Léonce Cohen

Léonce Cohen (born February 12, 1829 in Paris ; † February 26, 1901 there , according to other sources, 1884) was a French composer .

Life

Cohen came from a family of Alsatian china dealers on his mother's side. After the death of his father-in-law, his father inherited a porcelain shop in Paris' Rue Bondy and later became the first director of the Hôpital Rothschild . His mother Merline Weil (1805-1875) was the sister of the writer Godcheaux Weil , who became known under the name Ben-Lévy , the cousin of Adolphe Crémieux and the great-aunt of Henri Bergson and Marcel Proust .

At the age of thirteen, Cohen began training at the Conservatoire de Paris , where he specialized in violin playing. He also attended François Benoist's organ class and studied composition with Simon Leborne . With the cantata Le Retour du Virginie after Bailly du Rollet he won the Prix de Rome in 1852 .

Cohen was already a violinist at the Théâtre Italy during his studies . During his stay in Rome, which was associated with the award, he composed a mass solennelle , which was acclaimed by Fromental Halévy . After returning to Paris in 1855, he resumed his activity at the Théâtre Italy and also became a violinist at the Théâtre de Vaudeville . From 1875 he also worked as a violist at the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire .

In 1858 his operetta Mam'zelle Jeanne was premiered at the Théâtre Bouffes-Parisiennes . The first performance of the operetta Bettina followed in 1866 . In 1862 he published his three-volume École du musicien, ou solfège théorique et pratique, avec accompagnement de piano , which he dedicated to Ambroise Thomas .

literature

François-Joseph Fétis: Biography universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique. 2nd Edition. Supplément et Complément, 1st volume, ed. by Arthur Pougin. Firmin-Didot, Paris 1878, p. 191 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
Hugo Riemann: Music Lexicon . 5th edition. Hesse, Leipzig 1900, p. 208 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).

Web links

Prix de Rome 1850-1859 (French)
Fréderic Viey: Des Juifs à Fontainebleau: Emplacement et description du Caveau de Baruch Weil (French)
Léonce Cohen in the catalog of the Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM)

Individual evidence

↑ Frederick T. Haneman: Cohen, Léonce. In: Isidore Singer (Ed.): Jewish Encyclopedia . Volume 4, Funk and Wagnalls, New York 1901-1906, p. 151 .
^ John H. Baron: A Golden Age for Jewish Musicians in Paris: 1820-1865. In: Musica Judaica 14 (1999), pp. 131–152, here p. 151; nealbrostoff.com (PDF; 2.9 MB).

personal data
SURNAME	Cohen, Léonce
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	French composer
DATE OF BIRTH	February 12, 1829
PLACE OF BIRTH	Paris
DATE OF DEATH	February 26, 1901
Place of death	Paris

[1] Frederick T. Haneman: Cohen, Léonce. In: Isidore Singer (Ed.): Jewish Encyclopedia . Volume 4, Funk and Wagnalls, New York 1901-1906, p. 151 .

[2] John H. Baron: A Golden Age for Jewish Musicians in Paris: 1820-1865. In: Musica Judaica 14 (1999), pp. 131–152, here p. 151; nealbrostoff.com (PDF; 2.9 MB).