Jules Delsart (24 November 1844 – 3 July 1900)MacGregor, "Jules Delsart"
Grove Music Online (Subscription Access)
/ref> was a 19th-century French cellist and teacher. He is best known for his arrangement for cello and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

César Franck César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was pa ...

's Violin Sonata in A major. Musicologist Lynda MacGregor described Delsart as "one of the foremost French cellists of the period, with faultless technique, a precise bow and a sweet, though not large, tone." He was the owner of the 1689 'Archinto'

Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, '' Stradivarius'', as well as the collo ...

Life and career

Born in

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...

in 1844, Delsart began his studies at the Académie de Musique in his native city before transferring to the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as 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 ...

, where he earned a First Prize in

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

performance in 1866. His principal teacher was

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 ...

, whom he succeeded as professor of cello at the Conservatoire upon Franchomme's death in 1884. He remained in that position for the rest of his life. His students included

Paul Bazelaire Paul Bazelaire (4 March 1886 – 11 December 1958) was a French cellist and composer. Bazelaire was born in Sedan, Ardennes. He studied under Jules Delsart Jules Delsart (24 November 1844 – 3 July 1900)MacGregor, "Jules Delsart"Grove Music ...

, Horace Britt, Marcel Casadesus, Louis Feuillard, Louis Fournier,

Víctor Mirecki Larramat Víctor Alexander Marie Mirecki Larramat (21 July 18477 April 1921) was a Spanish cellist and music teacher of Franco-Polish origin. He was born in Tarbes, France and died in Madrid, Spain. Introduction Víctor Mirecki was one of the most versat ...

Henri Mulet Henri Gabriel Mulet (17 October 1878 – 20 September 1967) was a French composer, pipe and reed organist, and cellist. Biography Mulet was born on 17 October 1878 in Paris. His father Gabriel Léon Mulet was choirmaster of the Basilica of Sacr ...

, and

Georges Papin Georges may refer to: Places *Georges River, New South Wales, Australia *Georges Quay (Dublin) *Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Other uses * Georges (name) * ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas * "Georges" (song), a 197 ...

. Following his graduation from the Paris Conservatoire, Delsart embarked on several successful tours throughout Europe. On 26 February 1881 he premiered in the

Salle Pleyel The Salle Pleyel (, meaning "Pleyel Hall") is a concert hall in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, designed by acoustician Gustave Lyon together with architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed in 1927 by ...

the cello sonata of

Marie Jaëll Marie Jaëll (née Trautmann) (17 August 1846 – 4 February 1925) was a French pianist, composer, and pedagogue. Marie Jaëll composed pieces for piano, concertos, quartets, and others, She dedicated her cello concerto to Jules Delsart, and was ...

, with the composer playing the piano. In 1882 she dedicated her cello concerto to him. He made numerous appearances in London, including performing in the world premiere of

David Popper David Popper (June 16, 1843 – August 7, 1913) was a Bohemian cellist and composer. Some other sources list his date of birth as December 9, 1843. Life Popper was born in Prague, and studied music at the Prague Conservatory. His family was J ...

's ''Requiem'' for three cellos and orchestra alongside the composer and Edward Howell as his fellow cellists at

St James's Hall St. James's Hall was a concert hall in London that opened on 25 March 1858, designed by architect and artist Owen Jones, who had decorated the interior of the Crystal Palace. It was situated between the Quadrant in Regent Street and Piccadilly, ...

on 25 November 1891. In 1892, at La Trompette, accompanied by Louis Breitner, he premiered ''Chant saphique'', Op. 91, a piece for cello and piano by Camille Saint-Saëns, which was dedicated to him. Other works dedicated to Delsart included David Popper's Nocturne,

Léon Boëllmann Léon Boëllmann (; 25 September 1862 – 11 October 1897) was a French composer, known for a small number of compositions for organ. His best-known composition is '' Suite gothique'' (1895), which is a staple of the organ repertoire, especially i ...

's Cello Sonata, and Benjamin Godard's ''On the Lake''. Delsart was also active as a chamber musician. From 1875, along with the founder

Martin Pierre Marsick Martin Pierre Joseph Marsick (9 March 1847, in Jupille-sur-Meuse – 21 October 1924, in Paris), was a Belgian violin player, composer and teacher. His violin was made by Antonio Stradivari in 1705 and has since become known as the Ex Marsick St ...

