Charles Moïse Léon Salzedo (6 April 1885 – 17 August 1961) was a French harpist, pianist, composer and conductor.

After being drafted into the French Army during World War I, Salzedo returned to the United States and continued touring with the trio.

The family then moved to Bordeaux and a Basque woman, Marthe Tatibouet Bidebérripé, was hired to care for and help raise the children.

[5] Léon-Charles, having begun playing piano by the age of three, wrote his first composition, a polka called Moustique (Mosquito), which was published when he was just five years old.

At seven, he entered the St. Cecilia School of Music of Bordeaux, where he won first prize in piano and solfège three years later, after which the family moved to Paris.

While a student, Salzedo freelanced as second harpist in the Orchestre Lamoureux as well as the orchestras of the Olympia theater and the Folies Bergère.

[8] The director of the Conservatoire, Gabriel Fauré, approved Salzedo for a counterpoint class after he wrote a Bach fugue from memory.

He made his Paris recital debut at age 18 as a harpist and pianist, in 1903, for which occasion he decided to change his name to Carlos from Léon-Charles Moise.

About this time, a stroke paralyzed Gaston Salzedo, who handed over his position as synagogue music director to young Carlos.

[10] In 1909, Arturo Toscanini invited Salzedo, via an agent, to play in the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, and so Carlos left France for the United States of America, not knowing any English.

[13] After resigning from his position at the opera in 1913,[14] Salzedo formed the "Trio de Lutèce" with Georges Barrère on flute and Paul Kéfer on cello, which toured extensively in the United States.

When World War I began, they moved to Menthon-Saint-Bernard (in the Rhône-Alpes region) to have more time together, but Salzedo was soon drafted into the French Army.

He had a sympathetic leader, and was able to organize them into a performing group that sang for soldiers and toured hospitals, for which he arranged traditional French folk songs.

In order to get passports (which had not been necessary in 1914) to leave France, Salzedo and Mimine had to prove their identities by marrying a second time in Paris in August 1915.

He counted among his musical friends Edgard Varèse, Josef Hoffmann, Leopold Stokowski and Ossip Gabrilowitsch.

[27] Salzedo was involved in many arenas, including the burgeoning "new music" circles in New York, where he co-founded the International Composers Guild with Edgard Varèse in 1921.

[40] Mariette Bitter described his charisma as a teacher: "He could bewitch a young harpist with his charm and understanding inside of a half hour, even though she knew and felt his iron will was lurking underneath.

Square notes indicate that the harpist should press on the string with one hand and pluck with the other, giving it a sound like a xylophone.

Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge commissioned Salzedo to write a piece for harp and chamber orchestra; Preamble et Jeux premiered in 1929.

[54] In The New York Times, Henry Prunières said the work had "extraordinary refinement, delicate explorations in sonority, and nice balancing in timbre" while Herman Devries, writing for the Chicago American wrote it was "just another of those modern things.

"[55] In 1932, Salzedo arranged Manuel de Falla's Seven Popular Songs for two harps and voice, specifically for Nina Kochetz to sing with.

[56] Using the note-alphabet correspondence he developed for Olga's name piece, Salzedo composed songs for his students as wedding presents.

[59] On 28 March 1982, Jennifer Hoult performed the world premiere of the concerto with the American Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Charles Barker.

"[61] They had an amicable divorce in 1926, remaining lifelong friends,[62] and in 1928 Salzedo married Lucile Lawrence, a student of his for the past ten years who had developed into a virtuoso player.

[65] Owens writes that Salzedo constantly appeared in public with a young woman, often a favorite student, and that "it was simply a matter of fact that he was a 'faithless husband.

[67] Salzedo died on 17 August 1961 in Waterville, Maine, at the age of 76, while adjudicating Metropolitan Opera regional auditions[68] at Bates College.

[74] Other works to include Salzedo's techniques are Variations for Orchestra by Elliott Carter and Alberto Ginastera's Harp Concerto.

[75] Sergei Prokofiev, Darius Milhaud, Anton Webern, Paul Hindemith, and Ernst Krenek all wrote for the harp in ways that used Salzedo's techniques.

Luciano Berio, Jose Serebier, Richard Felciano, and Robert Capanna used special symbols for harp techniques, with some similar or identical to Salzedo's.

A brief list of some of the most notable students of Salzedo includes Florence Wightman, Casper Reardon, Lucile Lawrence, Sylvia Meyer, Edna Phillips, Alice Chalifoux, Lynne Wainwright Palmer, Reinhardt Elster, Marjorie Tyre, Edward Druzinsky, Beatrice Schroeder Rose, Marilyn Costello, Margarita Montanaro, Judy Loman, and Heidi Lehwalder.