Leopold Aimon

[Santo Neuenwelt]

Hoping to get more information than we have been able to find. We are in the process of playing through some of the string quartets of Leopold Aimon (1779-1866) born in the French town of L'Isle sur la Sorge not far from city of Avignon. He studied cello and composition with his father Esprit Aimon a cellist and director of music for the Danish ambassador to France. His talent was such that he procured several jobs as a conductor of various theater orchestras in Marseilles and Paris. As most composers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, he wrote a large number of works. Several of his operas were frequently performed in France and beyond. He is said to have composed some thirty string quartets as well as other chamber music which was apparently well thought of as evidenced by the list of subscribers to his Op.45 string quartets. Subscribers were individuals who donated money to help  make publication of a composer's works possible. In the case of the Op.45 quartets which were published around 1820, the list of subscribers contains the names of several important musicians of that era, including Pierre Baillot, Jacques Mazas, Anton Reicha and Beethoven. A number of critical works in the 19th century described his chamber music of having considerable appeal and originality. A fair number of his string quartets and some other works are available on IMSLP

We have checked a number of the standard and non standard research sources and found little more. We could not even find a picture of photograph of him. If anyone can supply a picture or more information about him it would be much appreciated.

[semloh]

Details of his compositions can be found at: https://musicalics.com/en/node/85458   through the drop-down menus.
Sheet music for his string quartets can be purchased via: https://www.clarinetinstitute.com/   

Unfortunately, his entry in Brown's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (1886), below, doesn't add much more than his entry in Wikipedia.

AIMON (Pamphile L. F.) French comp. and violoncellist, B. near Avignon, 1779. Cond. of theatre orch., Marseilles, 1776. Cond. at " Gymnase Dramatique," Paris, 1821. Cond. at Theatre Francaise, 1822. D. Paris, Feb., 1866. WORKS.— Operas: Jeux Flotaux, 1818; Michel et Christine, 1821 ; Velleda, Abufar ; Alcide et Omphale; Les Cherusques ; Les Deux Figaros. Quintet for strings. Op. 4. Three Quartets for strings. Op. 6. Three do. 0pp. 7, 8, 9. Nine do. Op. 43, 46, 47. Nine do. Concertos for bassoon. Airs and solos for violin and clarinet. Writings on harmony. Violoncello Music.

Stokes' Encyclopedia Of Music And Musicians (Bekker 1908)
AIMON (Pamphile Leopold Francis) composed " Michel et Christine,"performed with great success in 1821. No? other operas, much chamber music; conducted Marseilles theatre orchestra [18]17. B. L'Isle, near Avignon, Oct. 4, 1779; d. Feb. 2, 1866, Paris.

I tried to find an image, with no success.

[Mark Thomas]

For what it's worth, Santo, here's a pdf of Aimon's entry in the 1866 edition of Fétis, en français, naturellement.

[eschiss1]

I don't know the quality of the chamber music produced by the Clarinet Institute, not having purchased them, but there are several quartets of his downloadable in early editions from IMSLP.  Also see : Wikipedia entry. Gallica-BNF has several items digitized including letters between him and M. le Duc Daumont, string quartets, overtures, a mass (maybe BSB has a painting or daguerrotype? They often do...)

[Santo Neuenwelt]

Thanks guys for the help. Did look at those sources. In my experience, as far as sheet music goes, at least in this case anyways, both of the sites mentioned for selling his sheet music are merely selling what is already on IMSLP which in any case has a much better selection of his music. The two only offer the Op.7 quartets.

It is curious that, at least in the case of the Op.45 quartets that several big names, including Beethoven's were on the list of subscribers. Perhaps out of gratitude, Aimon dedicated a later string quartet, Op.47 No.2 to Beethoven. It would be interesting to know if they were in contact with each other.

Also the fact that important violinists such as Baillot and Mazas, both quartet leaders, were among his supporters which gives some indication that they must have been performed at least in Paris...

[Double-A]

For those who are curious:  I have typeset the first movement of op. 45/1 and posted it here.  You can listen to a synthetic "recording" of the piece.  The piece is pleasant but not overpoweringly inspired IMHO.  I prefer Onslow's quartets over this.  I will do the other movements as well and post them as they are finished.

One more caution:  This score is not properly proofread at this point.  I just wanted to get a first impression.  Which I think it delivers.

[Santo Neuenwelt]

Yes, Double A, we agree having read through the Op.45 and having made soundbites of No.2. Pleasant but not showing great inspiration. One cannot speak of Onslow and Aimon in the same breath. No one in France, and probably the rest of Europe, was writing like Onslow. Mendelssohn and Schumann certainly recognized this. He was an original talent, at least as far as his string quartets and string quintets. Less so the piano trios. The piano quintets are good as is the nonet. The symphonies are even less inspired...

But back to Aimon. We plan to look at some of his other quartets as well to see what we will find. I suppose the final verdict will be decent but not great. Though perhaps more effective than Hyacynthe Jadin who was a contemporary...

[Alan Howe]

The symphonies are even less inspired...

Not in my opinion.

[Santo Neuenwelt]

À chacun ses goûts

[Alan Howe]

D'accord.

[Double-A]

There is actually a reason why I picked Onslow as the comparison, a reason beyond the fact that they both lived in France at more or less the same time:  They both liked to use chromatic scales or rather fragments of chromatic scales as part of their melodies.  Check almost any work by Onslow and you'll find them.  In op. 45/1 by Aimon the second theme of the first movement is a good example, also the bass line of the theme of the andante.

Having said that I can only agree with Santo's judgement though I think he may exaggerate just a little bit in the way he rates some genres lower than others.  Some piano trios are indeed a little less inspired than others for example but no. 3, 5 and especially 8 are first rate IMHO.

[Double-A]

The second movement, andante poco allegretto is here

I like it rather better than the first FWIW.

[Double-A]

And finally the Minuetto and the last movement (allegro vivace).  The first movement actually seems to be the weakest of the four.  The minuet is quite fun when its main theme is accompanied differently every time it occurs and even makes a surprise appearance in the trio (over a pedal point this time).  And the finale is certainly is entertaining throughout the 4 minutes it lasts.