Charles Louis Napoléon d'Albert (25 February 1809 – 26 May 1886) was a German-born British dance master and prolific composer of popular dance music. In addition to his own compositions he published numerous arrangements of operatic melodies as dance music. He was the father of the Romantic-era pianist Eugene d'Albert.

Life and career

D'Albert was born on 25 February 1809 in

Nienstedten Nienstedten () is a quarter in the city of Hamburg, Germany. It belongs to the Altona borough on the right bank of the Elbe river. Nienstedten is home to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. In 2020 the population was 7,114. Geogr ...

, near

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, the only son of François Benoit d'Albert, a cavalry captain in the French Army and aide-de-camp to General

Bernard-Georges-François Frère Bernard-Georges-François Frère, Count of the Empire, (; 8 January 1762, in Montréal, Aude – 16 February 1826, in Paris) was a French soldier of the French Revolutionary Wars, who later rose to the top military rank of General of Division, ...

."Mons. Ch. D'Albert", ''The Daily Chronicle'', 17 August 1861, p. 2 His mother was Chretienne Sophie Henriette, ''née'' Schultz, daughter of Johann Carl Schultz, a Hamburg merchant. She was an accomplished amateur musician and gave d'Albert his first instruction, introducing him to the music of

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

, and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

. His father died in 1816, and Johann Schultz was ruined by commercial failures. The necessity of earning a living led the widow to turn her musical skills to account. Having many contacts in England she moved there with her child.Hipkins, A. J., and David Charlton
"Albert, Charles Louis Napoléon d'."
''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press D'Albert studied the piano with

Frédéric Kalkbrenner Friedrich Wilhelm Michael Kalkbrenner (7 November 1785 – 10 June 1849), also known as ''Frédéric Kalkbrenner'', was a pianist, composer, piano teacher and piano manufacturer. German by birth, Kalkbrenner studied at the Conservatoire de Paris ...

and composition with

Samuel Wesley Samuel Wesley may refer to: * Samuel Wesley (poet, died 1735) (1662–1735), English poet and churchman * Samuel Wesley (poet, died 1739) (1691–1739), English poet and churchman, son of the above * Samuel Wesley (composer, born 1766) (1766–1837 ...

in London. Kalkbrenner left England in 1824 and settled in Paris; d'Albert followed suit, becoming a student at the Académie Royale, where he studied music and dance."M. Charles d'Albert", ''Illustrated London News'', 9 March 1861, p. 226 Returning to England he joined the

corps de ballet In ballet, the ''corps de ballet'' (; French language, French for "body of the little dance") is the group of ballet dancer, dancers who are not principal dancers or Soloist (ballet), soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and ...

of The King's Theatre, and rose to be principal dancer and ballet master both there and at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

. By 1835 d'Albert had left London for

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, had established his own dance school and was composing dance music. There, he published ''Ballroom Etiquette'' (1835). His first success as a composer of popular dances was the "Bridal Polka" in 1845. On 28 May 1863 d'Albert and Annie Rowell, who ran a school in Newcastle, were married in Paris. The following year, during an annual teaching trip to Scotland, Annie gave birth to

Eugen d'Albert Eugen (originally Eugène) Francis Charles d'Albert (10 April 1864 – 3 March 1932) was a Scottish-born pianist and composer who immigrated to Germany. Educated in Britain, d'Albert showed early musical talent and, at the age of seventeen, h ...

who became a well known pianist and composer. At one time d'Albert had about 300 piano and piano duet pieces in print, especially

quadrille The quadrille is a dance that was fashionable in late 18th- and 19th-century Europe and its colonies. The quadrille consists of a chain of four to six ''Contra dance, contredanses''. Latterly the quadrille was frequently danced to a medley of ope ...

waltzes The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

polka Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the ...

s and

galop In dance, the galop, named after the fastest running gait of a horse (see Gallop), a shortened version of the original term galoppade, is a lively country dance, introduced in the late 1820s to Parisian society by the Duchesse de Berry and popu ...

s, but also orchestral and military band arrangements. Many were arrangements of music from operas and operettas, including those by

George Alexander Macfarren Sir George Alexander Macfarren (2 March 181331 October 1887) was an English composer and musicologist. Life George Alexander Macfarren was born in London on 2 March 1813 to George Macfarren, a dancing-master, dramatic author and journalist, wh ...

, Friedrich von Flotow,

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

Robert Planquette Jean Robert Planquette (; 31 July 1848 – 28 January 1903) was a French composer of songs and operettas. Several of Planquette's operettas were extraordinarily successful in Britain, especially ''Les cloches de Corneville'' (1878), the length o ...

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, and

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

.Scowcroft, Philip L
"A Nineteenth Garland of British Light Music Composers"
MusicWeb International, accessed 2 July 2023 After a successful career, d'Albert and his wife retired to

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, London in 1876. He continued to compose and promote his son's career as a virtuoso pianist and composer. D'Albert died on 26 May 1886, aged 77, and was buried in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...

.Werner, Hildegard. "Charles and Eugene d'Albert", ''Quoted'' in ''The Newcastle Chronicle'', 26 September 1896, p. 9

References

External links

Sheet music from 9 of D'Albert's Gilbert and Sullivan pieces
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert, Charles d' 1809 births 1888 deaths 19th-century British male musicians 19th-century dance British classical composers British dance musicians Emigrants from the German Confederation Immigrants to France Immigrants to the United Kingdom German people of French descent