Joseph Ascher (3 June 1829 – 20 June 1869) was a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

-Jewish composer and pianist. He lived in Paris and London for most of his life.

Life

Ascher was born in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, the son of the ''

chazzan A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' ( he, חַזָּן , plural ; Yiddish ''khazn''; Ladino ''Hasan'') is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer Prayer is an in ...

'' of the city, who went on to become a cantor in London. He started his musical studies in London and continued them at the

Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...

with

Ignaz Moscheles Isaac Ignaz Moscheles (; 23 May 179410 March 1870) was a Bohemian piano virtuoso and composer. He was based initially in London and later at Leipzig, where he joined his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as professor of piano at the ...

as his teacher, but did not graduate.he died at age 40 His pianistic gifts were recognized by the

Empress Eugénie An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...

of France, who asked him to become her court pianist in 1849. In 1865, Ascher moved back to London, while in Paris he was succeeded as court pianist by

Émile Waldteufel Charles Émile Waldteufel (9 December 1837 – 12 February 1915) was a French pianist, conductor and composer known for his numerous popular Salon music, salon pieces. Life Émile Waldteufel (German for ''forest devil'') was born at 84 Grand ...

. He died in London from the result of what some 19th-century sources call "a dissolute life". Brown (1886) regarded him as a "composer who, had he been more careful in his worldly relations, might have proved one of the greatest among recent musicians."

Music

Ascher composed about 170 works for piano, piano four- and eight-hands, as well as ballads and display pieces for solo singers with piano accompaniment. Brown (1886) wrote: "his music is more than commonplace, and many of his single pieces evince genius of a decidedly original turn. The numerous pieces which he has produced for the Pf. B.: the pianoare in general brilliant and effective in character; while several of them show tokens of real genius inspiration."Brown (1886), as above.

Selected works

Piano *''Les Hirondelles'' op. 15, 1852 *''Thème russe'' op. 16, c. 1852 *''L'Orgie'' op. 21, 1854 *''Le Papillon'' op. 32, 1854 *''Styrienne'' op. 35, 1854 *''Fanfare militaire en forme de marche'' op. 40, 1854 *''Prière'' op. 42, 1855 *''Dans ma barque'' op. 47, 1856 *''Les Clochettes'' op. 48, 1856 *''La Sevillana'' op. 51, 1856 *''La Sylphide'' op. 57, 1857 *''Feuilles et fleurs'' op. 59, 1857 *''La Zingara'' op. 73, 1858 *''La Cascade de roses'' op. 80, 1858 *''Mon Enfant dort''. Berceuse op. 88, 1860 *''Le Phalène'' op. 93, 1860 *''La Ronde des elfes'' op. 104, 1862 *''La Cloche du couvent'' op. 106, 1861 *''I Lazzaroni'' op. 112, 1863 *''Paraphrase de concert sur l'air irlandais 'The Last Rose of Summer op. 114, 1863 *''Les Sylphes des bois'' op. 119, 1865 *''Vision'' op. 120, 1865 Songs *'' Alice, Where Art Thou?'' (

Wellington Guernsey Wellington Guernsey (correct name: William Greville Hudson Guernsey) (8 June 1817 – 13 November 1885) was an Irish composer, poet, and military man. Biography Guernsey was born in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, studied briefly as a boy with the well ...

), 1861 *''I'll think of thee'' (Wellington Guernsey), 1862 *''Thoughts of Home''. An Alpine Song (Wellington Guernsey), 1864 *''A Twilight Dream'' (George Linley), 1866 *''Bygone Love'' (George Linley), 1866 *''Mélanie'' (Maggioni), 1870

Reference Notes

External links

* *
Free scores

Mutopia Project The Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of free content sheet music, in a way similar to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books. It started in 2000.Portal page at thInternet ArchiveRetrieved January 24, 20 ...

''Jewish Encyclopedia'': "Ascher, Joseph"
by Joseph Jacobs and Goodman Lipkind (1906). 1829 births 1869 deaths People from Groningen (city) Dutch Jews Dutch male classical composers Dutch classical composers Jewish classical musicians Dutch Romantic composers 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Dutch male musicians {{Netherlands-composer-stub