Herz, Henri
Herz Jacques Simon, *31 December 1794 Frankfurt am Main, †27 January 1880 Nice, German pianist, composer and teacher based in Paris. He initially learned music from his father, and from 1807 studied piano with L.B. Pradher at the Paris Conservatoire. He quickly gained a reputation as an outstanding pianist and teacher. He spent many years in England, returning to Paris in 1857. In 1878, he also performed with great success on a Taskin harpsichord (Boccherini’s Minuet) before a committee.
Herz represents the brillant style of the Parisian school of piano composers of the 1830s and 1840s. His work, which initially displayed certain individual traits, later differed little in its choice of genres and techniques from the compositions of his brother, Henri Herz.
Literature: P. Brunold Dawne instrumenty klawiszowe, “Kwartalnik Muzyczny” 1930.
Grande sonate Op. 1 for piano and horn or cello
Grande sonate Op. 7 for piano and cello
Rondeau brillant avec introduction in E-flat major Op. 10 for piano
Piano Quintet Op. 13
3 polonaises Op. 15 for piano 4 hands
Variations et rondeau Op. 16 for piano
Grand rondeau brillant on a theme from Hérold and Halévy’s opera Ludovic Op. 25 for 2 pianos
Nocturnes brillantes Op. 47 for 2 pianos
Mazourka brillante Op. 56 for 2 pianos
Caprice brillant Op. 68 for 2 pianos
Arragonaise et Cracovienne for 2 pianos
cycles of variations for piano, particularly on operatic themes, including those from F.A. Boieldieu’s La Dame Blanche, Op. 17; F. Auber’s La Muette de Portici, Op. 19; and F.A. Boieldieu’s Les Deux Nuits, Op. 20; as well as variations on themes from ballets and popular songs
piano fantasies, including Grande fantaisie et variations brillantes on a theme from F. Halévy’s Guido et Ginevra, Op. 32, Les immortelles — 3 fantasias on themes from V. Bellini’s La sonnambula and I puritani, Op. 48, Souvenirs italiens — 2 fantasias, Op. 49, La favorite de Donizetti. Fantaisie brillante, Op. 55
waltzes for 2 pianos