Gustave Charpentier

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Gustave Charpentier
Louise
Plaque on 66 Boulevard de Rochechouart in Paris

Gustave Charpentier (born June 25, 1860 in Dieuze , Moselle department , † February 18, 1956 in Paris ) was a French composer .

Life

Childhood and time in Tourcoing and Lille 1860 to 1880

Gustave Charpentier's father, a baker by trade, was an amateur musician and played the violin, horn and flute in his spare time. Therefore Charpentier received his first music lessons as a child. In 1870 he fled with his family from his hometown in Lorraine before the approaching Germans to Tourcoing . At the age of 11 he received his first formal violin lessons from Maestro Stappen. After five months he was already playing in the municipal orchestra. The repertoire included Fidelio , Rienzi , Orfeo and L'Etoile du Nord . From 1875 he worked in a knitting mill. He worked his way up from weaver to accountant. In his free time he played the violin and the clarinet and, with the support of musicians from the local orchestra, organized an instrumental ensemble among the workers, with which he organized Sérénades d'Orchestre , which were widely recognized. This time also justified his interest in the musical education of all social classes. He gave violin lessons to his employer Albert Lorthiois. In return, this enabled him to attend the conservatory in Lille . Here he was taught by the violinist M. Martin and in harmony by M. Lecoq. After a few months he received a Prix ​​d'honneur. After his efforts to obtain a state scholarship for the Paris Conservatory initially failed in 1878 , the City Council of Tourcoing promoted him at Lorthioi's instigation with a one-year scholarship to study at the Paris Conservatory.

First years in Paris up to the Julien Opera from 1880 to 1913

In 1881 he moved to Montmartre with his mother . At the Conservatory he studied violin with Lambert Joseph Massart and harmony with Émile Pessard . He had a reputation for not doing his studies seriously enough, and repeated jokes and pranks are said to have led to a falling out with Massart. This certified that he had no future as a musician and prompted his resignation from the conservatory. After a short time in the military and as a violinist touring the provinces, he was accepted again at the Conservatory in 1885, this time with a more serious disposition. His composition teacher Jules Massenet became his friend and mentor.

In 1887 he received the Prix ​​de Rome for the cantata Didon . He stayed in Rome from January 1888 to June 1890. His most important works were created in the Villa Medici , especially the opera Louise , which in 1900 brought him a sensational success after years of hardship. The socially critical “musical novel” about the poor seamstress Louise in the city of Paris was an atmospheric, specifically French contribution to the dawning of verism . In 1900 Charpentier was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor . He also transferred his social commitment to other areas. In 1902 he founded the Conservatoire Populaire Mimi Pinson, which made musical education possible for large sections of the population. He persuaded respected music professors to teach young working women singing, piano, harp, dance and choral singing. With regular concerts both in Paris and in the provinces, which were often linked to a good cause, he gave them a stage in public. By 1914, his conservatory had developed into one of the most successful and long-lasting musical institutions of the pre-war period. In 1912 Gustave Charpentier was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts as the successor to Jules Massenet .

At that time, however, he had already passed the zenith of his composing career. He was unable to build on Louise's success in 1913 with his opera Julien, which was intended as a sequel . The work planned as probably the second work in a trilogy was not followed by a sequel.

Late 1914 to 1956

Soon after, Charpentier fell silent as a composer. Instead, he devoted himself to organizing and staging concerts and worked as a music critic. He was interested in the technical innovations of his time such as gramophone, radio and film. In 1922 he became an officer and in 1930 commander of the Legion of Honor. In 1939 he took part in a film version of his opera Louise of film pioneer Abel Gance with . After the Second World War he withdrew from the public eye and lived alone in Paris until his death.

Gustave Charpentier died at the age of 95 and was buried in the Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise in Paris .

Reception and commemoration

In Paris, the Conservatoire Municipal Gustave Charpentier is named after him.

Works (selection)

Orchestral works

  • Impressions d'Italie . Symphonic Suite (composed between 1887 and 1889, published by Heugel in 1892). I. Serenade II. A la Fontaine III. A Mules IV. Sur les cimes V. Napoli. The work was recorded in 1957 by L'Orchestre De La Société Des Concerts Du Conservatoire De Paris under the direction of Albert Wolff on the Decca Records label and in 1967 by the Orchester Théâtre National de l ' Opéra-Comique under Pierre Dervaux on the EMI label . Charpentier himself played sentences from it, which appeared on several shellac records , on the Columbia Records label . In 2011, a new recording with the Brussels Philharmonic , conducted by Hervé Niquet, was released on CD with the book Gustave Charpentiere et le prix de Rome on the Glossa label.
  • Orchestral Suite No. 2, manuscript destroyed by fire
  • Munich . Symphonic poem (1911)

