Antoine Mariotte
Antoine Mariotte, born in Avignon (Vaucluse) on 22 December 1875 and died in Izieux, (Loire) on 30 November 1944 was a French composer, conductor and music administrator.
Biography
After studies at the School of Saint-Michel in Saint-Étienne, he entered naval school aged 15.
In 1894, while on the frigate Iphigénie, he wrote to a friend : « I miss music : vois-tu, si j'avais eu de la fortune, je serais allé au Conservatoire. » Split between the life of a sailor and music, he worked on harmony. He took part in campaigns onboard the Forfait in the China seas, then on the Vinh-Long, where he witnessed the closing stages of the sino-japonese war. He brought back sketches which became a suite Kakimonos, initially written for the piano, but later orchestrated and performed at the Concerts Poulet on 29 January 1923 (Panorama, Geishas, Temple au Crépuscule, Fête).[1]
In the Far East he read the Oscar Wilde play Salome, and decided to set it to music. On return to Europe, he sailed on the Marceau then the Magenta where finally, thanks to the Admiral Gervais, he had a piano. On six months leave he followed a course at the Conservatoire by Charles-Marie Widor. After prolonging his absence, he resigned from the navy in 1897. He entered the Schola Cantorum where he was taught by Vincent d'Indy who found him work as a pianist at the home of the comte de Chambrun, to whom he played each day for preceisely 60 minutes, in particular the 32 sonatas of Beethoven in chronological order.
Due to his mother's health, he went back to Saint-Etienne and taught piano, and became an organist, also directing the symphonic society; he also wrote an opérette Armande. Appointed professor of piano at the Lyon Conservatoire he completed the score of Salomé, believing himself to have the rights from Wilde's estate and the publisher Methuen. In fact, having obtained the agreement for the play, Richard Strauss had in turn asked his publisher Fürster to acquire the rights. Wilde's particularly complicated estate led to a court case which favoured the rights of Fürster. Mariotte learnt that Fürster would oppose the production of a « Salomé française » and after going to Berlin, he obtained permission to have his piece staged, on condition that 40% royalties went to Richard Strauss and 10% to Fürster, with the all scores to be sent after the season to Fürster to be destroyed. Romain Rolland, having read an article by Mariotte in the Revue internationale de musique, helped him to obtain a more generous settlement from Strauss. On 30 October 1908, Mariotte's opera was produced at the Grand-Théâtre de Lyon with success, and put on in 1910 at the Gaîté-Lyrique in Paris, while Salomé by Strauss was on at the Opéra. After having been performed at Nancy, Havre, Marseille, Geneva, and Prague, Salomé by Mariotte was seen at the Opéra on 1 July 1919 with Lucienne Bréval.
During the war Mariotte was sent to Salonica where he contracted malaria. After the end of the war, in 1920 he became director of the Conservatoire d'Orléans where he taught René Berthelot, who succeeded him. He led the direction of the Opéra-Comique from 1936 to 1939.
Compositions
On 28 February 1913 he presented in Lyon a tragedie lyrique, le Vieux Roi on a libretto by Rémy de Gourmont, which, despite a successful launch, failed after its third performance.
Nele Dooryn, is an opéra comique given performances in 1940, Léontine sœurs, a comedie musicale played at the Theatre Trianon in 1924. Esther, princesse d'Israêl, a three-act tragedie lyrique after André Dumas and Sébastien-Charles Leconte was created at the Opéra on 28 April 1925, Gargantua ('scenes rabelaisiennes in 4 acts) was seen at the Opéra Comique on 15 February 1935 and revived in 1938.[2]
In 1930 he wrote a Cantate pour le centenaire de la Conquête de l'Algérie played with enthusiasm in Algiers.
In 1934, came the Impressions Urbaines for piano and played by Édouard Risler en 1921, which gained much in the form of symphonic poem. There was also a Paysage Maritime - a « sketch for harp and orchestra », part of an unfinished sea symphony, a sonata for piano and some songs.
Bibliographie
- A. Payre, Antoine Mariotte, Saint-Étienne, Les Amitiés, avril 1935
- Gustave Samazeuilh, Musique et Radio, juin 1951
- A. Thomazi, Trois marins compositeurs, Roussel, Mariotte, Jean Cras, Paris, Imprimerie Bellemand, 1948