Ignace Leybach
Ignace Xavier Joseph Leybach (17 July 1817 in Gambsheim, Alsace – 23 May 1891 in Toulouse) was a teacher, pianist and organist, and a composer of salon piano music.
He had his early training as an organist with Joseph (?) Wackenthaler, the organist and maître de chapelle of the cathedral of Strasbourg, and then was a pupil in Paris of Friedrich Kalkbrenner and of Chopin. He was a famous pianist in his time, but is largely remembered for a single piece, his Fifth Nocturne, Op. 52, number 5, for solo piano; it is still in print. His Fantasie elegante improvised on familiar themes from Gounod's Faust.
From 1844 he was organist at the cathédrale Saint-Étienne, Toulouse, succeeding Justin Cadaux. He published a three-volume method for the organ for which he also wrote about 350 pieces. Leybach also wrote motets and liturgical music.
References
- Oscar Thompson Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, 1949: Ignace Leybach
- "Théophile Gautier, sa famille et la musique" note 18.