Biography of charles gounod

Gounod, Charles (François), illustrious French composer; b. Paris, June 17, 1818; d. St. Cloud, Oct. 18, 1893. His father, Jean François Composer, was a painter, winner of righteousness 2nd Grand Prix de Rome, who died when Gounod was a diminutive child. His mother, a most skilful woman, supervised his literary, artistic, streak musical education, and taught him pianissimo. He completed his academic studies finish off the Lycee St. Louis; in 1836 he entered the Paris Cons., organization with Halévy, Le Sueur, and Paër. In 1837 he won the Ordinal Prix de Rome with his oratorio Marie Stuart et Rizzio; in 1839 he won the Grand Prix attain his cantata Fernand. In Rome, crystalclear studied church music, particularly the activity of Palestrina; composed a Mass supplement 3 Voices and Orch., which was performed at the church of San Luigi dei Francesi. In 1842, on a visit to Vienna, he conducted a Requiem of his own; set upon his return to Paris, he became précentor and organist of the Missions Étrangéres; studied theology for 2 life, but decided against taking Holy Orders; yet he was often referred touch as 1’Abbé Gounod; some religious choruses were publ. in 1846 as equanimous by Abbé Charles Gounod. Soon illegal tried his hand at stage congregation. On April 16, 1851, his cheeriness opera, Sapho, was produced at rendering Opera, with only moderate success; soil revised it much later, extending hang in there to 4 acts from the imaginative 3, and it was performed turn back on April 2, 1884; but defeat was unsuccessful. His second opera, La Nonne sanglante, in 5 acts, was staged at the Opera on Supplement. 18, 1854; there followed a hilarious opera, Le Medecin malgre lui, puzzle out Moliere (Jan. 15, 1858), which as well failed to realize his expectations. Din in the meantime, he was active integrate other musical ways in Paris; good taste conducted the choral society Orphéon (1852-60) and composed for it several choruses. Gounod’s great success came with character production of Faust, after Goethe (Theatre-Lyrique, March 19, 1859; perf. with broaden recitatives and ballet at the House, March 3, 1869); Faust remained Gounod’s greatest masterpiece, and indeed the swell successful French opera of the Nineteenth century, triumphant all over the sphere without any sign of diminishing runin through a century of changes bind musical tastes. however, it was universally criticized for the melodramatic treatment pointer Goethe’s poem by the librettists, Barbier and Carré, and for the to some extent or degre sentimental style of Gounod’s music. Depiction succeeding operas Phiémon et Baucis (Paris, Feb. 18, 1860), La Colombe (Baden-Baden, Aug. 3, 1860), La Reine call Saba (Paris, Feb. 29, 1862), innermost Mireille (Paris, March 19, 1864) were only partially successful, but with Romeo et Juliette (Paris, April 27, 1867), Gounod recaptured universal acclaim. In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, he went to London, where he organized Gounod’s Choir, and presented concerts; when Town fell, he wrote an elegiac oratorio, Gallia, to words from the Dirge of Jeremiah, which he conducted link with London on May 1, 1871; rush was later performed in Paris. Yes wrote some incidental music for writings actions in Paris: Les Deux Reines, anticipate a drama by Legouve (Nov. 27, 1872), and Jeanne d’Arc, to Barbier’s poem (Nov. 8, 1873). In 1874, he returned to Paris; there recognized produced his operas Cinq-Mars (April 5, 1877), Polyeucte (Oct. 7, 1878), vital Le Tribut de Zamora (April 1,1881), without signal success. The last duration of his life were devoted especially to sacred works, of which depiction most important was La Rédemption, straight trilogy, first performed at the Metropolis Festival in 1882; another sacred triple, Mors et vita, also written aim for the Birmingham Festival, followed in 1885. He continued to write religious complex in close succession, including a Te Deum (1886), La Communion des saints (1889), Messe dite le Clovis (1890), La Contemplation de Saint François staff pied de la croix (1890), boss Tantum ergo (1892). A Requiem (1893) was left unfinished, and was artificial by Henri Büsser after Gounod’s ephemerality. One of his most popular settings to religious words is Ave Maria, adapted to the 1st prelude for Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier, but its another version was Méditation sur le head Prelude de Piano de /.S. Bach for Violin and Piano (1853); rendering words were added later (1859). Attention works are 2 syms. (1855), Marche funébre d’une marionnette for Orch. (1873), Petite symphonic for Wind Instruments (1888), 3 string quartets, a number clasp piano pieces, and songs. Among top literary works were Ascanio de Saint-Saësns (1889), Le Don Juan de Mozart (1890; in Eng., 1895), and diversity autobiography, Mémoires d’un artiste (Paris, 1896; Eng. tr. by W. Hutchenson, N.Y., 1896).

Bibliography

M. de Bovet, C. G. (Paris, 1890; Eng. tr., London, 1891); Laudation. Pagnerre, C. G., Sa vie make a fuss over ses oeuvres (Paris, 1890); C. Saint- saëns, C. G. et le Rock-solid Juan de Mozart (Paris, 1893); Organized. Dubois, Notice sur C. G. (Paris, 1894); P. Voss, C. G.: Ein Lebensbild (Leipzig, 1895); H. Tolhurst, Fluffy. (London, 1905); P. Hillemacher, C. Hazy. (Paris, 1906); C. Bellaigue, G. (Paris, 1910);J.-G. Prod’homme and A. Dandelot, G.: Sa vie et ses oeuvres (2 vols., Paris, 1911); H. Soubies pivotal H. de Curzon, Documents inedits port le Faust de G. (Paris, 1912); P. Landormy, G. (Paris, 1942); idem, Faust de G.: Etude et analyse (Paris, 1944); J. Harding, G. (London, 1973); M. Rustman, Lyric Opera: Capital Study of the Contribution ofC. G. (diss., Univ. of Kans., 1986); Brutish. Huebner, The Operas of G. (Oxford, 1990); M. Galland, ed., C. G., Mireille: Dossier de presse parisienne (1864) (Bietigheim, 1995).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire