Jean Aimé Vernier

Jean Aimé Vernier, known as Vernier the younger to distinguish him from his father, was a French harpist and composer born in Paris on 16 August 1769. His date of death is unknown, although it is known that he was still alive after 1838. He belonged to a generation of Parisian musicians trained in the world of the harp, an instrument he mastered with remarkable ease and which would ultimately become the centre of his output.

He received his first training from his father, a harpist and mandolinist. His public career began almost as that of a child prodigy: at the age of eleven he performed a violin concerto at the Concert Spirituel, with some success, and the following year he played the harp in a quartet at that same institution. In 1789 he presented there a sonata for harp of his own composition. Between 1795 and 1813 he worked as a harpist at the Théâtre Feydeau and afterwards succeeded Dalimare at the Paris Opéra, where he remained until his retirement in 1838.

Vernier was admired as a harp virtuoso and as a teacher, but his extensive output, almost always written for the harp, has fallen practically into oblivion. His style suggests that he may have studied with F. J. Nadermann, although this is probably a hypothesis. There is also a problem of attribution: according to some sources, another Vernier, a native of Geneva who was also active in Paris, published pieces for piano and a romance, L'hermite, with his own text. His legacy today is of interest chiefly to scholars of the harp repertoire of the period.