Émile-Robert Blanchet: Barcarolle,

(1877-1943). Swiss pianist and composer. After early studies with his father, the organist Charles Blanchet (1833–1900), and then with his mother, Marie Schnyder, an excellent pianist, Blanchet attended the Cologne Conservatory from the age of 18, where his teachers included Gustave Jensen for harmony and counterpoint, Friedrich Wilhelm Frankel and Seiss. In 1898 he left Cologne for Berlin, and subsequently Weimar, to study with Busoni, whose influence was to prove pivotal to Blanchet’s future development. At 25 he made his début with the Berlin PO, after which he appeared throughout Germany and elsewhere, including a tour of Switzerland as accompanist to the violinist Henri Gerber. In 1905 he became director of the Lausanne Conservatoire, a position he relinquished in 1908 in order to concentrate more on teaching and composition. In 1909 he was awarded first prize for his Tema con variazioni for piano in a competition in Berlin. As a pianist, Blanchet’s virtuoso technique was well suited t