Ghis, Henri

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Ghis, Henri

Ghis, Henri, French pianist and composer; b. Toulon, May 17, 1839; d. Paris, April 24, 1908. He studied at the Paris Cons, with Marmontel (piano), and received 1st prize in 1854. He also studied organ with Benoist, graduating in 1855. He became a fashionable piano teacher in Paris, numbering many aristocratic ladies (to whom he dedicated his pieces) among his pupils. He was also the first teacher of Ravel. He publ. salon music for piano: waltzes, mazurkas, polonaises, polkas, gavottes, caprices, etc., often with superinduced titles, as Seduction, Menuet de la petite princesse, La Marquisette, etc. However, he is mostly known for his popular arrangement of an early aria, which he publ. for piano as Air Louis XIII (1868); the actual melody was definitely not by Louis XIII, but in all probability an old French folk song.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire