"Do you love the harp?" The French harpist Henriette Renié (1875-1956) asked this question of each student, and it remained her ideal throughout her life. This book explores the circumstances which surrounded the beginning of Henriette Renié's career was a masterful harpist and composer. Through her celebrated performances of her Concerto en ut mineur, she gained acclaim simultaneously as a virtuosic performer and composer. In the wake of her success, several new masterpieces by respected composers appeared, including Pierné's Concertstück and Ravel's Introduction et Allegro. The elements of Renie's virtuosity are traced through her famous Légende, and her less-known Deux promenades matinales. Her compositional style is explored through her Scherzo-Fantaisie for harp and violin and her Concerto en ut mineur. As a teacher, Renié's influence echoed throughout the world. Her profound influence has been evident through the vision of her own students, including Susann McDonald, Marcel Grandjany, Mildred Dilling, Odette Le Dentu, Odette de Montesquiou, Bertile Fournier, Emmy Hürlimann, Bertile Robet Auffray, and Marie Astrid D'Auffray. The crystallization of Renié's teaching practice is described through her Méthode complète de harpe (Complete Method for Harp) and her twelve volumes of harp transcriptions, Les classiques de la harpe. The amount of literature about Renié's life and work is disproportionate to the deep imprint she made upon the harp's history and repertoire. This book is a start to further recognizing her vast importance to the establishment of the harp. One Stone to the Building Henriette Renié's Life Through Her Works for Harp By Jaymee Haefner AuthorHouse Copyright © 2017 Jaymee Haefner All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-5246-8513-3 Contents Foreword, IX, Preface, XI, Acknowledgements, XV, CHAPTER 1: RENIÉ'S BACKGROUND, 1, CHAPTER 2: RENIÉ AS VIRTUOSO, 25, CHAPTER 3: RENIÉ AS COMPOSER, 49, CHAPTER 4: RENIÉ AS TEACHER, 73, CHAPTER 5: RENIÉ'S LEGACY, 119, Appendix A: Series of Three Interviews with Henriette Renié, 125, Appendix B: Works by Henriette Renié, 157, Works Consulted, 173, Endnotes, 183, Index, 193, About The Author, 205, CHAPTER 1 RENIÉ'S BACKGROUND I am far from changing all the opinions of the past, although modern music has need of a special technique which is more extensive and more "supple" in order to adapt it. I do not pretend to give the final decisive word in the instruction of the harp. Others will probably come after me to add their one stone to the building. I only hope that my long experience will be an aid to them and a new point of departure. — Henriette Renié Virtuoso, Composer, Teacher. Henriette Renié achieved the epitome of artistry in each of these arenas, not only in the eyes of her students and family, but to the acclaim of the musical French culture during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This humble and devout woman truly established a fundamental connection between many elements during her lifetime and today's harpists owe much to her. As a virtuoso Mademoiselle (Mlle) Renié established the harp for the first time as a respected solo instrument, which led in part to the development of acknowledgment for female artists during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She won the Prix du Disque for her Odéon recording of Danse des lutins, with all the copies selling out within six months of its release. As a composer, she left a myriad of masterpieces in her wake, including such virtuosic compositions as Ballade fantastique and Légende. She influenced several composers of her time, including Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy and Camille Saint-Saëns. In turn, she influenced some of the most important compositions that came into the harp's repertoire during and after her lifetime. As a teacher, she not only developed the most thorough method for the double-action pedal harp, but contributed to the fundamental core of harp repertoire through her twelve volumes of transcriptions and original pedagogical works, which include Feuillets d'album and Six pièces brèves (op. 2). Perhaps Mlle Renié's most striking contribution to the harp is her unparalleled devotion to furthering the study of other harpists. She passed on her profound wisdom and affection to her extremely successful students, who became some of the most influential performers and teachers. In this way, her passion continues to inspire current harpists. With so many talents to offer and share, she remained remarkably modest, attributing all her gifts to her Creator. Never did she step before the public without breathing a prayer that her performance should glorify God. As conveyed in her meditation from 10 December 1927, she believed that her mission was "to pass lightly through this world, scarcely putting a foot down." Nonetheless, her imprint on the musical world has been deeply felt. The contributions to harp repertoire that sh