Charles-Joseph Tolbecque

Charles-Joseph Tolbecque was a French violinist, conductor and composer, born and died in Paris, between 1806 and 1835. He belonged to a family of musicians, being the brother of Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Tolbecque, and his career places him within Parisian musical life in the first half of the nineteenth century.

He studied the violin at the Paris Conservatoire with Kreutzer, and in 1823 won the institution's first prize for violin. He then joined the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire. In 1830 he was appointed conductor at the Théâtre des Variétés, where he composed songs and incidental music for the house's productions.

His premature death, at the age of twenty-nine, cut short a career that had barely begun to become established. Today he is remembered chiefly as part of the circle formed around the Conservatoire and the theatres of the French capital.