Barcarolle No.1 (mp3 & midi included! ) - Émile-Robert Blanchet

Key Signature: Natural
Time Signature: 6/8 (3/8 in some measures)
Tempo: Trés calme. (very calm), (about 60bpm)
Difficulty: Advanced intermediate

Émile-Robert Blanchet (abbrv E. R. Blanchet) (1877-1943). Swiss pianist and composer. After early studies with his father, the organist Charles Blanchet (1833–1900), and then with his mother, Marie Schnyder, an excellent pianist, Blanchet attended the Cologne Conservatory from the age of 18, where his teachers included Gustave Jensen for harmony and counterpoint, Friedrich Wilhelm Frankel and Seiss. In 1898 he left Cologne for Berlin, and subsequently Weimar, to study with Busoni, whose influence was to prove pivotal to Blanchet's future development. At 25 he made his début with the Berlin PO, after which he appeared throughout Germany and elsewhere, including a tour of Switzerland as accompanist to the violinist Henri Gerber. In 1905 he became director of the Lausanne Conservatoire, a position he relinquished in 1908 in order to concentrate more on teaching and composition. In 1909 he was awarded first prize for his Tema con variazioni for piano op.13 in a competition in Berlin. As a pianist, Blanchet's virtuoso technique was well suited to his chosen repertory, which was based primarily on the works of Beethoven, Liszt, Brahms and especially Chopin, in addition to those of Debussy, Ravel and Louis Vierne. His playing was particularly admired for its power and control and for the variety of colour and nuance he was able to achieve through a subtle pedal technique.