Emilia Josephine Carriere Pothier (1842-93)

The close ties between New Orleans and France can be discerned in the music of Emilia Carrière. Born on 14 Oct. 1842 in Beaumont-du-Perigord (Dordogne, Aquitaine, France) Emilia Josephine Carrière Pothier moved to New Orleans with her parents, Antoine Carrière and Emma Marie de Cruzel (the daughter of a Marquis). Her father was a very successful merchant, which enabled her to amass a significant music collection. Four volumes survive at Tulane University, one with her married name on it, and she certainly owned more music. Emilia married Louis B. Pothier 1827-70 (born in Canada) in 1863. She lived in 819 Bourbon St. in the 1870s. She died on 18 Jan. 1893 and was buried in New Orleans,Saint Louis #2).

Emilia’s mother, Emma Marie (sometimes Marie Emma), was herself born in New Orleans in 1815. She later moved to Beaumont-du-Périgord, where she married Antoine Carrière in 1832.

Volume 42 of the Maxwell collection contains predominantly vocal music published in Paris or Mayence (Mainz), and later New Orleans and Boston. The composers in this volume typify the options found in French music stores, such as Clapisson, Henrion, Boieldieu, and Wekerlin. Volume 22, a variety of piano solos from American and European publishers, dates mostly from the 1850s. Large-scale opera arrangements, such as those by Ferdinand Beyer, appear alongside character pieces and elaborate dances. Volume 29 has a similar repertory as well as Beethoven’s Pathètique sonata (Heugel ed.). Volume 51 is imprinted with her married name and the date of 1866. Its contents resemble volume 22, with two opera transcriptions from Meyerbeer’s L’Africaine, but Emilia added a fantasia by local composer, Antonio Cardoza. The music dates from about 1859 to the time it was bound.