Vocal works

  • Didon . Lyric scene (1887 by Heugel) Text: Augé de Lassus (1841–1914). Charpentier won the Prix ​​de Rome in 1887 with the composition he dedicated to Jules Massenet . The work was released on November 1, 2011 as a recording with the Flemish Radio Choir and Brussels Philharmonic under the direction of Hervé Niquet on CD with book Gustave Charpentiere et le prix de Rome on the Glossa label. The soloists were the sopranos Manon Feubel and Sabine Devieilhe and the Swiss tenor Bernard Richter .
  • La vie du poète . Symphonic drama for solo voices, choir and orchestra (composed between 1888 and 1889, completed in January 1889; first performance: 1892), published by Paul de Choudens . Text: Gustave Charpentier. The work appeared on the CD with the book Gustave Charpentiere et le prix de Rome.
  • La chanson du chemin for soprano, tenor, female voices and piano (1893)
  • Poèmes chantés, songs for voice and piano ( published by Heugel in 1894): I La Petite frileuse, text: JL Guez (1885) II Priére [prayer], text: Émile Blémont (1888) III A une fille de Capri , text: L . Puech (1889) IV Chanson automne, text: Paul Verlaine (1890) V La Cloche félée , text: Charles Baudelaire (1890) VI Complainte , text: Camille Mauclair (1893) VII Les Trois Sorciéres, text: Camille Mauclair (1893) VIII La Musique , text: Charles Baudelaire (1894)
  • Poèmes chantés, songs for voice and orchestra ( 1894) IA mules, text: Joseph Méry . Transcribed from scene no.3 of Impressions d'Italie for baritone and female choir (1893) II Parfum exotique, text: Charles Baudelaire, for tenor or soprano and small female choir (1893) III La Chanson du Chemin, text: Charles Baudelaire, duo for tenor or soprano and small female choir (1893) IV Les Chevaux de Bois, text: Paul Verlaine (1893) V Allegory text: G. Vanor, for soprano or tenor and small female choir (1894)
  • Impressions fausses for baritone, male voices and orchestra (1894), text: Paul Verlaine I La veilée rouge for baritone and male choir (1894) II La Ronde des Compagnons for baritone and male choir (1894)
  • Les fleurs du mal for voice and piano (published by Heugel in 1895) Text: Charles Baudelaire. I Les Yex de Berthe (1895) II Le jet d'eau (1895) also as an orchestral version III La Mort des amants (1895) IV L'Invitation au voyage (1895)
  • Sérénade à Watteau for solo voices, choir and orchestra (first performance: 1896, published by Heugel), text: Paul Verlaine. The world premiere took place in the Jardin du Luxembourg for the inauguration of the Antoine Watteau monument there .
  • Le couronnement de la muse for solo voices, choir and orchestra (first performance in June 1897 at the Nouveau Théâtre in Paris)
  • Le chant d'apothéose for solo voices, choir and orchestra (1902). Text: Saint-Georges de Bouhélier . Performed on the 100th birthday of Victor Hugo
  • Triptyque (1913) I L'amour au Faubourg II Commediante III Tragediante (unpublished)
  • La vie féerique . Film scenes for voice and orchestra (after 1913)
  • numerous individual songs

Operas

  • Louise (1888-1897). Roman musical (opera). Libretto : Gustave Charpentier. Premiere in 1900 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris
  • Julien ou La vie du poète . Poème lyrique (opera). Libretto: Gustave Charpentier. Premiere in 1913 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris
  • L'Amour au faubourg (1910-1913; fragment). Drame lyrique (opera). Libretto: Gustave Charpentier. - Later working title: Duthoit. Epopée popular
  • Orphée . Légende lyrique (opera) in 4 acts (probably 2 of them set to music). Libretto: Gustave Charpentier
  • Eros (fragment)
  • Julie (fragment)

literature

  • Kathleen O'Donnell Hoover: Gustave Charpentier. In: The Musical Quarterly Vol. 25, No. 3, July 1939, pp. 334-350, JSTOR 738749 (English).
  • Mary Ellen Poole: Gustave Charpentier and the Conservatoire Populaire de Mimi Pinson. In: 19th-Century Music, Vol. 20, No. 3, (1997), pp. 231-252, JSTOR 746863 (English).
  • Herbert Schneider:  Charpentier, Gustave. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 4 (Camarella - Couture). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2000, ISBN 3-7618-1114-4  ( online edition , subscription required for full access)

Web links

Commons : Gustave Charpentier  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Kathleen O'Donnell Hoover: Gustave Charpentier . In: The Musical Quarterly . tape 25 , no. 3 , July 1939, ISSN  0027-4631 , p. 334-350 , JSTOR : 738749 (English).
  2. ↑ a b c d e Ruth Iona Foley: The songs of Gustave Charpentier . Ed .: University of Nebraska. Lincoln 2000 (English, proquest.com ).
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Don Michael Randel: The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music . The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts; London 1996, ISBN 0-674-37299-9 , Charpentier, Gustave, pp. 153 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed October 15, 2019]).
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g Gustave Charpentier at Allmusic (English)
  5. ^ Mary Ellen Poole: Gustave Charpentier and the Conservatoire Populaire de Mimi Pinson . In: 19th-Century Music . tape 20 , no. 3 , 1997, ISSN  0148-2076 , p. 231-252 , doi : 10.2307 / 746863 , JSTOR : 746863 (English).
  6. ^ Louise (1939) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  7. ^ Review of Louise . In: The Modern Language Journal . tape 24 , no. 7 , April 7, 1940, pp. 545-545 , doi : 10.2307 / 316482 , JSTOR : 316482 (English).
  8. ↑ knerger.de: The grave of Gustave Charpentier
personal data
SURNAME Charpentier, Gustave
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French composer
DATE OF BIRTH June 25, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Dieuze , Moselle department , France
DATE OF DEATH February 18, 1956
Place of death Paris , France