Biography
Franciszek Lessel (1780 – December 26, 1838) was a Polish composer.
Lessel was born in Puławy, Poland. His father, Wincenty Ferdynand Lessel, was a pianist and composer of Czech origin who served as his first teacher.
Read full biography ↓
In 1799 Franciszek Lessel went to study with Joseph Haydn and continued to do so until Haydn's death.
Lessel worked as a court musician, headed Warsaw's Amateur Music Society, and gave lessons on how to play the glass harmonica. In later life he largely had non-musical administrative and inspector jobs. He died in Piotrków Trybunalski.
His Grand Trio for Clarinet, Horn, and Piano, Op. 4 (1806) is notable for its contribution to this ensemble instrumentation. Among his most noted pieces is Fantaisie in E minor, which was dedicated to Cecylia Beydale. Bedayle was for a time his lover, until they discovered they had the same mother.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.