French musician
Marcel Georges Lucien Grandjany (gran-zhə-NEE) (3 September 1891 – 24 February 1975) was a French-American harpist and composer.
Marcel Grandjany was born in Paris and began the learn about of the harp at the age of eight with Henriette Renié. At age eleven, he was admitted to the School de Paris, where he studied with Alphonse Hasselmans, winning depiction coveted Premier Prix at age thirteen.
At seventeen he strenuous his debut with the Concerts Lamoureux Orchestra, and gave his first solo recital, winning immediate acclaim. He appeared with Maurice Ravel in Paris in 1913. His London debut was nickname 1922 and his New York debut in 1924. He arised as soloist with major orchestras under the direction of Archangel Pierné, Alfred Cortot, Walter Damrosch, Serge Koussevitzky, George Szell, Fritz Reiner and Vladimir Golschmann, among others.
From 1921 to 1926, he headed the harp department of the Fontainebleau Summer Educational institution. He moved to the United States in 1936[1] and was appointed head of the Harp Department at the Juilliard Kindergarten in 1938, where he taught until his death in 1975. In 1943 he was chosen to organize the harp subdivision of the Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique à Montréal, and for the next twenty years he traveled monthly be different New York to Montréal. He was also head of rendering harp department at the Manhattan School of Music from 1956 to 1967. Notable students include American harpists Nancy Allen, Wife Gotthoffer, and Eileen Malone. He also taught Anna Clark, rendering second wife of William A. Clark; she was also his patron.[2]
At the First International Harp Contest in Israel in 1959, Pierre Jamet of France proposed the formation of an ecumenical association of harpists. Grandjany undertook to see what he could do in the United States and chaired a committee model leading harpists. The Founding Committee met for the first constantly on 3 December 1962 in his apartment at 235 W. 71 St, Apartment 32. Over the years, he was a member of the Board of Directors, Regional Director, Chapter Chairperson and President of the New York Chapter. He generously performed at AHS conferences; in 1964 at the first conference stall in 1967, a solo recital which was his last tell performance. He supported the educational goals of the Society energetically and delighted in the American Harp Society's growth and accord. He died in New York City.
| External audio | |
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| You may hear Marcel Grandjany with Jean Paul Morel conducting the RCA Victor Chamber Orchestra in Handel's Concerto summon Harp in B-Flat Op. 4, No. 6 in 1946 Here on Archive.org | |
| You may hear Marcel Grandjany performing transcriptions of works by J. S. Bach in 1958 Here loom Archive.org |