Johann Friedrich Franz Burgmuller was a German pianist, and composer, best known for his etudes. He was born into a German musical family: both his father and brother were also well-known composers.
Background
Born on December 4, 1806 in Regensburg. When Frederick was a year old, the family moved to Dusseldorf, where the future composerspent his childhood and adolescence. After his father's death in 1824, Friedrich Burgmüller leaves Dusseldorf in Alsace, and in 1834 moved to Paris. In 1842, he received French citizenship.
Education
He studied with Ludwig Spohr and Moritz Hauptmann.
Career
After years of studies with Ludwig Spohr and Moritz Hauptmann, Friedrich moved to Paris in 1832, where he stayed until his death. There, he adopted Parisian music and developed his trademark, light style of playing. He wrote many pieces of salon music for the piano and published several albums. Burgmüller also went on to compose piano études intended for children. They are popular to this day.
Selections from his Opp. 68, 76, 100, 105 and 109 etudes and his Ballade appear in a wide variety of educational collections. In addition to these piano pieces, he composed works without opus numbers including variations, waltzes, nocturnes and polonaises. He composed stage works and two ballets, La Péri and Lady Harriet.
His most performed piece is the so-called Peasant Pas de Deux added to Adolphe Adam's ballet Giselle for its 1841 premiere. This music was originally titled Souvenirs de Ratisbonne, and is still performed today in every production of Giselle.
In his Op. 100 set of 25 studies he has charmed many people with pieces like La Candeur, La Chevalresque, L'Arabesque, and Ballade. More demanding pieces are the 18 Characteristic Studies, Op. 109, but the 12 pieces of Op. 105 are even more demanding. Op. 109 contains popular pieces like Les perles (The Pearls) and L'Orage (The Storm).