Léopold Charlier (November 8, 1867 – July 23, 1936) was a Belgian violinist and music teacher.

Biography

Léopold Charlier graduated from the Liège Conservatory (1888) in the class of Rodolphe Massart, nephew of the well-known Belgian violinist

Lambert Massart Joseph Lambert Massart (19 July 1811 – 13 February 1892) was a Belgian violinist who has been credited with the origination of the systematic vibrato. He compiled ''The Art of Working at Kreutzer's Etudes,'' a supplement that contains 412 fi ...

. In 1887 he debuted as a soloist. Between 1892 and 1897, he led an amateur orchestra in Liège. From 1894 until the end of his life, he headed the well-known string quartet in the city who performed, in particular, the premiere of the first quartet of

Joseph Jongen Joseph Marie Alphonse Nicolas Jongen (14 December 1873 – 12 July 1953) was a Belgian organist, composer, and music educator. Biography Jongen was born in Liège, where his parents had moved from Flanders. On the strength of an amazing precocity ...

on March 6, 1895. From 1900 to 1906, he led the choir in

Malmedy Malmedy (; german: Malmünd, ; wa, Måmdiy) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Malmedy had a total population of 12,654. The total area is 99.96 km2 which gives a populati ...

and from 1910 until the end of his life headed the city symphony orchestra. From 1898 to 1932, Charlier taught at the Liège Conservatory. Charlier is best known for his 1911 arrangement of the Chaconne in G minor by

Tomaso Antonio Vitali Tomaso Antonio Vitali (7 March 1663 – 9 May 1745) was an Italian composer and violinist of the mid to late Baroque era. The eldest son of Giovanni Battista Vitali, he is chiefly known for a Chaconne in G minor for violin and continuo, to whic ...

. Although Charlier based his version on a previous arrangement by

Ferdinand David Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

, he significantly enhanced the technical demands of the violin part. He made changes in harmonizations of the piano part, while reordering the sequence of variations to become increasingly more complex as the piece progresses.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlier, Leopold 1867 births 1936 deaths Belgian violinists