Trio, Op. 23

Adolphe Blanc (1828-1885) was a French composer, conductor and violinist.  At the age of 13 he was sent to study violin at the Paris Conservatoire and afterwards studied composition with Jacques Halévy (1799-1862), whose pupils also included Gounod, Bizet and Saint-Saens.  Blanc was the conductor at the Théâtre Lyrique from 1855-60. After that he was a violinist in the orchestra of the Concert Society of the Paris Conservatorium.  In 1862 he was awarded the Prix Chartier, a prize for deserving composers in the field of chamber music. Blanc wrote in the Classical style during the Romantic era.  The majority of his compositions lie in the Viennese tradition of hausmusik for private performance, music that was essentially peripheral to the public musical life of contemporary Paris, which was centred on opera. Blanc wrote an opera, two operettas, a burlesque symphony, some songs and pieces for piano, according to the demands of contemporary taste. His devotion to chamber music was rare among his French contemporaries. He wrote nearly fifty chamber works, many published at the time by Richault or Castallat in Paris.