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

Life

He was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, the younger brother of the flute-player

Joseph-Henri Altès Joseph-Henri Altès (18 January 1826 – 24 July 1899) was a 19th-century French flautist, composer and pedagogue. Biography Born in Rouen, Joseph-Henri Altès was the son of a soldier. Violinist and conductor Ernest Eugène Altès was his youn ...

. Sons of a soldier and brought up in the regiment, the boys were taught by their father to play the violin and

fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

from their earliest years. At age 12, Altès wrote an air with variations for violin and piano, which was shown to François Habeneck, and procured his entrance into the Paris Conservatory. 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. 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 ...

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 philha ...

. 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 ...

, 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, 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 (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

. 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 Italy and later naturalised French. His repertoire consisted mostly of French and Italian opera, in which he directed some of the world' ...

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 and ...

on ballet airs by Daniel Auber, 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 19th-century French male violinists Musicians from Paris 1830 births 1899 deaths