Amédée Méreaux

Jean-Amédée Lefroid de Méreaux (17 September 1802 – 25 April 1874) was a French musicologist, pianist, and composer.

Engraving of Amédée Méreaux
Photograph of Amédée Méreaux

Career

Méreaux was born in Paris. His grandfather, Nicolas-Jean Lefroid de Méreaux (1745–1797), was a composer of operas and oratorios, while his father, Jean-Nicolas Lefroid de Méreaux, was an organist, pianist and composer of piano works.[1] He was a friend of Frédéric Chopin.

His compositions are known for their immense difficulty – Marc-André Hamelin considered them more difficult than those of Charles-Valentin Alkan.[2] His best-known work is his 60 Études, Op. 63. Of this album, the "Bravura" étude, Op. 63 No. 24, has passages where the pianist's two hands cross over each other simultaneously every quaver, at the speed of = 100. However, not all of his works have such difficulties.

Although his works are considered by some, including Hamelin, to be unmusical,[2] this view is not held by everyone. Despite his current obscurity, some of his Op. 63 études were included in piano collections edited by Isidor Philipp, and there is a street in Rouen named after him.[1] Recently, five of his Op. 63 études have been recorded by Cyprien Katsaris.

As a writer on music, he is known for his study Les Clavecinistes de 1637 à 1790, written between 1864 and 1867.[3]

He died in Rouen.

References
  1. "Les Lefroid de Méreaux sont une famille d'artistes et de musiciens dont deux générations au moins s'illustrèrent à Paris" (in French). Mereaux.pagesperso-orange.fr. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  2. Interview with Marc-André Hamelin; retrieved 27 March 2017.
  3. "Amédée Méreaux - Unknown French composer reviving thread. - Piano World Piano & Digital Piano Forums". Pianoworld.com. Retrieved 2012-09-29.


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