After studying piano with his father, Herz was able to study at the Paris Conservatoire with Pradher and Reicha and chose to follow the stylings of Moscheles. Herz was one of the most lauded and venerated concert pianists and composers for the piano of the mid-nineteenth century. Together with Liszt, Thalberg, Chopin, Czerny and Pixis, he composed pieces for a compilation entitled the "Haxameron" for a charity concert in Paris. (Hexameral literature deals with the six days of creation in the Judeo-Christian tradition. The play on the number six is clear but whether they presumed creativity is purely conjecture.) Herz took a number of extended concert tours and his travels included Belgium, Spain, Holland, Spain, Poland, Russia and the United States. He became interested in piano building and had holdings in a factory that wrecked him financially. Building a factory of his own, his piano's were highly praised. Though his compositions were often elegant they were criticized by younger musicians like Schumann as non-substantive. Finger exercise written by Herz, however, are still thought to be meritorious. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi