Jeanne Louise Hillemacher Servier (1807-1858)
was a French composer who published most of her work under the name Mme. H. Servier. Her best known work was ''Methode Elementaire et Progressive de Chant a l’Usage de Toutes les Voix''.
Servier was the oldest of five children born to Wilhelmine Faber and Guillaume Hillemacher. Her youngest brother was the painter
Eugene Ernest Hillemacher. She married Henry A. Servier sometime before 1835, when she dedicated her composition ''Variations on the Evening Bells, opus 2'', to her husband.
Little is known about Servier’s education. She worked with contemporary composers, musicians, and writers.
Jacques-Louis Battmann
Jacques-Louis Battmann (25 August 1818 – 7 July 1886) was a 19th-century French organist and composer.
Life
Born in Masevaux, Battmann was around 1840 organist in Belfort, later in Vesoul and Dijon, where he also died. He published a tot ...
dedicated his composition ''Fleur des Alpes'' to her. She collaborated with cellist
Auguste Franchomme
Auguste-Joseph Franchomme (10 April 180821 January 1884) was a French cellist and composer. For his contributions to music, he was decorated with the Légion d'honneur in 1884.
Life and career
Born in Lille, Franchomme studied at the local conse ...
to compose a piece for cello and piano. Servier adopted the common practice of writing and arranging works based on themes by other composers, such as
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
,
Vincenzo Belllini,
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...
,
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'' (1868).
Born into a musical family, Thomas was a student at the Conservatoire de ...
, and
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
.
Servier’s compositions were published by
Henry Lemoine
Henry Lemoine (21 October 1786 – 18 May 1854) was a French music publisher, composer, and piano teacher.
Life
Lemoine was born in Paris, where he was a pupil of Anton Reicha, a composer and piano teacher.
In 1816 he took over his father An ...
,
Pacini,
Schonenberger,
and
Schott.
Her publications include:
Chamber
*''Introduction et Variations Concertantes sur les Motifs de l’Opéra La double Echelle by Ambroise Thomas (cello and piano; composed with Auguste Franchomme)
''
*''Le Delassement, opus 1'' (violin and piano)
*''Variations on the Evening Bells, opus 2'' (cello or violin and piano)
Piano
*''Autumn Leaf Polka-Mazurka
''
*''Exercise pour le Trille, opus 11
''
*''Fantaisie sur l’Opera de Vincenzo Bellini “I Capuletti,” opus 10'' (four hands)
*''First Bagatelle sur l’Opera de Gaetano Donizetti “Linda de Chamonny,” opus 6
''
*''Fourth Bagatelle sur l’Opera de Giuseppe Verdi “Nabucodonosor,” opus 9
''
*''Simple Melody, opus 5'' (four hands)
*''Second Bagatelle sur un Theme Original, opus 7
''
*''Third Bagatelle sur l’Opera de Gaetano Donizetti “Maria Padilla,” opus 8
''
*''Three Airs Variees, opus 3'' (four hands)
*''Trois Airs Favoris a l’Usage des Commencants, opus 3'' (four hands)
*''Variations, opus 5'' (four hands)
Vocal
*“Fleur d’Innocence” (text by Quetelet)
*''Methode Elementaire et Progressive de Chant a l’Usage de Toutes les Voix
''
*''Songs from the Opera “La Double Echelle” by Ambroise Thomas'' (text by Eugene de Planard; piano reduction by Servier)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Servier, H.
French women composers
1807 births
1858 deaths