Charles Lucien Lambert, also known as Lucien Lambert, Sr. (1828–1896), was an American

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

music teacher Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as primary education, elementary or secondary education, secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a res ...

and

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 Defi ...

, born a

free person of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (French: ''gens de couleur libres''; Spanish: ''gente de color libre'') were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not ...

in New Orleans before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Part of a family of prominent

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

composers, Lambert was noted for talent in music and gained international acclaim.

Early life and education

Lambert was born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

to Charles-Richard Lambert, a native of New York, and his wife, a free Creole woman of color. They were a very musical family. Free people of color constituted a special class in New Orleans, where they had privileges not available to free blacks in other areas. After his mother's death, his father married Coralie Suzanne Orzy, also a free woman of color. They had a son

Sidney Lambert Sidney Lambert (18381905) was an African-American pianist, music educator and composer, born before the American Civil War as a free person of color. He and his family were noted for talent in music and gained international acclaim. Life and career ...

, born in 1838, and the half-brothers learned to be musicians together.

Marriage and family

Lambert married a French woman. Their son

Lucien-Léon Guillaume Lambert Lucien-Leon Guillaume Lambert or Lucien Lambert, Jr. (1858–1945) was a French pianist and composer of African-American Creole descent. His family was noted for talent in music and gained international acclaim. Life and career Lucien-Leon Lambe ...

, born in 1858, became a musician and composer, more well-known than his father. He was sometimes called Lucien Lambert ''fils'' (son), and his work is often confused with that of his father. Together with the work of the violinist and composer

Edmond Dédé Edmond Dédé (November 20, 1827 – January 5, 1903) was an American musician and composer from New Orleans, Louisiana. A free-born Creole, he moved to Europe to study in Paris in 1855 and settled in France. His compositions include ''Quasimod ...

, Lucien-Leon Lambert's compositions are considered classics of Romantic Creole music. Lambert's brother Sidney also became a noted pianist and composer.

Career

Because of racism in the US, Lambert moved to France with his family in 1854, where he worked as a composer and musician. Sometime in the 1860s, he moved his family to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, where he was so associated with French music that some historians referred to him as a French musician. Lambert had a piano and music store in the city. He also became part of the Brazilian National Institute of Music. In 1869 he greeted

Louis Moreau Gottschalk Louis Moreau Gottschalk (May 8, 1829 – December 18, 1869) was an American composer and pianist, best known as a virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works. He spent most of his working career outside the United States. Life and car ...

, a contemporary French Creole whom he had known as a fellow musician in New Orleans. Both Lambert and his son Lucien played in one of Gottschalk's massive works, one calling for 31 pianists to play together.Sybil Kein, ''Creole: The History and Legacy of Louisiana's Free People of Color''
Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2000, pp. 80-82, accessed 28 December 2010 Noted students include

Ernesto Nazareth Ernesto Júlio de Nazareth (March 20, 1863 – February 1, 1934) was a Brazilian composer and pianist, especially noted for his creative Maxixe and Choro compositions. Influenced by a diverse set of rhythms like the polka, the habanera, and the l ...

. Lambert died in Rio. He is sometimes listed as Lucien Lambert ''père'' (father), and his works are often confused with those of his son. Numerous of his compositions are held by the Bibliothèque nationale de Paris.

References

1828 births 1896 deaths 19th-century American composers 19th-century American pianists 19th-century classical composers 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century American male musicians African-American Catholics African-American classical composers American classical composers African-American classical pianists African-American male classical composers African-American music educators American classical pianists American male classical composers American male classical pianists American music educators {{US-composer-19thC-stub