Composers / Thomas Tellefsen / Routes
Trasa A student in France (1842–1849)
"Paris is my idol” (Tellefsen in a letter of 1843)
Thomas Tellefsen came to Paris around 10 June 1842. At that time, the city was the uncontested capital of musical Europe. It drew musicians, composers and young people studying playing or composition from all across the continent. Tellefsen could attend fabulous opera shows and concerts by the best virtuosos. Thanks to his Norwegian acquaintances, he gained access to the most elegant salons of Paris, where he could listen to the music of Liszt and witness his personality cult. The young Thomas arrived in Paris at the time of year when all the major teachers had left the city. However, he quickly befriended the Norwegian-born pianist Charlotte Thygeson (1811–1880), who became his first music teacher in Paris.
Only in the Autumn of 1844 did he finally get in touch with Chopin and become his student, which he remained until the spring of 1847. Over that period, he matured musically, in terms of both playing technique and composing skills. During the first years of his time in France, Tellefsen played extensively in Le Havre and Honfleur. Those performances provided him with much needed funds to continue his studies and support his life in Paris.
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Church Saint-Vincent in Le Havre, fot. Philippe Alès (creative commons)
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Érard piano from 1838. From the collection of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute.
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Érard piano from 1849. From the collection of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute.
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Friedrich Kalkbrenner, steel engraving from the first half of the 19th century, Chopin Museum in Warsaw
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Napoléon Henri Reber. (creative commons)
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Palace of Justice in Le Havre c.1910 (creative commons)
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Panorama av Honfleur. (creative commons)
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Paris Conservatoire Library (1895), phot. Eugène Pirou (creative commons).
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Pleyel piano from 1848. From the collection of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute.
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Tellefsen plays for Chopin in Hôtel Lambert. C.K. Norwid, Evening at the duchess Marcelina Czartoryska (1847), reprod. in: Mieczysław Idzikowski, Bronisław Edward Sydow, Portret Fryderyka Chopina, Kraków 1952. [en]
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The old pier at Honfleur, phot. Ввласенко (creative commons)
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Thomas Tellefsen, author unknown. Municipal Archives of Trondheim
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Title page of 4 Mazurkas dedicated to Sophie Laporte. Ringve Music Museum
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Tomb of the composer Matthäus Nagiller and his wife Pauline in the municipal cemetery in Innsbruck, phot. Kluibi (creative commons).
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Charlotte Thygeson (1811–1872) – a student of Kalkbrenner »
Paris, 26 Boulevard Poissonnière
Concerts in Le Havre and Honfleur »
Le grand Hotel Frascati
Matthäus Nagiller (1815–1874) »
Paris, 12 Rue Bergère
Paris, 2 Rue du Conservatoire
Paris, 13 rue du Mail
Tellefsen – student of Chopin »
Paris, 9 Square d’Orléans