Lucien Capet

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Lucien Capet

Background information
Born January 8, 1873
Flag of France Paris, France
Died December 18, 1928 (age 55)
Paris, France
Genre(s) Classical
Occupation(s) Pedagogue, Violinist, Composer
Instrument(s) Violin
Years active 1887 - 1928


Lucien Louis Capet (January 8, 1873 - December 18, 1928) was a French violinist, pedagogue and composer. (The name Capet is connected with the dynasty which ruled in France from the tenth to the eighteenth century: Louis XVI was, during the French Revolution, referred to as Louis Capet.) Despite the fact that he was a namesake of Louis XVI, Capet came from the Paris proletariat. By the age of fifteen, he had to maintain himself b y playing in bistros and cafes.

He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris where he was a pupil of Morin. Appeared as soloist with all the famous French orchestras. Between 1896 - 1899 he was the concertmaster of (il est violon solo des) l'Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux. He also taught violin at Société Sainte-Cécile de Bordeaux (1899-1903). His notable students include Jascha Brodsky and Ivan Galamian, both of whom became the most influential violin teachers of the latter part of the Twentieth Century.


Jascha Brodsky students include: Hilary Hahn, Joseph de Pasquale, Leila Josefowicz, Joey Corpus, Juliette Kang, Judith Ingolfsson, Herbert Greenberg and Chin Kim.

Ivan Galamian students include Dorothy Delay (who became his assistant), Michael Rabin, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Isidor Lateiner, Kyung-Wha Chung, Glenn Dicterow, David Nadien, Erick Friedman, Jaime Laredo, Arnold Steinhardt, Charles Castleman, Miriam Fried, James Buswell, Sergiu Luca, Charles Treger, Ani and Ida Kavafian, Kaoru Kakudo, Ray Dotoratos, Chin Kim, Eugene Fodor, Daniel Phillips, Berl Senofsky, Betty Jean Hagen, Young Uck Kim, Stuart Canin, Eugene Sarbu, Dong-Suk Kang, Gregory Fulkerson, Simon Standage, and Kate Stenberg of Del Sol Quartet.


Lucien Capet had a successful career as a soloist and chamber musician forming the Capet Quartet in 1893. [1]The quartet went through many inceptions and made several recordings of Beethoven string quartets and Romantic and Classical works.[2] Capet was also a well regarded teacher, known especially for his bow technique.


"Wrote a book on "Superior Bowing Technique" which is the definitive treatise on all aspects of bowing technique for the violin. Written by Lucien Capet, new reprints are available (which are translated from French to English by Margaret Schmidt and edited by Stephen Shipps), the book is 187 pages in length. Lucien Capet also worked closely with archetier / bowmaker Joseph Arthur Vigneron to develop a Lucien Capet model bow (modele Lucien Capet was often stamped on such bows). Vigneron's concept /design for these bows was a sort of rounded triangular cross section which added stability to the bow (lower centre of gravity)."[3]Gennady Filimonov

Contents

[edit] Quotes

“ Mr. Capet is a Master performer on the violin with a wonderful technique and a warm and powerful tone. ”

—Alberto Bachmann, 1925.

[4]

[edit] His Works (compositions)

  • Le Rouet, poème symphonique,
  • Prélude religieux for Orchestra,
  • Devant la mer for voice and orchestra ,
  • Poème for Violin & Orchestra
  • 5 quatuors à cordes,
  • 2 sonates Violin & Piano
  • 6 études for Violin.

[edit] Recordings

(Made c.1925-1930)

  • Beethoven: Quartet in A major op 18 no 5 (Columbia Records, D 1659-62).
  • Beethoven: Quartet in F major op 59 no 1 (Col. D 15065-70).
  • Beethoven: Quartet in E flat major 'Harp', op 74 (Col., L 2248-51).
  • Beethoven: Quartet in C sharp minor, op 131 (Col., L 2283-87).
  • Beethoven: Quartet in A minor, op 132 (Col., L 2272-76).
  • Mozart: Quartet in C major K 465 (Col., L 2290-93).
  • Schumann: Quartet in A minor op 41 no 1 (Col., L 2329-31).
  • Debussy: Quartet in G minor op 10 (1893) (Col., D 15085-8).
  • Franck: Quintet in F minor, with Marcel Ciampi (pno) (Col., D 15102-6).
  • Haydn: Quartet in D major op 64 no 5 'Lark' (Col., D 13070-2).
  • Ravel: Quartet in F major (Col., D 15057-60).
  • Schubert: Quartet in D minor 'Death and the Maiden' (Col. D 15053-6).

[edit] Sources

  • A. Eaglefield-Hull, A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians (Dent, London 1924).
  • L. Capet, Technique de l'Archet.
  • R.D. Darrell, The Gramophone Shop Encyclopedia of Recorded Music (New York, 1936).
  • Memoirs of Carl Flesch
  • Encyclopedia of the Violin - Alberto Bachmann

[edit] External Links

  1. ^ Robert Casadesus & Lucien Capet
  2. ^ Lucien Capet Quartet
  3. ^ Filimonov Fine Musical Instruments
  4. ^ Encyclopedia of the Violin - Alberto Bachmann

"Robert (Casadesus) then entered the class of Lucien Capet, who had exceptional influence. Capet had founded a famous quartet that bore his name and in which two of Robert’s uncles played: Henri and Marcel. The Quartet often rehearsed in the Casadesus home, and so it was that Robert was initiated into chamber music. The Beethoven Quartets held no secret for him—he knew them backwards and forwards without ever having played them! "

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