Suzanne Chaigneau (14 June 1875 – 13 April 1946) was a French violinist and chamber musician, and a noted violin teacher.
She spent her childhood between
Barbizon
Barbizon () is a commune (town) in the Seine-et-Marne department in north-central France. It is located near the Fontainebleau Forest.
Demographics
The inhabitants are called ''Barbizonais''.
Art history
The Barbizon school of painters is name ...
and Paris, receiving her musical education from her mother and family friends including
Charles Lamoureux
Charles Lamoureux (; 28 September 1834 – 21 December 1899) was a French conductor and violinist.
Life
He was born in Bordeaux, where his father owned a café.
He studied the violin with Narcisse Girard at the Paris Conservatoire, taking a ...
and
Camille Chevillard
Paul Alexandre Camille Chevillard (14 October 1859 – 30 May 1923) was a French composer and conductor.
Biography
He was born in Paris. He conducted the Orchestre Lamoureux in the premieres of Claude Debussy's '' Nocturnes'' (1900 and 1901) ...
. With her sisters she formed 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 musi ...
which gave its first concert in Paris on 25 February 1895.
She was the daughter of painter Ferdinand Chaigneau and Louise Deger, the twin sister of the cellist Marguerite and the sister of pianist Thérèse, with whom she played as the Trio Chaigneau. In 1910 she married the son of violinist
Joseph Joachim
Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of ...
, Hermann Joachim, an officer in the German army, and was the mother of the singer
Irène Joachim
Irène Joachim (13 March 1913 - 20 April 2001) was a French soprano, and later a vocal teacher.
Early life
Daughter of German officer Herman Joachim and French violinist Suzanne Chaigneau, and granddaughter of the violinist Joseph Joachim, she l ...
. The Chaigneau home welcomed many artistic visitors and was also considered close to the
Dreyfusard cause, with
Georges Picquart
Marie-Georges Picquart (6 September 1854 – 19 January 1914) was a French Army officer and Minister of War. He is best known for his role in the Dreyfus affair, in which he played a key role in uncovering the real culprit.
Early career
Picqua ...
among other visitors to the home.
The Trio Chaigneau played in London and Edinburgh and, with assistance from
Joachim
Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal ...
, undertook a tour of Germany in 1905. Their repertoire was both the Austro-German classics – Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart – and modern French composers. Apart from a few appearances in 1920, the Trio ended at the start of the First World War.
Suzanne Chaigneau was stranded in Berlin during the war, and her husband died of tuberculosis in 1917. However she was able to continue with musical activity which brought her into contact with
Wanda Landowska
Wanda Aleksandra Landowska (5 July 1879 – 16 August 1959) was a Polish harpsichordist and pianist whose performances, teaching, writings and especially her many recordings played a large role in reviving the popularity of the harpsichord in t ...
and
Carl Flesch
Carl Flesch (born Károly Flesch, 9 October 1873 – 14 November 1944) was a Hungarian violinist and teacher. Flesch’s compendium ''Scale System'' is a staple of violin pedagogy.
Life and career
Flesch was born in Moson (now part of Mosonmagy ...
. Although she was able to send her daughter back to France in 1918, she herself was only able to return around 1920. Back in Paris she taught the violin, and founded the ''Institut moderne du violon'' with
Lucien Capet
Lucien Louis Capet (8 January 1873 – 18 December 1928) was a French violinist, pedagogue and composer.
Career
Capet came from the Paris proletariat. By the age of fifteen, he had to maintain himself by playing in bistros and cafes. He studied ...
in 1924. She also became a music correspondent for the
Berliner Tageblatt
The ''Berliner Tageblatt'' or ''BT'' was a German language newspaper published in Berlin from 1872 to 1939. Along with the '' Frankfurter Zeitung'', it became one of the most important liberal German newspapers of its time.
History
The ''Berlin ...
, signing her articles as 'S Francoeur'.
In 1926 and 1927 Chaigneau spent time in Chicago with the Yanker family to teach her violin method. Her books on violin playing included ''L’Art d’etudier'', as well as a translation of the ''Journal Intime of Novalis''.
Sources
Massin B. ''Les Joachim – Une famille de musiciens.'' Fayard, Paris, 1999.
1875 births
1946 deaths
20th-century French women classical violinists
Violin pedagogues
French music educators
19th-century French women classical violinists
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