Alphonse Hasselmans
Encyclopedia
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
-born French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
ist, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, and pedagogue.
Biography
Hasselmans was born in LiègeLiège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. He composed several dozen original solos for harp, of which his most famous is a concert étude
Étude
An étude , is an instrumental musical composition, most commonly of considerable difficulty, usually designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular technical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early 19th century with the rapidly growing popularity of the piano...
entitled La Source (The Wellspring), op.
Opus number
An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
44. He transcribed numerous works for harp originally written for other instruments by other composers, and edited important collections of études by the earlier 19th-century harpist Robert N. C. Bochsa.
As professor of harp at the music conservatories in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
until his sudden death in Paris at age 67, Hasselmans trained a generation of the most important French harpists of the 20th century, including Henriette Renie
Henriette Renié
Henriette Renié was a French harpist and composer, a deeply religious woman who lived in poverty for much of her life, but who was independent and successful in a time when fame was socially unacceptable for women...
, Marcel Tournier
Marcel Tournier
Marcel Lucien Tournier was a French harpist, composer, and pedagogue who composed important solo repertory for the harp that expanded the technical and harmonic possibilities of the instrument. His works are regularly performed in concert and recorded by professional harpists, and they are often...
, Carlos Salzedo
Carlos Salzedo
Carlos Salzedo , was a harpist, composer and conductor, born in Arcachon, France, who was one of the musical elite of his time.-France:...
, Marcel Grandjany
Marcel Grandjany
Marcel Georges Lucien Grandjany was a French-born American harpist and composer. He began the study of the harp at the age of eight with Henriette Renié. He was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire at age eleven where he also studied with Alphonse Hasselmans, winning the coveted Premier Prix at age...
, Lily Laskine
Lily Laskine
Lily Laskine was one of the most prominent harpists of the twentieth century. She was a frequent performing partner of several distinguished French flautists, including Marcel Moyse and Jean-Pierre Rampal. Laskine also served as professor of harp at the Conservatoire de Paris from 1948 to 1958...
, and Pierre Jamet
Pierre Jamet
Pierre Jamet was a French harpist and pedagogue; professor of harp at the Paris Conservatory, 1948 to 1963, succeeding Marcel Tournier....
.
His father, Joseph Hasselmans (1814–1902), was a composer, conductor, violinist, and harpist.
His daughter, Marguerite Hasselmans (1876–1947), was a concert pianist; she was also the mistress of Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
for many years.
His son, Louis Hasselmans (1878–1957), was a conductor, especially of opera, whose career took him to the United States, working at the Chicago Civic Opera
Chicago Civic Opera
The Civic Opera Company was a Chicago company that produced seven seasons of grand opera in the Auditorium Theater from 1922 to 1928, and three seasons at its own Civic Opera House from 1929 to 1931 before falling victim to financial difficulties brought on in part by the Great Depression.-...
and the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
before becoming Professor of Music at Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
.