Jean-Chrisostome Hess

Jean-Chrisostome Hess (26 January 1816 – 8 March 1900) was one of the most prolific French composers of salon music for the piano as well as transcriptions of popular songs and arias from operas. He was also active as an organist, pianist, and teacher. Since he always abbreviated his name as “J. Ch. Hess”, his first names have often been misinterpreted as “Jean-Charles”. His birth certificate, however, is clear about his real names. Life Hess was born in Soufflenheim, Bas-Rhin, in the Alsace region of France. Nothing is known about his musical education, but as no traces of studies at any of the major conservatories have to come to light yet, it must be presumed that he had private teachers on piano and organ in his home town or perhaps in Strasbourg. Like many composers of his time, he appears to have earned his living as a church organist. His first assignment began in 1838 in Lorient (Morbihan) where he worked at least until the mid-1840s (his son Charles Léon was born there in 1844). For 1853–54, he is mentioned as organist in Laval (Mayenne). He then moved to Paris where, from April 1855, he worked for many years as organist at Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs, Paris, succeeding fello