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AUBER, DANIEL FRANCOIS ESPRIT (1782-1...

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 889 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AUBER, See also:DANIEL See also:FRANCOIS ESPRIT (1782-1871) , See also:French musical composer, the son of a See also:Paris printseller, was See also:born at See also:Caen in See also:Normandy on the 29th of See also:January 1782. Destined by his See also:father to the pursuits of See also:trade, he was allowed, nevertheless, to indulge his fondness for See also:music, and learnt to See also:play at an See also:early See also:age on several See also:instruments, his first teacher being the Tirolean composer, I. A. Ladurner. Sent at the age of twenty to See also:London to See also:complete his business training, he was obliged to leave See also:England in consequence of the See also:breach of the treaty of See also:Amiens (1804). He had already attempted musical See also:composition, and at this See also:period produced several concertos pour basse, in the manner of the violoncellist, Lamarre, in whose name they were published. The praise given to his See also:concerto for the See also:violin, which was played at the See also:Conservatoire by Mazas, encouraged him to undertake the resetting of the old comic See also:opera, Julie (181I). Conscious by this See also:time of the need of See also:regular study of his chosen See also:art, he placed himself under the severe training of See also:Cherubini, by which the See also:special qualities of the See also:young composer were admirably See also:developed. In 1813 he made his debut in an opera in one See also:act, the Sejour militaire, the unfavourable reception of which put an end for some years to his attempts as composer. But the failure in business and See also:death of his father, in 1819, compelled him once more to turn to music, and to make that which had been his pastime the serious employment of his See also:life. He produced another opera, the Testament et See also:les billets-doux (1819), which was no better received than the former. But he persevered, and the next See also:year was rewarded by the complete success of his Bergere See also:chatelaine, an opera in three acts.

This was the first in a See also:

long See also:series of brilliant successes: In 1822 began his long association with A. E. See also:Scribe, who shared with him, as librettist, the success and growing popularity of his compositions. The opera of See also:Leicester, in which they first worked together (1823), is remark-able also as showing evidences of the See also:influence of See also:Rossini. But his own See also:style was an individual one, marked by lightness and facility, sparkling vivacity, See also:grace and elegance, clear and piquant melody—characteristically French. In La Muette de See also:Portici, familiarly known as See also:Masaniello, Auber achieved his greatest musical See also:triumph. Produced at Paris in 1828, it rapidly became a See also:European favourite, and its See also:overture, songs and choruses were everywhere heard. The See also:duet, " Amour sacre de la patrie," was welcomed like a new Marseillaise; sung by Nourrit at See also:Brussels in 183o, it became the See also:signal for the revolution which See also:broke out there. Of Auber's remaining operas (about 50 in all) the more important are: Le See also:Macon (1825), La Fiancee (1829), Fra See also:Diavolo (183o), Lestocq (1834), Le Cheval de See also:bronze (1835), L'Ambassadrice (1836), Le Domino noir (1837), Le See also:Lac See also:des fees (1839), Les Diamants de la couronne (1841), Haydee (1847), Marco Spada (1853), Manon Lescaut (1856), and La Fiancee du roi des Garbes (1864). See also:Official and other dignities testified the public appreciation of Auber's See also:works. In 1829 he was elected member of the See also:Institute, in 183o he was named director of the See also:court concerts, and in 1842, at the wish of See also:Louis Philippe, he succeeded Cherubini as director of the Conservatoire. He was also a member of the See also:Legion of See also:Honour from 1825, and attained the See also:rank of See also:commander in 1847.

See also:

Napoleon See also:IIl. made Auber his Imperial Maitre de Chapelle in 1857. One of Auber's latest compositions was a See also:march, written for the opening of the See also:International See also:Exhibition in London in 1862. His fascinating See also:manners, his witty sayings, and his ever-ready kindness and beneficence won for him a secure See also:place in the respect and love of his See also:fellow-citizens. He remained in his old See also:home during the See also:German See also:siege of Paris, 1870-71, but the miseries of the Communist See also:war which followed sickened his See also:heart, and he died in Paris on the 13th of May 1871. See Adolph Kohut, " Auber," vol. xvii. of Musiker Biographien (See also:Leipzig, 1893).

End of Article: AUBER, DANIEL FRANCOIS ESPRIT (1782-1871)

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