Paul Étienne Victor Wachs (19 September 1851 – 6 July 1915) was a French composer,

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

and pianist. He is most remembered for his

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

compositions for piano.

Biography

Born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, Wachs was the son of the French composer Frédéric Wachs (1825–1899). He was a student 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 ...

, where his teachers included

François Benoist François Benoist (10 September 1794 – 6 May 1878) was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue. Benoist was born in Nantes. He took his first music lessons under Georges Scheuermann. Benoist studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris and ...

and

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 p ...

for organ and

Victor Massé Victor Massé (born ''Félix-Marie Massé''; 7 March 1822 – 5 July 1884) was a French composer. Biography Massé was born in Lorient (Morbihan) and studied at the Paris Conservatoire, winning the Prix de Rome in 1844 for his cantata ''Le Rén� ...

and

Antoine François Marmontel Antoine François Marmontel () (18 July 1816 – 16 January 1898) was a French pianist, composer, teacher and musicographer. He is mainly known today as an influential teacher at the Paris Conservatory, where he taught many musicians who became ...

for composition. After his studies, he became the second organist at the

Church of Saint-Sulpice , image = Paris Saint-Sulpice Fassade 4-5 A.jpg , image_size = , pushpin map = Paris , pushpin label position = , coordinates = , location = Place Saint-Sulpice 6th arrond ...

. In 1874, he left this position to be the

choirmaster A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

at the

Church of Saint-Merri The Church of Saint-Merri or ''Église Saint-Merry'') is a parish church in Paris, located near the Centre Pompidou along the rue Saint Martin, in the 4th arrondissement on the Rive Droite (Right Bank). It is dedicated to the 8th century abbot of ...

. This position had previously been held by

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

. He held this position until 1896. In 1908, Wachs bought a large property in

Saint-Mandé Saint-Mandé () is a high-end Communes of France, commune of the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, department in Île-de-France in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. It is one of the sm ...

, which he named ''Les Myrtles'' after one of his compositions. He lived there with his family until his death at age 63. Among his works for piano, the most famous is ''Promenade à Âne''.

List of compositions

Alphabetical list based o
IMSLP
* ''Angélus'' * ''Au matin'' * ''Baliverne'' * ''Les Blés sont mûrs'' * ''Boléro'' * ''Brin de paille'' * ''Capricante'' * ''Carillonnettes'' * ''Chanson du rouet'' * ''Cœur léger'' * ''Deux Pièces pour orgue'' * ''Dormez, Ninon!'' * ''Douce gaîté'' * ''Doux aveu'' * ''Hosanna'' * ''Le Joyeux rémouleur'' * ''Le Kangourou'' * ''Madrileña'' * ''Marche triomphale'' * ''Les Myrtes'' * ''Le Pas des bouquetières'' * ''Rose et papillon'' * ''Te Deum'' * ''Une Noce au village'' * ''Valse interrompue'' * ''Valse parisienne''

References

External links

*
Paul Wachs's sheet music
at

IMSLP The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher Ottaviano Petrucci, is a subscription-based digital library of public-domain music scores. The project, which uses MediaWiki software ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wachs, Paul 1851 births 1915 deaths 19th-century classical composers Conservatoire de Paris alumni French classical organists French male classical composers French male organists French Romantic composers Musicians from Paris Pupils of Antoine François Marmontel 19th-century French male musicians 20th-century French male musicians Male classical organists