Ferdinand Hérold

Louis Joseph Ferdinand Hérold (28 January 1791 – 19 January 1833), better known as Ferdinand Hérold (pronounced: [fɛʁdinɑ̃ eʁɔld]), was a French operatic composer of Alsatian descent who also wrote many pieces for the piano, orchestra, and the ballet. He is best known today for the ballet La fille mal gardée and the overture to the opera Zampa.

L. J. F. Hérold was born in Paris, the only child of François-Joseph Hérold, a pianist and composer, and Jeanne-Gabrielle Pascal. He was the grandson of Nicolas Hérold, an organist. At the age of six, he attended the Hix Institute and excelled in his studies. While there, he also took musical theory with François-Joseph Fétis (who later edited the periodical La Revue musicale). At the age of seven, he played piano and composed some piano pieces.

Hérold's father did not intend for him to follow a musical career, but after his father's death in 1802, he could finally pursue this avenue. He enrolled in the Conservatoire in 1806 and was schooled in piano by Louis Adam (father of the composer Adolphe Adam). He also was instructed by Charles Simon Catel (in harmony), Rodolphe Kreutzer (in violin), and Étienne Méhul (in composition). Hérold during these times at the Conservatoire became a virtuoso on piano and violin.

In 1810 he won first prize in a piano competition with one of his own compositions. One of the judges remarked: "This piece is full of flaws, but I see great things ahead for him". He progressed so far in his studies that in 1812 he won the Prix de Rome. In Rome, during the spring of 1813 he composed his first symphony, which all Prix de Rome winners were required to do in order to show their progression in studies, and also completed the last of his four piano concertos.

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