A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Adam, Louis

by Mary Catherine Hamilton

ADAM, Louis, born at Miettershelz in Alsace, 1758 [App. p.518 "Dec. 3"], died in Paris 1848 [App. p.518 "April 11, 1849"]; a pianist of the first rank; appeared in Paris when only seventeen as the composer of two symphonies-concertantes for the harp, piano, and violin, the first of their kind, which were performed at the Concerts Spirituels. Having acquired a reputation for teaching, in 1797 he was appointed professor at the Conservatoire, a post he retained forty-five years, training many eminent pupils, of whom the most celebrated are Kalkbrenner, Hérold, father and son, Chaulieu, Henri le Moine, and Mme. Renaud d'Allen, and last, though not least, his own more famous son, Adolphe Charles.

Adam was a remarkable example of what may be done by self culture, as he had scarcely any professional training, and not only taught himself the harp and violin, and the art of composition, but formed his excellent style as a pianist by careful study of the works of the Bachs, Handel, Scarlatti, Schobert, and later of Clementi and Mozart. His 'Méthode de doigté' (Paris, 1798) and 'Méthode Nouvelle pour le Piano' (1802), have passed through many editions.

[ M. C. C. ]