Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmerman

Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmerman (19 March 178529 October 1853), known as Pierre Zimmermann and Joseph Zimmermann, was a French pianist, composer, and music teacher. Biography Zimmerman was born in Paris on March 19, 1785, as the son of a piano maker. He attended the Paris Conservatory in 1798, studying piano with François-Adrien Boieldieu; while a student there, he won first prizes for piano in 1800 (Friedrich Kalkbrenner came second) and harmony in 1802. He would later study under Luigi Cherubini. Zimmerman became a piano assistant at the Conservatory in 1811 and a full professor there in 1816, serving until 1848; he refused a position as a professor of counterpoint and fugue in 1821. Among his students were Charles Gounod (who married one of his daughters), Ambroise Thomas, Louis Lacombe, Alexandre Goria and Lefébure-Wély. In 1842 he denied Conservatory admission to 13-year-old Louis Moreau Gottschalk without an audition on account of Gottschalk’s American nationality, commenting that “America is a country of steam engines”. Zimmerman was often assisted in his teaching by Gounod. Zimmerman wrote two operas, L’enlèvement (Opéra-Comique, 1830) and Nausicaa (never staged). He also