Louis-Charles Ragué

1744 - 1793

A notable composer for and teacher of, the harp, Louis Charles was born in Namur in modern day Belgium but was in his time regarded as a French composer. Louis-Charles spent some nine years in Rome learning composition from Antonio Sacchini.

On his return to Namur he joined the court of the Bishop of Namur. He accompanied the Bishop on a visit to Frederick the Great. This clearly left some impression on him as he later dedicated a piece to the German King.

In terms of composition some of his best known works for for the harp and he also wrote a method for teaching the harp.

He moved to Paris in the mid 1780’s. During the Revolution he left Paris, but the fact that all biographical details vanish after 1793 hint that he may have been a victim of the Terror.

If your only experience to date of classical harp music then this should be a treat. In Ragué’s work the harp seems bolder and more prominent but interplays beautifully with the strings so sounds more like a quartet piece.

However he didn’t restrict himself to chamber music, writing two operas, a ballet, three symphonies and an oratorio.