Louis Plaidy

Louis Plaidy (28 November 1810 – 3 March 1874) was a celebrated German piano pedagogue and compiler of books of technical music studies.^[1][2]

Louis Plaidy
Born	(1810-11-28)November 28, 1810 Hubertusburg, Saxony
Died	March 3, 1874(1874-03-03) (aged 63) Grimma, Saxony
Nationality	German
Occupation	Piano pedagogue
Notable work	Technische Studien: für das Pianofortespiel

Life

Born in Hubertusburg, Saxony, Plaidy initially focused on the violin, and toured as a concert violinist, but he later studied the piano, particularly the technical aspects of playing.^[1] Plaidy was renowned for his ability to impart technical skills to his students.^[3]

In 1843, Felix Mendelssohn invited Plaidy to join the faculty of the Leipzig Conservatory to teach the piano.^[1] The Conservatory attracted many international students, including the original directors of the Oberlin Conservatory (founded in 1867 in Ohio, US), who went on to use Plaidy's piano methods.^[4] Plaidy was Edvard Grieg's first piano teacher at the Conservatory,^[5] although Grieg found Plaidy's style of teaching uninspiring.^[6] Plaidy remained at the Conservatory until 1865, when he went on to teach piano students privately.^[1]

Plaidy published a book on piano pedagogy, Technische Studien für das Pianofortespiel, which was highly thought of and is still used today,^[1][3] and a pamphlet, Der Klavierlehrer, said to be of little worth.^[1][7]

He died in Grimma, Saxony, aged 63.

Notable students

See: List of music students by teacher: N to Q#Louis Plaidy.

Plaidy's notable students included:

• Dudley Buck, American composer.^[8]
• Hans von Bülow, German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer.^[9]
• Frederic Hymen Cowen, British composer.^[10]
• Gustave Gagnon, Canadian organist and composer.^[11]
• Frederick Grant Gleason, American composer and director of the Chicago Conservatory.^[12]
• Edvard Grieg, Norwegian composer and pianist.^[5]
• Leoš Janáček, Czech composer.^[13]
• Michael Maybrick, English singer and composer.^[14]
• James Cutler Dunn Parker, American organist, educator and composer.^[15]
• Oscar Paul
• Julius Röntgen, German-Dutch composer.^[16]
• Ernst Rudorff, German composer.^[17]
• Samuel Sanford
• Gustav Schreck, German composer.^[18]
• Arthur Sullivan, English composer.^[19]
• Franklin Taylor, English pianist and piano pedagogue^[20]

Works

• Technische Studien: für das Pianofortespiel (in German). Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel. 1868.
• Der Klavierlehrer [The piano teacher] (in German). Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel. 1874.