It's all about the classical music composers and their works from the last 400 years and much more about music. Hier erfahren Sie alles über die klassischen Komponisten und ihre Meisterwerke der letzten vierhundert Jahre und vieles mehr über Klassische Musik.
Popular Posts
-
by Hermione Lai It’s not really common knowledge, but Georges Bizet was an absolutely brilliant pianist. He entered the class of Antoin...
-
By Georg Predota “Blind Tom,” as he was generally known, was born into slavery in Columbus, Georgia in 1848. He was sold with his family du...
-
by M aureen Buja With its full title, La mer, trois esquisses symphoniques pour orchestre (The sea, three symphonic sketches for orchest...
-
by Emily E. Hogstad June 7th, 2025 The great composers left behind more than just great music: they also left behind advice for their fe...
-
774,844 views May 29, 2024 #pierobarone #ignazioboschetto #tuttiperuno Social • Instagram: @ignazioboschetto.italy • Tiktok: @ignazi...
-
24,755 views Mar 23, 2017 Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 18 in B-flat major, K. 456 Rachmaninov Hall Of Moscow Conservatory Moscow Youth Cham...
-
Join the cast of Les Misérables' 25th anniversary concert as we take a look at the first & last songs from the live musical with our...
-
by Bruce Robinson Be forewarned: Three is an excellent score Recently, I heard a superb premiere of music by an 87-year-old composer. I wo...
-
530,100 views May 30, 2025 In the heart of Paris, dozens of singers and musicians came together to share a powerful message of peace and u...
Übersetzerdienste - Translation Services
Total Pageviews
Friday, April 28, 2023
Eric Clapton - Change The World (Live Video) | Warner Vault
Composer’s Pianos: Halévy and Bizet
By Maureen Buja
Alex Cobbe’s piano collection at Hatchlands Park has one massive square piano that was immensely practical to its two composer owners.
How do composers compose? We’re familiar with the images from movies, the composer with one hand on the keyboard and the other, pencil poised, over the music paper. In this picture of Cole Porter, we can see the advantage of being left-handed!

Cole Porter, composing at the piano
Nonetheless, composers with means and connections could have their needs accommodated. The French composer Fromental Halévy commissioned the French piano maker Roller to make him a piano that combined the keyboard with a desk. The top of his square piano has three leather-covered sections, as was common for desks at the time, placed at a height convenient for writing. Notice that the keyboard slides back into the instrument when not needed. Notice also the handles on the side of the case to help when moving the heavy instrument / piece of furniture around.

Composing Table Piano, 1855
Halévy (1799- 1862) had a successful late career as an opera composer, but all of his works, including his most famous, La Juive, have fallen out of the repertoire.

Fromental Halévy
Upon Halévy’s death in 1862, his daughter, Geneviève, brought the piano to her husband, the composer Georges Bizet. Bizet had been a student of Halévy’s at the Paris Conservatoire. The piano remained in the Halévy family’s possession until its current owner purchased it.

Geneviève Bizet (Jules-Élie Delaunay)
When Bizet received this piano, he was only 24 and all of his major works, including The Pearl Fishers (1863), La jolie fille de Perth (1866), and, most importantly, Carmen (1873-74) all lay ahead of him to be composed on this instrument.

Georges Bizet