Louis Brassin

Louis Brassin was a Belgian pianist, composer and music educator. He is best known now for his piano transcription of the Magic Fire Music from Wagner’s Die Walküre.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article on Louis Brassin.

From the period sources

Louis Brassin, a distinguished pianist and composer, was born in Aix-la-Chapelle on June 24, 1840, to a family of Liègeois origin, his parents being noted dramatic singers (Biographie universelle des musiciens, 1880). He received his initial piano lessons from a family friend and quickly became the “master and guide” for his younger brothers, Leopold and Gerhard, with whom he later undertook concert tours (Biographie universelle des musiciens, 1880; A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1900). Brassin studied at the Leipzig Conservatorium under Moscheles for five years, earning numerous prizes and performing successfully at the institution’s concerts (Biographie universelle des musiciens, 1880; Grove’s Dictionary, 1904).

His teaching career included posts at the Stern Conservatorium in Berlin (1866), the Brussels Conservatoire (1869-79), and finally the St. Petersburg Conservatorium from 1878 until his death in 1884 (Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, 1888; A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1900). Brassin was recognized as an “excellent professor, a consummate musician, and a most remarkable virtuoso” (Biographie universelle des musiciens, 1880). His notable pupils included Isaac Albeniz, a “fine concert-pianist” (A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1900), and Franz Rummel, who won the first prize for piano playing at the Brussels Conservatoire in 1872 (A Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1883). Brassin’s compositions include two German operettas, Der Thronfolger and Der Missionär, and numerous piano works, such as L’Ecole moderne du Piano, a set of twelve concert etudes, and a transcription of the “Feuerzauber” from Wagner’s Die Walküre, which was “in the repertory of every piano virtuoso” (Grove’s Dictionary, 1904).