Henri-Gustave Casadesus

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Henri-Gustave Casadesus

Birthdate:
Birthplace: Paris, France
Death: May 31, 1947 (67)
Paris 7, Paris, Paris, Île-de-France, France
Immediate Family:

Son of Luis Casadesus and Mathilde Casadesus
Husband of Marie-Louise Casadesus
Ex-husband of Jeanne Casadesus and Renée Casadesus
Father of Henri Louis André Casadesus; Gisèle Tatiana Casadesus; Bernard Casadesus; Catherine Casadesus and Jacqueline Casadesus
Brother of Francis Casadesus; Rosette Casadesus; Robert Casa; Marcel Casadesus; Marius Casadesus and 3 others

Occupation: Composer, Conductor
Managed by: Private User
Last Updated:

About Henri-Gustave Casadesus

Henri Casadesus was a violist and music publisher. He was the brother of Marius Casadesus, uncle of the famous pianist Robert Casadesus, and granduncle of Jean Casadesus. He founded the Society of Ancient Instruments with Camille Saint-Saëns in 1901. The society, which operated between 1901 and 1939, was a quintet of performers who used obsolete instruments such as the viola da gamba, or Casadesus's own instrument, the viola d'amore.

The quintet was also notable in its day for premiering rediscovered works by long-dead composers. It was later discovered that Casadesus and his brothers, notably Marius Casadesus, wrote these works. The Adélaïde Concerto, allegedly by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is sometimes mistakenly attributed to Henri but is actually by Marius.

However, Henri is thought to have been the author of a "Concerto in D Major for Viola" ascribed to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, described by Rachel W. Wade in Appendix B of her Keyboard Concertos of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1981), pp. 279-82. This concerto appeared in 1911 in a Russian edition, allegedly "transcribed...for small orchestra by Maximilian Steinberg," and was subsequently performed by conductors such as Darius Milhaud and Serge Koussevitsky, and recorded by both Felix Prohaska and Eugene Ormandy. "Thus," Wade wrote in 1981, "at the present time, the most frequently recorded concerto of C.P.E. Bach is a spurious one."

Henri is also credited with the "Handel Concerto" and the "J.C. Bach Concerto," which are both for viola as well. These are often referred to as "The Handel/Casadesus Concerto" and "The J.C. Bach/Casadesus Concerto". Scholarly criticism has confirmed that both these concerti were written by Henri Casadesus in the style of their purported composers.

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Henri-Gustave Casadesus's Timeline

1879
September 30, 1879
Paris, France
1902
October 2, 1902
Paris 9e (75), Paris, Paris, Île-de-France, France
1912
December 26, 1912
2 Rue de Steinkerke - Paris 18, Paris, Paris, Île-de-France, France
1914
June 14, 1914
2 Rue de Steinkerke - Paris 18, Paris, Paris, Île-de-France, France
1923
September 3, 1923
Paris, France
1947
May 31, 1947
Age 67
Paris 7, Paris, Paris, Île-de-France, France
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