Biography
My life with the Piano
"While I am writting these lines, I remember…
I was born in Paris in 1964.
My parents have given me an austere and original education prevailing the senses of responsability, consciensiousness, obedience, listenning to others, openness to the world and the art. The essential value for my father was that his daughter highly express all her potential, realises her life with freedom and autonomy developping authentic elite values. Eventually, he encouraged me and strongly pushed me to be what I was.
Thereby, this strict and exigent education has allowed me, even though I suffered, to do something with my existence.
Mrs Gadenne as a child
The study of Piano
I studied piano at 4 and a half years old with an individual teacher, Madame Cécile gardenne. She already was an old lady without children who had spend her life teaching to several generations of young girls the taste for piano, the sens of interpretation and the neceesary rigourness of everyday work.
She demanded me a lot of work with little encouragement. I exclusively studied classical music and the homework program was always heavy.
Fortunately, I was hardworking and had natural capacities, though – huge tourments- I had and still have small hands and total inpossibility to memorize music. I, who had an excellent memory and could quickly read music, was completly desperate and ashamed !
These insurmountable handicaps compromised any futur in music of excellence. That is why I played with what all my soul could offer and with rigor. On Mrs Gardenne advice, I often tried to enlarge my hands putting napkin rings between my fingers...in vain.
I learned around my ten years old that I was my teacher's favorite pupil. She, and her conductor husband, wanted me to inherit one of their piano after their death. It was up to me to choose which one among their instruments..
I was brought to the private sitting-room where pupils could not enter, and where was a wonderful satinwood Grand piano assorted with a delicate four-handed rattan wood brench. Huge. Majestic.The Beauty.
I did not hesitate for long...I wanted the black lacquered upright 1930 Pleyel piano on which I had studied ! As well as the bronze study lamp that, as a little girl, I was always intriguied by the tiny dazzling bulb ! And the swivel stool in metal and wood ! And the small chair of Mrs Gadenne always sitting beside the keyboard...
So it was done when my teacher left the earth. I also inherited her music sheets. I was 16 years old.
Since then, against all odds, these objects have not left me and are today berthed in my house in Aubusson.
Fifty years since then, I have understood that what I took for handicaps were only there to indicate that one day I should compose my own music, adaptated to my hand, improvising. And yet, how I used to love Chopin, Beethoven, Bach, Schubert ! How I went to the extasy of all the shades, the emotions and the forces !
My destiny took me off the music of the others after I played it a lot, loved it a lot. I had to quitt everything, leave everything, to be able to start my music, which represents my deep heart songs.
Since the time of transmission has arrived for me, I take over from my teacher, to accompany with sweetness and grace young pianist who wish to improve the essential joy of playing the piano"
Catherine Haguest
