Henriette Renié (; 18 September 1875 – 1 March 1956) was a French harpist and composer who is known for her many original compositions and transcriptions, as well as codifying a method for harp that is still used today. She was a musical prodigy who excelled in harp performance from a young age, advancing through her training rapidly and receiving several prestigious awards in her youth. She was an exceptional instructor and contributed to the success of many students. She gained prominence as a woman in an era where fame was socially unacceptable for women. Her devotion to her religion, her family, her students, and her music has continued to influence and inspire musicians for decades.
Early career
Before the age of five, Henriette played piano with her grandmother. Renié was inspired to learn the harp after she heard her father perform a concert in Nice featuring Alphonse Hasselmans, a prominent harpist. She became inspired by the music and she decided that she wanted to play the harp under the instruction of Hasselmans. She began playing when she was eight, but she was still too short to reach the harp's pedals, so her father invented extended foot pedals to assist her.
In 1885, she became a regular student at the Paris Conservatoire. At ten, she won the second prize in harp performance. The audience unanimously voted to give her first prize, but the director of the Conservatoire, Ambroise Thomas, suggested she not receive it, because that would consider her a professional and she would no longer be able to receive lessons at the Conservatoire. By age eleven, she won the Premier Prix. Her performance at the concours is largely regarded as one of the greatest performances in the history of the Conservatoire. At a young age, she began performing for many prominent figures such as Queen Henriette of Belgium, Princess Mathilde, and the Emperor of Brazil. At age twelve and following her success at the Conservatoire, students from all over Paris began seeking her out for lessons, many of them more than twice her age.
After her graduation at thirteen, an exception was made for her to take harmony classes at the Conservatoire, which did not normally allow students under fourteen in harmony and composition. In 1891, she won the Prix de Harmonie and in 1896 she won the Prix de Contrepoint Fugue et Composition. Her professors Théodore Dubois and Jules Massenet encouraged her to compose, but she was reluctant to attract attention; she hid Andante Religioso for six weeks before she showed it to them. At fifteen, Renié gave her first solo recital in Paris.
Late career
In 1901, Renié completed the Concerto in C minor that she had begun composing while at the Conservatoire. On the advice of Dubois, she showed it to Camille Chevillard, who scheduled it for several concerts. She made strides in the world of women in music during these concerts as she received the first applause directed towards a woman for both her performance and composition. These concerts established Renié, not only as a virtuoso, but as a composer, and helped establish the harp as a solo instrument, inspiring other composers such as Gabriel Pierné, Claude Debussy, and Maurice Ravel to write for harp.
In 1903, she composed a substantial harp solo called Légende, inspired by the poem "Les Elfes" by Leconte de Lisle. The same year, Renié presented eleven-year-old Marcel Grandjany to the Conservatoire, but Hasselmans denied him admittance; the next year, Grandjany was accepted as a student but not allowed to compete. This was due to the growing animosity that Hasselmans had for Renié as he realized his young female student was becoming greater than himself. At age thirteen, the first time he was permitted to enter the competition, Grandjany won the Premier Prix. Following his win, he enjoyed a long and successful career as he introduced the Renié method to the United States at the Juilliard School.
In 1912, Hasselmans and Renié were reconciled; he announced that he was physically unable to teach at the Conservatoire and wanted her to take his position, although no female professors were teaching advanced instrumental classes. However, the Conservatoire, as a governmental institution, required approval from the Ministry of Education for its appointments. During the French Third Republic, there was a movement to separate the church and the state and Renié vocally supported the Catholic Church. Thus, she was not hired and Marcel Tournier was given the position. Instead, she started an international competition in 1914, the "Concours Renié,". This included a significant sum of money along with the prize, and had notable musicians on the jury over the years, including Ravel, Grandjany, and Pierné.