera in place of

Édouard Deldevez Édouard Marie Ernest Deldevez (31 May 1817 – 6 November 1897) was a French violinist, conductor at important Parisian musical institutions, composer, and music teacher. Biography Deldevez was born and died in Paris. He won many prizes as a vi ...

, who had just given up his post after twelve years' work.

François George-Hainl François George-Hainl (16 November 1807 – 2 June 1873) was a French cellist and conductor.Fétis F-J. ''Biographie universelle des musiciens.'' Paris, 1878. He was born in Issoire. His father, who worked as both cobbler and amateur fiddler, ga ...

was at this time conductor of the Opera, but at his death in 1873 Deldevez, who in the preceding year replaced Hainl as conductor at the Conservatory, was recalled. In 1877 Deldevez was succeeded at the opera by

Charles Lamoureux Charles Lamoureux (; 28 September 183421 December 1899) was a French conductor and violinist. Life He was born in Bordeaux, where his father owned a café. He studied the violin with Narcisse Girard at the Paris Conservatoire, taking a ''prem ...

, who being unable to agree with the new director,

Auguste Vaucorbeil Auguste Emmanuel Vaucorbeil, born Veaucorbeille, (15 December 1821 – 2 November 1884) was a French composer and theatre manager. He was the director of the Paris Opera from 1879 until his death at the age of 62. Vaucorbeil was born in Rouen and s ...

, retired at the end of 1879. Altès, who was still deputy conductor, was now appointed conductor, and almost immediately gave up his post at the Société des Concerts, which he had held since 1877. In 1881 he was decorated with the

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. On July 1, 1887, M. Altès, having, against his wish, been placed on the retired list, was rather roughly discharged by the directors of the Opera, and replaced by

Auguste Vianesi Auguste Charles Léonard François Vianesi (2 November 1837 – 4 November 1908) was an opera conductor, born in the Austrian Empire and later naturalised French. His repertoire consisted mostly of French and Italian opera, in which he directed some ...

Compositions

His chief compositions are a sonata for piano and violin, a trio for piano and strings, a string quartet, a symphony, and a

divertissement ''Divertissement'' (from the French 'diversion' or 'amusement') is used, in a similar sense to the Italian 'divertimento', for a light piece of music for a small group of players, however the French term has additional meanings. During the 17th an ...

on ballet airs by

Daniel Auber Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire. Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally whe ...

, written for the Auber centenary in 1882, besides operatic fantasias, ''mélodies caractéristiques'', etc.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Altes, Ernest Eugene French conductors (music) French male conductors (music) Recipients of the Legion of Honour French male violinists Musicians from Paris 1830 births 1899 deaths 19th-century French violinists 19th-century French male musicians