Claude Terrace

Claude Terrace

Claude Terrasse (born January 27, 1867 in L'Arbresle , † June 30, 1923 in Paris ) was a French operetta composer.

Terrasse studied at the Lyon Conservatory. There he led a cornetist group that performed with the orchestra of the city's Grand-Théâtre . He had lessons in harmony with Alexandre Luigini and organ lessons with Paul Trillat . He later studied at the École Niedermeyer with Alexandre Georges and Eugène Gigout . Here he also met Charles Bonnard , the brother of the painter Pierre Bonnard , whose sister Andrée he married in 1890.

He initially worked as a piano teacher in Arcachon and performed as a pianist with his wife in various chamber music formations. During this time he wrote his Petit scènes familières for piano, which were published with illustrations by his brother-in-law Pierre Bonnard. In 1896 he was appointed organist at the organ in La Trinité in Paris. Here he became known in the Parisian avant-garde as the composer of incidental music for Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi . In the vicinity of the Théâtre des Pantins , a puppet theater, he worked with Jarry, Franc-Nohain , AF Herold and the painters of the Les Nabis group.

1900 began his career as an operetta composer with La Petite Femme de Loth based on a libretto by Tristan Bernard . He had his first major success the following year with Les Travaux d'Hercule after Robert de Flers and Gaston Arman de Caillavet . His most important librettist was Georges Courteline .

Operetta parodies composed terrace u. a. based on texts by his friends Franc-Nohain and AF Herold, Jarry also wrote a libretto for him with Eugène Demolder . With La Mariage de Télémaque (after Jules Lemaître and Maurice Donnay ) he found its way into the Paris Opéra-Comique in 1910 . In total, Terrasse composed almost thirty operettas.

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• Claude Terrasse (French)