Louis van Waefelghem Louis van Waefelghem (13 January 1840, in Bruges – 19 June 1908, in Paris) was a Belgian violinist, violist and one of the greatest viola d'amore players of the 19th century. He also composed several works and made transcriptions for viola and ...

and Guillaume Rémy, he was the cellist of the Quatuor Marsick, one of the best and most famous string quartets in Paris of the time. With

André Messager André Charles Prosper Messager (; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty opéra comique, opéras comiques, opérettes and other stage wo ...

and Guillaume Rémy, he played in a

piano trio A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music. The term can also refer to a group of m ...

which premiered

Ernest Chausson Amédée-Ernest Chausson (; 20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a French Romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish. Life Born in Paris into an affluent bourgeois family, Chausson was the sole surviving child of ...

's Trio in G minor, Op. 3, in 1882. He also played in a trio led by Pablo de Sarasate. In addition to the cello, Delsart occasionally performed on the

viola da gamba The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitch ...

, which he began studying in 1887. His interest in this instrument led him to found the Société des Instruments Anciens (SIA) with

Louis Diémer Louis Joseph Diémer (14 February 1843 – 21 December 1919) was a French pianist and composer. He was the founder of the Société des Instruments Anciens in the 1890s, and also gave recitals on the harpsichord. His output as a composer was exte ...

( harpsichord), van Waefelghem (

viola d'amore The viola d'amore (; Italian for "viol of love") is a 7- or 6- stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin. Structure and sound The vio ...

) and Grillet (

vielle The vielle is a European bowed stringed instrument used in the medieval period, similar to a modern violin but with a somewhat longer and deeper body, three to five gut strings, and a leaf-shaped pegbox with frontal tuning pegs, sometimes with a ...

) in 1889. The SIA performed successfully throughout Europe for a decade, although Delsart was only a member during its early years. He was succeeded in the Société by two of his pupils, Papin and Casadesus. Delsart died in Paris in 1900, aged 55, and was buried at

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figure ...

. During his lifetime, his portrait was painted by

Jean-André Rixens Jean-André Rixens (30 November 1846 – 21 February 1925) was a French painter, known for his classical scenes and portraits. Biography He was born in Saint-Gaudens. His father was a master shoemaker. After completing his basic education, ...

and Julien Decle; both paintings are in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Valenciennes. There is a Rue Jules Delsart in Valenciennes.

Arrangements

Delsart's arrangement for cello and piano of

's Violin Sonata in A major was sanctioned by the composer, and has become a standard part of the cello repertoire. After thorough historical study based on reliable documents, Delsart's transcription for cello (the piano part remains the same as in the violin sonata) was published by G. Henle Verlag as

Urtext edition An urtext edition of a work of classical music is a printed version intended to reproduce the original intention of the composer as exactly as possible, without any added or changed material. Other kinds of editions distinct from urtext are facs ...

. He also arranged for cello and piano the '' Méditation'' from

Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884) ...

's ''

Thaïs Thaïs or Thais ( el, Θαΐς; flourished 4th century BC) was a famous Greek ''hetaira'' who accompanied Alexander the Great on his campaigns. Likely from Athens, she is most famous for instigating the burning of Persepolis. At the time, Thaï ...

'' (normally played by violin and orchestra); and Fauré's ''Three Romances sans paroles'', Op. 17, for piano.

References

Sources

*Samuel Applebaum and Sada Applebaum. ''The Way They Play'', Volume 4, Paganiniana Publications, 1972 *

Walter Willson Cobbett Walter Willson Cobbett (11 July 184722 January 1937) was an English businessman and amateur violinist, and editor/author of ''Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music''. He also endowed the Cobbett Medal for services to chamber music. Walt ...

. ''Cobbett's Encyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music'', Volume 1,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1929 *Lynda MacGregor, ed. Stanley Sadie, "Jules Delsart," ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition'', 29 vols. (London: Macmillan, 2001). . *Edmund Sebastian Joseph van der Straeten. ''History of the violoncello, the viol da gamba, their precursors and collateral instruments: with biographies of all the most eminent players of every country'', Volume 2, AMS Press, 1976

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Delsart, Jules 1844 births 1900 deaths French classical cellists French music educators People from Valenciennes Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 19th-century classical musicians