Adam was born in Paris where his father Louis Adam (1758-1848) (born Johann Ludwig Adam in Muttersholtz, Alsace), a pianist and composer was professor at the Paris Conservatoire. His mother was the daughter of a physician. As a child, Adolphe Adam preferred to improvise music of his own rather than study music seriously. He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1821 where he studied organ and harmonium under François-Adrien Boïeldieu, also playing the triangle in the orchestra of the conservatoire in order to gain experience in rhythm and sight reading (many of his compositions exploit the use of the trinagle a great deal). However, he did not win the Grand Prix de Rome and his father did not encourage him to pursue a music as a career.
By the time he was 20, he was writing songs for Paris vaudeville houses and playing in the orchestra at the Gymnasie Dramatique, where he later became chorus master. Like many other French composers, he made a living largely by playing the organ.
In 1825, he helped Boïeldieu prepare parts for La dame blanche and made a piano reduction of the score. He was able to travel through Europe with the money he made, and he met Eugène Scribe, with whom he was later to collaborate, in Geneva. By 1830, he had completed 28 theater works.
France
adolphe-charles-adam
