Heckscher, Céleste de Longpré (née Massey)

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Heckscher, Céleste de Longpré (née Massey)

Heckscher, Céleste de Longpré (née Massey), American composer; b. Philadelphia, Feb. 23, 1860; d. there, Feb. 18, 1928. Of an artistic family (her grandfather was the artist Louis de Longpré), she studied piano and participated in the musical affairs of her native city. She wrote the operas The Flight of Time and Rose of Destiny (Philadelphia, May 2, 1918), Dances of the Pyrenees, orch. suite (Philadelphia, Feb. 17, 1911), a fantasy, To the Forest, for Violin and Piano (1902), songs, and piano pieces. Her style, melodious and without pretensions, is akin to Chaminade’s.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire