Émile Prudent: A Biography

Émile Prudent was born on February 3, 1817, in Angoulême, a city southwest of Paris. However, details about his parents are unknown, as he was reportedly entrusted to a piano tuner in the city shortly after his birth and grew up considering him his father. Albéric Second (1817-87), a journalist, novelist, and playwright who was Prudent's childhood friend, stated, “From the utmost loveliness of his graceful appearance and refined elegance, it was clear that he was not the son of this old piano tuner.” Like Thalberg, some sources suggest he was the illegitimate son of an aristocrat.

He received his first piano education from his tuner-father and began to show glimpses of his talent. At the age of 10, he moved to Paris, first entering the solfège class, and at 11, he was admitted to the piano class at the Paris Conservatoire, taught by Zimmermann.

In 1833, at the age of 16, his diligent days at the Conservatoire culminated in a first prize at the final examination. But this marked the beginning of his period of apprenticeship. In 1835, he published Grandes variations sur un thème de Meyerbeer Op. 2, but his earliest works had yet to attract attention, placing him in a difficult position to establish himself as a composer. As a pianist, Prudent wished to give a concert and consulted Second, who had connections with magazine circles. According to Second's recollections, although he arranged for advertisements to be placed in several magazines to fulfill his friend's wish, only acquaintances attended on the day, and only one ticket was sold. This is Prudent's “Paris debut” as currently confirmed.

By 1836, his father had passed away due to illness, forcing him to earn a living by playing quadrilles and waltzes for lessons and evening dances.

The Influence of Thalberg

Around this time, an event occurred that would profoundly influence his life: the sensation caused by Thalberg in Paris in 1836. The virtuoso, five years Prudent's senior, particularly captivated young Parisian pianists with his novel technique of placing the melody within brilliant arpeggiated chords. His friend Marmontel (later a piano professor at the Conservatoire), who was one year older than Prudent, recalled the excessive Thalberg fever as follows:

In 1836, Prudent had many opportunities to hear Thalberg perform. Like all pianists of our generation, he was deeply impressed by this new school, admired the effects produced, and could think of nothing else but to assimilate the style of this renowned pianist and composer, ardently desiring it.

Determined to acquire a skill comparable to Thalberg's, Prudent returned from Paris to his hometown of Angoulême and devoted himself solely to practice. Although he had to temporarily interrupt his practice due to training that caused paralysis in both hands, he steadily prepared for success in Paris. Around this time, he married and subsequently settled in Nantes, where he became a renowned teacher. According to Second, Prudent wrote to him, who had arrived in Paris later, as follows:

I'll be back in Paris soon. I've composed works that people should hear. I envision my prime coming soon. Next Monday, at exactly 8 o'clock, take a walk along Cité Bergère and look up at the fourth floor of number two.

Thus, Prudent returned to Paris. The piece Second heard that day was reportedly Lucia di Lammermoor Op. 8. This piece was published in 1842 and became a hit. Prudent performed this work in concerts throughout his life.

Rise to Fame and Critical Acclaim

With this success, Prudent's fame rapidly expanded. The first step was a recital held in April 1842 at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris. His co-performer on this occasion was none other than Thalberg himself. Buoyed by this success, Prudent began a life as a touring pianist, performing not only in Paris but also in provincial French cities, Germany, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, and various cities in England. He caused a sensation wherever he went, carrying works such as Étude-caprice sur des motifs des Puritains de Bellini Op. 24 and Séguedille Op. 25. It was not only the public who were enthusiastic about him. In 1845, Prudent visited Berlin and performed before King Ludwig Wilhelm IV of Prussia at the Royal Palace, receiving the title of “Pianist to the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz,” the King's uncle. His later work, Études-Lieder Op. 16, is dedicated to this Duke.

Contemporary music magazines vividly reported the enthusiasm he generated in various locations. On January 31, 1847, Le Ménestrel reported on his success in Turin as follows:

Émile Prudent began his Italian tour as a conqueror. His stay in Turin was magnificent. At his second concert, held at the Angennes Theatre, 300 people were forced to be turned away. At his final concert at the Regio Theatre, which was freely available by His Majesty the King's discipline, the hall was packed, attracting an audience of 2000. The Queen, the Princes, and the entire court attended this concert.

Now a man of the moment, Prudent received the Legion of Honor in 1847, as well as numerous other decorations both domestically and internationally. In 1848, upon the retirement of his teacher Zimmermann, his name was put forward as a candidate for piano professor, alongside Marmontel and Alkan. It was inevitable that Marmontel, who had served longer at the Conservatoire than Prudent, who was rarely in Paris, was chosen.

Continued Success and Berlioz's Praise

Thereafter, he continued his career as a touring pianist. On January 21, 1849, Revue et Gazette Musicale (hereafter RGM) reported on the extraordinary enthusiasm in the Netherlands as follows:

[His first concert, held in The Hague, Netherlands] took place at the Théâtre-Français, and the hall was overflowing. His beautiful fantasy based on Les Huguenots [Op. 18] produced a great effect. After performing this piece, Prudent was called back by the entire audience in the hall and had to return repeatedly to the stage of the theater, which was buzzing with a storm of applause repeated ten times. The encored Séguedille [Op. 25] concluded the soirée. After this concert, the orchestra itself played beneath the windows of this great artist, followed by 1500 people who had left the theater or were drawn by the novelty of this enthusiastic welcome.

However, Prudent was supported not only by the public and aristocracy. Discerning musicians and critics highly praised Prudent's talent not only as a pianist but also as a composer. For example, Berlioz, after hearing Prudent's La Danse des fées Op. 41 performed with orchestra in Paris in 1853, stated:

[...] Prudent achieved a double success this evening. I cannot say whether the virtuoso [Prudent] surpassed the composer [Prudent].

His work, La Danse des fées, which I heard without orchestra last year in London, is one of the most poetic and sweet I know. [...] It is poetry and painting. The orchestration is sweet and gentle, the harmonies mysterious, the playful melodies cheerful; everything is there. The piano passages are not empty lines of meaning. They are a chain of fairy-like melodies, flowing endlessly and sparkling, an idea that only the piano can fully express. Prudent's La Danse des fées as a whole is a new and dreamy piece introduced to the musical world. It is not often that I have such things to acknowledge.

(RGM, 1853. 4.10, no.15, quoted from Journal des débats)

Such an evaluation from Berlioz, a master of orchestration and an uncompromising critic, conveys an image of Prudent not only as a popular virtuoso but also as a composer possessing artistic talent.

Major Works and Later Life

What solidified Prudent's reputation as a composer was his Concerto-Symphonie Op. 34, which he performed in various locations from 1847 onwards. For example, on March 11, 1849, the music magazine Le Ménestrel reported the following:

[...] The Concerto-Symphonie is a work that deserves the special favor of the public and artists. It is a work where the orchestra plays a truly concertante role, elevating Émile Prudent from the rank of pianist and placing him among serious composers.

Prudent, who solidified his status as a composer capable of writing large-scale works with the performance of his Second Concerto, Le Pré Op. 48, in 1856, also began to write more descriptive miniatures than dazzling fantasies in the 1850s. Prudent, who had engaged in unparalleled activities as a standard-bearer of the French piano world since the 1840s, not inferior to foreign pianists, achieved great success in April 1863, performing La Danse des fées and Adieu, Printemps! in Metz, a French city near the German border. A sudden death struck him just one month later, on May 14. He was 47 years old. Marmontel reported the cause of death as pseudomembranous angina. Prudent's funeral was held at Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Church. The ceremony was led by Berlioz, H. Herz, Albéric Second, and the critic Édouard Monnais, and the orchestra of the Théâtre-Italien, which had often performed with Prudent, rushed to accompany his coffin with music. His remains still rest in Montmartre Cemetery in Paris.

Performing Style

Prudent's performing posture was reportedly unique. Marmontel described it as follows:

With long, shiny, but unruly hair, this virtuoso often moved his head to throw his hair back. This habit was very common for Prudent while performing brilliant pieces that required somewhat rough expression.

The caricature shown on the page below, published in a music magazine, conveys his somewhat eccentric performing style. As Marmontel pointed out, the critical gaze directed at his gestures, however, only captured the surface of his performance. His playing does not seem to have been crude or brusque, masking details with gestures. When he performed the Concerto-Symphonie in The Hague, Netherlands, a local newspaper reported on his playing as follows:

His playing is delicate yet clear, brilliant and expressive, and there is discretion in his deviations, endowed with agility and extraordinary sensitivity. That is to say, no difficulty exists under his hands; he plays the keyboard with such ease that one might say he barely touches it.

(RGM, 12. 31 no.5, quoted from Journal de La Haye)

Prudent naturally had small hands. Therefore, striking chords repeatedly to draw symphonic effects from the piano, like Liszt or Alkan, was not advantageous for him. Thus, he focused on hand expansion and paid attention to Thalberg's writing, which centered on singing melodies and arpeggiated chords, assimilating it to explore his own style.

He performed not only his own works but occasionally also Bach's and Handel's Preludes and Fugues, and Mozart's Violin Sonatas.