Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger (born 9 March 1940) is a Swiss

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

. He became known through his activities as a juror and publications on Chopin.

Life

Born in Neuchâtel, Eigeldinger studied at the

University of Neuchâtel The University of Neuchâtel (UniNE) is a French-speaking university based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The university has four faculties (schools) and more than a dozen institutes, including arts and human sciences, natural sciences, law and eco ...

, the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

and the

Conservatoire de Musique de Genève A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

. From 1976 to 1981 he taught at the Jacques-Dalcroze Institute in Geneva and from 1978 to 1983 at the Conservatoire de musique de Genève. He also taught as a guest lecturer at the

École normale supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, S ...

in Paris and at the

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montm ...

Quebec city Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

. He is a retired professor at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

, where he has worked since 1981. He was one of the founders of the Swiss Musicological Society and long-serving editor-in-chief of the ''Revue musicale'' in Romansh-speaking Switzerland. In 1984 Eigeldinger received the Order of Merit of the Polish Minister of Culture. In 2001 the International Chopin Foundation awarded him the Chopin Prize. He was also a juror of the

International Chopin Piano Competition The International Chopin Piano Competition ( pl, Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina), often referred to as the Chopin Competition, is a piano competition held in Warsaw, Poland. It was initiated in 1927 and has been held ...

. Eigeldinger's teaching interests focus on the history of

esthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed th ...

and interpretation of the 18th and 19th centuries music. His numerous works on Chopin include studies on Chopin's compositions and stylistic devices ( Préludes) and contributions to the composer's biography. Eigeldinger is also the editor of texts dealing with Chopin's work as a piano teacher. In 1993 Eigeldinger published Chopin's sketches for a piano teaching method. In his book ''Chopin vu par ses élèves'' (1970), which contains the first complete English translation of the ''Entwurfs einer Methode'', he collected extensive material from Chopin's students and sources from Chopin himself on the piano playing technique and the interpretation of his music. Together with John Rink and Jim Samson, Eigeldinger is preparing a new critical edition of Chopin's entire oeuvre. In September 2001 he was appointed to the program committee of the Warsaw Fryderyk Chopin Institute.

Publications

* ''Chopin vu par ses élèves'', Neuchâtel: La Baconniére, 1970; revised new edition Paris:

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayard ...

, 2006, – English translation under the title ''Chopin: pianist and teacher – as seen by his pupils'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986, * Solange Clésinger, ''Frédéric Chopin. Souvenir inédits'', published by Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger, in: ''Revue musicale de Suisse romande'', Jg. 31 (1978), * ''L'univers musical de Chopin'', Paris: Fayard, 2000, * ''Chopin et Pleyel'', Paris: Fayard, 2010, * ''Chopin, âme des salons parisiens: 1830–1848'', Paris: Fayard, 2013, * '' Jean-Joseph-Bonaventure Laurens et ses pèlerinages musicaux en Allemagne 1841–1853'', in: ''Musique, Images, Instruments. Revue française d’organologie et d’iconographie musicale'', Jg. 16 (2016),

Bibliography

* ''La note bleue: mélanges offerts au professeur Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger'', publisher Jacqueline Waeber, Bern: Lang, 2006, * ''Chopin improvisateur. Un aspect méconnu'', Lecture given by Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger on October 17, 2017 at (

La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city l ...

) availabl
online

External links

Biography on the web site of the Chopin-Gesellschaft Warschau
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eigeldinger, Jean-Jacques 1940 births Living people People from Neuchâtel Academic staff of the University of Geneva Swiss musicologists Classical music critics Chopin scholars