Fantaisie sur "La Flûte enchantée” de Mozart

Auguste Joseph Franchomme was born in Lille on 10.4.1808; he died in Paris in 1884. One of his first cello teachers in Lille was Pierre Baumann, who also taught Edouard Lalo. Giving up the study of Law in favour of the cello, he studied with Jean-Henri Levasseur and Louis-Pierre Norblin from 1825 at the Paris Conservatoire. After that he played in various orchestras until he was eventually able to establish himself as a soloist and chamber musician in Paris. Together with violinist Jean-Delphin Alard he founded the Alard Quartet, one of the few string quartets of the time whose members were all professional musicians. Alongside his concert career, Franchomme was a popular and successful professor at the Conservatoire for almost forty years. His compositions include numerous pieces and studies for the cello, a cello concerto and many transcriptions. Franchomme was a close friend of Chopin: he also composed the cello part to Chopin’s Duo concertante and reworked the cello part for the Polonaise Brillante. Chopin dedicated his Cello Sonata op. 65 to Franchomme. Chopin’s influence is clearly recognisable in Franchomme’s work and particularly evident, for example, in his Étude in C# minor op. 35/11. In 1884 Franchomme was awarded the Légion d’honneur for his services to music. This Fantaisie based on themes from Mozart’s Magic Flute was published in 1873 (plate no. 20425).