Name

Edouard Desiree Boulanger

Culture

Australian | French

Gender

Male

Birth date

1829

Birth place

Paris, France View on map Close map

Movements

Australia from c.1855

Occupations

Composer | Musician

NGA IRN

14650

Context

Australia

Biography

'E.D. Boulanger was born Paris, France, 1829. He studied keyboard with Frederic Chopin in Paris, and toured extensively in the UK and USA as soloist and accompanist between 1849-1855, including many appearances with prima donna Catherine Hayes. Boulanger played for both Queen Victoria and the French Empress Eugenie, whom he dedicated a composition to. His Australian debut was made in Sydney in 1855, and he was regarded at that time by the critic for the Sydney Morning Herald as the "most accomplished pianist to grace these shores". He married in Sydney in 1857, and lived and worked between Sydney and Melbourne for the next six years. He composed about twenty verifiable pieces, mainly virtuosic salon pieces or popular tunes with brilliant variations. Boulanger died of cholera in Shanghai, 1863, whilst on tour with Senior Robbio, the virtuoso violinist and a previous student of Paganini. Associates in Australia included Miska Hauser, William Vincent Wallace, Emile Coulon, and Amelia Bailey.'
Information kindly supplied by Sian Macpherson January 2010.