Charles Lucien Lambert facts for kids
Charles Lucien Lambert, also known as Lucien Lambert, Sr., was a talented American musician. He was a pianist, music teacher, and composer. Lambert was born in New Orleans between 1828 and 1896. He was born a free person of color before the American Civil War. His family was well-known for their musical skills. Lambert himself became famous around the world for his amazing talent in music.
Early Life and Musical Beginnings
Charles Lucien Lambert was born in New Orleans. His father, Charles-Richard Lambert, was from New York. His mother was a free Creole woman of color. Their family loved music very much. In New Orleans, free people of color had more rights than free Black people in other places.
After his mother passed away, his father married Coralie Suzanne Orzy. She was also a free woman of color. Charles Lucien's half-brother, Sidney Lambert, was born in 1838. Both brothers grew up learning to be musicians together.
Family and Musical Legacy
Lambert married a French woman. Their son, Lucien-Léon Guillaume Lambert, was born in 1858. He also became a musician and composer. In fact, he became even more famous than his father! People sometimes called him Lucien Lambert fils (which means "son"). Because of this, it can be tricky to tell their musical works apart.
Lucien-Leon Lambert's music, along with that of violinist Edmond Dédé, is considered classic Romantic Creole music. Charles Lucien's brother, Sidney, also became a well-known pianist and composer. This shows how musical the Lambert family truly was!
A Career Across Continents
Because of unfair treatment in the United States, Lambert moved to France with his family in 1854. There, he continued his work as a composer and musician.
Later, around the 1860s, he moved his family to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was so well-known for French music there that some people thought he was a French musician! In Rio, Lambert owned a store that sold pianos and music. He also joined the Brazilian National Institute of Music.
In 1869, he met Louis Moreau Gottschalk. Gottschalk was another famous French Creole musician whom Lambert knew from New Orleans. Both Lambert and his son Lucien played in one of Gottschalk's huge musical pieces. This piece needed 31 pianists to play together! One of Lambert's notable students was the famous musician Ernesto Nazareth.
Lambert passed away in Rio. His works are sometimes confused with those of his son, as he was sometimes called Lucien Lambert père (meaning "father"). Many of his musical compositions are kept safe at the National Library of Paris.
