Marguerite long biography

French pianist (1874–1966)

Marguerite Marie-Charlotte Long (13 November 1874 – 13 February 1966) was a French pianist, pedagogue, lecturer, and an ambassador of French music.

Life

Early life: 1874–1900

Marguerite Long was born to Pierre Long and Anne Marie Antoinette on November 13, 1874, in Nîmes, an old Roman town in the south of France. Long's parents were not musicians, but her mother highly emphasized the importance of music and "little Marguerite was not allowed to play wrong notes." Her sister, Claire Long, eight years older, was actually the person who influenced her in the pursuit of music. In 1883, when Marguerite was seventeen, Claire was appointed Professor of Piano at the Nîmes conservatory and Marguerite entered her sister's class for academic and musical studies. In 1886, shortly after receiving a Prix d’Honneur at the Nîmes Conservatory, Marguerite gave her first public performance at the age of eleven, performing Mozart's D Minor Concerto with orchestra.

After her debut, composer Théodore Dubois visited the Long family to encourage Marguerite to pursue her music studies in Paris. Even with several failed visits due to the bad health of her mother and the cancellation of the entrance exam of the Paris Conservatoire in 1888, Marguerite finally entered the Conservatoire in 1889, where she studied with Henri Fissot and took the Premier Prix from the Conservatoire on July 24, 1891. After the death of Fissot, Marguerite reached out to Antonin Marmontel, son of Antoine Marmontel who was Fissot's mentor, for lessons. He later on became a close friend to both Marguerite and her husband Joseph de Marliave, and even participated in the couple's wedding as one of their best men.

Marriage with Joseph de Marliave: 1906–1914

Marguerite and Joseph first met in August 1902 in Castelnaudary. After her performance, the young officer, Joseph, requested that the pianist perform a work by Gabr

Marguerite Long is rightfully considered one of the most important French pianists of the 20th century. Her career, which included a long professorship at the Paris Conservatoire, was guided by her burning desire to discover French contemporary music. Her marriage to the eminent musicologist Joseph de Marliave brought her in touch with the composers of her time, and “Fauré, Debussy, and Ravel occupied a central place in her personal, musical, and artistic development.”

Marguerite shared an intimate friendship with Fauré during her first blossoming and the time of her marriage to Marliave. After she lost her husband in WWI, Long collaborated with Debussy and gained the reputation of being the “one whose playing most closely expressed the composer’s aesthetic ideals.” She reached the summit of her performing career in the 1930s when Ravel specifically composed and dedicated his G major concerto to her. Composer and interpreter subsequently took the work on the road and introduced it to audiences throughout Europe.

Marguerite Long Plays Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G

Marguerite Long was born on 13 November 1874 in the old Roman town of Nîmes, in the south of France. Her father Pierre Long worked for the railroad, but her mother Anne Marie Antoinette had a distinct appreciation for music. However, it was her sister Claire, eight years older, who greatly influenced her pursuit of music.

Clair Long was a fantastic pianist, who had studied with Amédée Mager, himself a student at the Paris Conservatoire under Antoine Marmontel. In fact, Claire was appointed Professor of Piano at the Nîmes Conservatory at the tender age of seventeen. Claire was Marguerite’s first piano teacher, and she remembers it fondly. “I owe her everything, my sister whose piano was my first piano and whose sensitive and knowledgeable fingers guided the fingers of her baby sister… She was my first teacher, and probably the best and most l

Marguerite Long - biography

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Marguerite Long, a French pianist, was born on 13 November 1874 in Nîmes, and died on 13 February 1966 in Paris. She began to learn piano with her sister, and soon after entered the Nîmes Conservatory. In 1886, the twelve-year-old was heard by Teodor Dubois, a professor at the Paris Conservatory, and it was him who sent her to the Parisian academy to study piano under Alexis-Henri Fissot. In 1891 she graduated with a premier prix, and continued her education in private classes under Antoine Marmontel. She made her debut in 1893 at the Pleyel-Wolff in Paris. Her repertoire included works by classical and Romantic composers, but she was particularly devoted to performing French contemporary music by Fauré, Debussy, Satie, de Séverac, Roger-Ducasse, Ravel, Milhaud, or Poulenc. She was the first to perform some of the works by Debussy, Fauré and Ravel. In 1919 she played Ravel's suite Le tombeau de Couperin, whose final Toccata was dedicated to her husband, Joseph de Marliave, killed in battle in 1914. During a three-month-tour of Europe in 1932, she played the Ravel Piano Concerto in G major, also dedicated to her by the composer. On 11 March 1932 she performed in Warsaw with Ravel conducting the Philharmonic Orchestra. She also gave concerts in South America. From 1940, she performed as a chamber musician with the violinist Jacques Thibaud. This is what Fauré wrote on her virtuoso playing: "One could not play with better fingers, more clarity and taste, [or] a more natural and charming simplicity”. Her recordings were released inter alia by Columbia. Long also earned an international reputation as a teacher. She developed her own method of mastering the technique jeu perle, typical for the French pianistic school. From 1906 she was a teacher at the Parisian Conservatory, and between 1920 and 1940 she held the position of a professor. From 1921 she also taught at the

French pianist who was a noted interpreter of Ravel, Debussy and Fauré. Name variations: Marie-Charlotte Long; Marie Charlotte Long. Born on November 13, 1874, in Nimes, France; died on February 13,1966, in Paris; studied piano at Nimes Conservatory (1880s); studied at Paris Conservatory under Tissot and Antoine Marmontel from 1887; married Joseph de Marliave (a musicologist who died in 1914).

Taught at Paris Conservatory (1906–40); was professor of piano from 1920; began own school (1920); ran École Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud with violinist Jacques Thibaud (from 1940); inaugurated Long-Thibaud international piano and violin competition (1943); was a favored performer; toured internationally performing classical, romantic and contemporary repertoire; noted interpreter of and authority on French music.

Books include:

Le piano (The Piano, 1959); Au piano avec Claude Debussy (At the Piano with Claude Debussy, 1960); Au piano avec Gabriel Fauré (At the Piano with Gabriel Fauré, 1963); Au piano avec Maurice Ravel(At the Piano with Maurice Ravel, 1971).

Marguerite Long was born in the south of France, in the town of Nimes, in November 1874. After beginning her piano studies at home, she entered the Nimes Conservatory. In 1887, Long moved to Paris, attending the Paris Conservatory as a student of Tissot and Antoine Marmontel. Long won first prize for pianoforte playing in her first year in Paris, and made her public debut in 1893, although she did not perform in public again until 1903.

Regarded by her contemporaries as a virtuoso performer, Long was asked to join the staff of the Conservatory. In 1906, she took charge of the preparatory pianoforte classes, and in 1920 succeeded Louis Diémer as professor of piano, a position she would hold until 1940.

In addition to teaching, Long toured the major concert halls of Europe and South America performing solo recitals and concertos, sometimes under the direction of he