La Hye, Louise (1810–1838)
La Hye, Louise (1810–1838)
French composer, organist, pianist, singer, and lecturer. Name variations: (pseudonym) Monsieur Leon Saint-Amans Fils. Born in Charenton, France, on March 8, 1810; died at age 28 in Paris on November 17, 1838; daughter of Charles Louis Rousseau.
One wonders what Louise La Hye might have accomplished had she not died at age 28. The grandniece of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, she studied under her father Charles Louis Rousseau and then under Saint-Amans. At age 11, she entered the Paris Conservatoire to study the organ, piano, and singing. In 1826, La Hye received a second place for organ and in 1828 a first place at the Conservatoire. On the recommendation of Luigi Cherubini, the famous opera composer, La Hye taught composition in 1831. That same year, she played her Fantasia at the Socièté des Concerts. Like many women, La Hye often published under a masculine name, in her case Monsieur Leon Saint-Amans Fils, using her teacher's last name. She introduced her dramatic opera Le songe de la religieuse at the Hôtel de Ville in 1835. Poor health cut short her composing career and her life three years later.
John Haag , Athens, Georgia