Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny
Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny , (born October 17, 1729 in Fauquembergues , near Saint-Omer , † January 14, 1817 in Paris ), was a French composer whose main importance is in the field of opéra-comique .
Life
Monsigny was of aristocratic descent and received his training at the Jesuit college of Saint-Omer , he had additional music lessons from the Carilloneur of the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Bertin . In 1749, on recommendation, he received a position in the administration of the general takers of the French clergy in Paris. Since his father died early, he had to contribute to the livelihood of his family. From 1752 Monsigny took composition lessons from Pietro Gianotti and a double bass player in the opera, after which he wrote several successful opéras comiques . In 1768 he was able to acquire the position of steward of the Duke of Orléans and composed other operas. Alongside Grétry and François-André Danican Philidor, he is considered to be one of the pioneers of this then new genre.
After 1777 Monsigny did not compose any more operas. He married Amélie de Villemagne in 1784 and received the lucrative post of inspector general of the canal system. The French Revolution in 1794 deprived him of office and property. It was not until 1798 that the Opéra-Comique paid him an annual pension of 2,400 livres.
On May 21, 1800, he followed Niccolò Piccini as teaching inspector at the Paris Conservatory , alongside François-Joseph Gossec , Étienne-Nicolas Méhul , Jean-François Lesueur , Luigi Cherubini and Jean-Paul-Égide Martini . During the restructuring of the conservatory, he was dismissed in 1802. In 1804 he became a knight of the Legion of Honor and followed Grétry in 1813 to the Académie des beaux-arts . In 1816 he was accepted into the Order of Michael . His health deteriorated visibly, Monsigny had been blind for the last two years of his life.
Works
- Les Aveux indiscrets (1759)
- Le Maître en droit (1760)
- On ne s'avise jamais de tout (1761)
- Le Cadi dupé (1761)
- Le Roi et le Fermier (1762)
- Le Nouveau monde (1763)
- Rose et Colas (1764)
- Aline, pure de Golconde (1766)
- Philémon et Baucis (1767)
- L'Île sonnante (1768)
- Le Déserteur (1769)
- Le Faucon (1772)
- La Belle Arsène (1773)
- Félix ou l'Enfant trouvé (1777)
literature
- Alfred Baumgartner: Propylaea World of Music - The Composers - A lexicon in five volumes . Propylaen Verlag, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-549-07830-7 , pp. 69/70, volume 4 .
Web links
- Curriculum vitae on the Musica et Memoria website
- List of stage works by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny based on the MGG at Operone
- Sheet music and audio files by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny in the International Music Score Library Project
- Opera works with performance dates by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny in the DFG opera project
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Clive Unger-Hamilton, Neil Fairbairn, Derek Walters; German arrangement: Christian Barth, Holger Fliessbach, Horst Leuchtmann, et al .: The music - 1000 years of illustrated music history . Unipart-Verlag, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-8122-0132-1 , p. 89 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Monsigny, Pierre-Alexandre |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French opera composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 17, 1729 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Fauquembergues at Saint-Omer |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 14, 1817 |
| Place of death | Paris |