Antoine François Marmontel
French pianist, composer, teacher and musicologist (b. 18 July 1816 [N.S.] at Clermont-Ferrand; d. 16 January 1898 [N.S.] in Paris).
Marmontel studied at the Paris Conservatory under Pierre Zimmerman (piano), Victor Dourien (harmony), Jacques Fromental Halévy (fugue), and Jean-François Le Sueur (composition), where in 1832 he achieved a first prize for his piano playing. In 1837 he became professor of singing at the Conservatory, and from 1848, professor of piano. His pupils included Isaac Albéniz, Georges Bizet, Claude Debussy, and Louis Diémer.
Dedications
Tchaikovsky was introduced to Marmontel in 1886 by the French publisher Félix Mackar, and agreed to the latter's suggestion that his Dumka for piano, Op. 59, should be dedicated to Marmontel.
Correspondence
No letters from Tchaikovsky to Antoine Marmontel are known, but one letter from Marmontel to the composer, dating from 30 May/11 June 1886, is preserved in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin (a4, No. 2381).
