Eugène Ketterer (7 July 1831 – 18 December 1870) was a prolific French composer and pianist who was known for his numerous
salon arrangements of contemporary opera arias.
Career
Born in
Rouen, France, of an originally
Alsatian family, Ketterer became a student at the
Paris Conservatoire in his early youth, where he studied with
Antoine François Marmontel. He won second prize for
solfège in 1847 and a premier accessit in 1852. After his graduation until his death in Paris in 1870, he appeared constantly as a pianist winning wide repute for his fantasies and drawing-room pieces, of which he wrote a large number, but only a few of which are still in the repertoire.
The list of Ketterer's works gives an excellent overview on the world of opera in France at the time, as many of these works are transcriptions of popular opera arias, many still famous today.
Many of Ketterer's transcriptions were subsequently arranged for piano 4-hands by other arrangers like Joseph Rummel (1818–1880) or
Édouard Mangin. "Les Étoiles" is a collection of 18 (later 19) such arrangements (1875).
Evaluation
Hervé Lacombe classifies Ketterer among the authors of what he calls derivative products, referring to all the scores of varying degrees of quality drawn (by other composers) from fashionable operas and which "testify to uses proper to the 19th century and to the extraordinary hold operas had on the French musical world" (page 1034). For Lacombe, Ketterer "mass-produced pieces used to shine in salons and concert halls and provide the consumer with nice airs skilfully arranged" (page 1045). He adds further below, about his fantasia on L'Africaine, that "Ketterer selects the most conventional elements of Meyerbeer's score ... and treats them conventionally.".[1]
Compositions
Piano works
Op. 5 - L'Entrée au tournoi
Op. 7 - Grand Caprice Hongrois (4-hands)
Op. 10 - Une Promenade dans la mer
Op. 16 - Souvenirs de 'La Promise', opéra de
Louis Clapisson, Grande fantaisie brillante
Op. 20 - Fantaisie sur 'Les Sabots de la Marquise', opéra de
E. Boulanger
Op. 21 - L'Argentine, Fantaisie-mazurka
Op. 22 - Le Chant du Colibri, de l'opéra
Jaguarita de F. Halévy, Caprice
Op. 24 - Grand galop de concert
Op. 31 - Fandango de l'opéra 'Les Lavandières de Santarem' de
Gevaert
Op. 33 - Fantaisie brillante sur
Manon Lescaut, opéra de D. F. E. Auber
Op. 35 - Ballade
Op. 39 - Nocturne
Op. 43 - Les Concerts du bocage, Caprice de genre
Op. 45 - Fantaisie de concert pour le piano sur
Oberon de
Weber
Op. 48 - Dalila, Grande valse brillante
Op. 56 - Chanson créole
Op. 57 - Élégie (à la mémoire de Frédéric Chopin)
Op. 60 - Fantaisie brillante sur
Martha, de
Flotow
Op. 61 - Marche écossaise sur Quentin Durward, Musique de
Gevaert
Op. 66 - Oh! Dites lui, romance favorite de
Tamberlick, musique de Mme La Princesse L. Kotschoubey
Op. 143 - Valse des dominos. Grande valse de salon arrangée sur des motifs de Caussinus[4]
Op. 145 - Fantaisie-transcription sur
Rigoletto, opéra de Verdi
Op. 146 - À Grenade, Ariette espagnole, de
Rossini
Op. 147 - Les Amours du diable (opéra d'
Albert Grisar), Fantaisie
Op. 148 - Lara, opéra-comique de
A. Maillart, Chanson arabe (À l'ombre des verts platanes), transcription variée (also, version for piano 4-hands by
Édouard Mangin)
Op. 149 - Mireille, opéra en cinq actes de Ch. Gounod, Fantaisie-transcription
Op. 150 - Souvenirs mélodiques on
Norma, opéra de
Bellini, Fantaisie
Op. 151 - Souvenirs mélodiques
Les Puritains, fantaisie sur l'opéra de Bellini
Op. 152 - Souvenirs mélodiques sur
Le Barbier de Séville, opéra de Rossini, Fantaisie
Op. 153 - Souvenirs mélodiques sur l’opéra
Betly, de Donizetti, Fantaisie
Op. 154 - La Traviata, opéra de Verdi, Fantaisie-transcription
Op. 155 - Les Chevaliers d'Avenel, ballade écossaise
Op. 156 - Valse des roses
Op. 157 - Macbeth, Opéra de Verdi, Fantaisie-transcription
Op. 161 - Nuit d'Orient, Rêverie
Op. 162 - Noël, chant religieux de Ferdinand Lavainne[5]
(with Adolphe Herman) 12 Duos concertants sur les chefs d'œuvre lyriques des grands maîtres (1863–1866), for violin and piano: 1. Cosi fan tutte (Herman's Op. 56) (1863); 2. Oberon (Herman's Op. 57) (1863); 3. Don Juan; 4. Otello; 5. Moïse (de Rossini) (Herman's Op. 68) (1864); 6. Norma, de Bellini (Herman's Op. 64) (1864); 7. Les Noces de Figaro; 8. Robin des Bois (de Weber) (Herman's Op. 70) (1864); 9. Le Barbier de Séville (de Rossini) (Herman's Op. 80); 10. L'Elisir d'amore (Herman's Op. 81) (1866); 11. Les Puritains, de Bellini (Herman's Op. 82) (1866); 12. Richard Cœur de Lion, de Grétry (Herman's Op. 83) (1866).
^With versions for piano, organ or orchestra. There also seems to exist a Marche solennelle No. 2 for piano and organ, and a Marche solennelle for piano and organ, by Ketterer and Auguste Durand.