Who was C.L. Hanon?

I have had absolutely no success in finding out anything about the famous Mr. Hanon who wrote all those exercises that rule pianists' lives. I've searched Grove's and the internet and can find NOTHING. Not even his full name (his initials are C.L.) Can anyone shed some light on this famous mysterious person? Is there a bio on him somewhere?

Private replies will be much appreciated.

His full name is Charles Louis Hanon b 1820 died 1900. I think there is a biography on him on the Internet in Japanese . TS

I copied this from the net some time ago.

Hanon, Charles-Louis (b Renescure, 2 July 1819; d Boulogne-sur-Mer, 19 March 1900). French composer and writer of pedagogical works. Born into a devout Catholic family, he studied with a local organist. In 1846 he settled in Boulogne as a choirmaster and organist but was dismissed in 1853 and, together with his brother, taught singing and piano privately and also began to publish his own compositions. Except for playing the organ occasionally, he took little part in local musical life, which was dominated by Guilmant. As a Third-Order Franciscan and member of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, Hanon led a devotedly religious and charitable life; ultra-conservative in nature, he showed a marked aptitude for business. All of Hanon¹s works have a didactic or popularizing purpose or are religious and moral in inspiration: he composed methods for the piano, organ, accompaniment etc., teaching pieces, and simple hymns and canticles for church use. But it is for Le piano virtuose, a set of 60 technical exercises, that he is chiefly remembered. Published in Boulogne in 1873 and approved for use at the Paris Conservatoire during his lifetime, this work has been frequently reprinted, translated into several languages (the English translation appeared in 1894), and arranged for piano by several authors. This method was simpler than other methods existing at that time. Other piano works include L¹étude complète du piano, a collection of 25 pieces of progressive difficulty, some taken from the earlier Les délices des jeunes pianistes; the insignificance of their content is matched only by the vacuity of their titles. He also arranged various Italian opera arias and, after the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian war, works by German composers as easy salon pieces. His Système nouveau Š pour apprendre à accompagner tout plain-chant à première vue sans savoir la musique et sans professeur (Boulogne, c1859) is a primer on how to accompany church services on the harmonium, an instrument of growing popularity in small country churches; the harmonizations are rudimentary, but the method was so successful that the pope named him honorary maestro in composition of the Accademia di S Cecilia in Rome.

BIBLIOGRAPHY J.-B. Joncquel: ŒM. Charles Hanon¹, La voix de Saint-Nicolas (1900), May, 15­16 P. Rougier: ŒMais qui êtes-vous, Monsieur Hanon?¹, Piano, no.6 (1992), 112­13

C. Timbrell: ŒWho was Hanon?¹, Piano & Keyboards (1995), May­June, 130­31

Those damned workouts don't rule harpsichordists lives!!! I hate Hanon. There, I said it. The 'Hanon' for harpsichordists is book 1 of WTK. The 'Hanon' for all keyboard players should be WTK book 1. At least its music. Just my opinion.

Mark,

Thanks for the advice, but some 34 years too late - my first piano teacher is dead already. I still know some 10-15 damn Hanon 'workouts' by heart, I even remember the smell of the sheet music.

Norbert

Not to mention Book 2.....

Should have looked harder: http://www.stevenestrella.com/composers/composerfiles/ hanon1900.html

Andrew

On Wed, 5 Jun 2002 16:14:45 -0400, 'Frabjous Day'

I have played the Hanon exersizes for years, and whilst they are very effective, I am considering putting a television above my piano to keep me from getting too board......

I once read Arthur Rubenstein used to read newspaper while practising. This may only be approriate if you are Little Arthur being forced to practise.

Personally I tend to find practising more effective when I'm paying attention to what I'm doing. But, then, I'm no Rubenstein.

A rube, maybe... but no Rubenstein.