Renée Chemet (January 9, 1887 – January 2, 1977) was a French violinist.

Early life

Renée Henriette Joséphine Chemet was born in

Boulogne-sur-Seine Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious commune in the Parisian area, located from its centre. It is a subprefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department and th ...

. She studied with

Henri Berthelier Henri Berthelier (real name Jean-Baptiste, 27 December 1856 – 1918) was a French classical violinist and pedagogue. Biography Born in Limoges, Berthelier graduated from the Conservatoire de Paris, where he was a pupil of Jean-Pierre Maurin ...

at 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 ...

, graduating in 1902.E. Windust
"Renee Chemet-Decreus"
''The Strad'' (July 1909): 130-131.

Career

Chemet toured the world as a violinist for decades, playing a violin made by

Giovanni Battista Guadagnini Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (often shortened to G. B. Guadagnini; 23 June 1711 – 18 September 1786) was an Italian luthier, regarded as one of the finest craftsmen of string instruments in history. Reprint with new introduction by Stewart Pol ...

. In 1904, still a teenager, she was a soloist at

the Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

concerts in London, under conductor

Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hund ...

. In 1907, she toured North America as a violinist with her husband, pianist Camille Decreus, in the company of

Emma Calvé Emma Calvé, born Rosa Emma Calvet (15 August 1858 – 6 January 1942) was a French operatic soprano. Calvé was probably the most famous French female opera singer of the Belle Époque. Hers was an international career, and she sang regularly ...

. "Madame Chemet is a violinist of great talent", explained a reviewer who heard her in Hamburg in 1911, "with great skill, splendid technique, and big (rather manly) tone. Her style of playing is eminently French; she sometimes overdoes it by forcing sentiment and cantilène." During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, when travel was difficult, she gave benefit concerts and performed for the troops in France, and worked as a nurse's aide; she was awarded the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

for her service. After the war, Chemet was a soloist in Liverpool, Birmingham, Nottingham, Bradford, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Glasgow in 1920. In New York, she played at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

in 1921, at Aeolian Hall in 1923,

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

in 1927, and at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1925 and 1928. Throughout the 1920s, she made many recordings, and appeared regularly on radio. "Radio paves the way," she told a ''New York Times'' interviewer in 1930. "It popularizes tunes, the great symphony orchestras, the talented singers and instrumental soloists that would be ignored without this medium." She played

Maud Powell Minnie "Maud" Powell (August 22, 1867 – January 8, 1920) was an American violinist who gained international acclaim for her skill and virtuosity. Biography Powell was born in Peru, Illinois. Her mother was Wilhelmina "Minnie" Bengelstrae ...

's violin on the radio in New York in 1925. Chemet traveled through Hawaii to Japan in 1932, to perform with pianist Anca Seidlova and

koto Koto may refer to: * Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group * Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument * Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana * Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women * K ...

player

Michio Miyagi was a Japanese musician, famous for his '' koto'' playing. He was born in Kobe. He lost his sight in 1902, when he was 8 years old, and started his study in koto under the guidance of Nakajima Kengyo II, dedicating the rest of his life to th ...

. Later that year, she performed with the BBC Orchestra.

Personal life

Chemet married fellow French musician Camille Decreus in 1906."Music in Paris"
''Musical Courier'' (June 5, 1907): 11. He died in 1939. She died in 1977, a week before her 90th birthday, in Paris.

References

External links

A 1909 portrait of Chemet with her violin
in the J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, University of Washington Libraries.
A Renée Chemet recital program (1929)
from an appearance at

McMurry College McMurry University is a private Methodist university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1923 and named after William Fletcher McMurry. The university offers forty-five majors in the fields of fine arts, humanities, social and natural scien ...

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor and Jones Counties in Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan statis ...

, in ''The Portal to Texas History''. * Emily Liz
"Great female violinists of the past"
''Violinist.com'' (December 27, 2010). A blog post including Chemet. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chemet, Renée 1887 births 1977 deaths 20th-century French women classical violinists