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GOUNOD, CHARLES FRANCOIS (1818--1893)
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See also:GOUNOD, See also: The fact was that Sapho differed in some respects from the operatic works of the See also:period, and was to a certain extent in advance of the times. When it was revived at the Paris Opera in 1884, several additions were made by the composer to the See also:original See also:score, not altogether to its See also:advantage, and Sapho once
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more failed to attract the public. Gounod's second dramatic See also:attempt was again in connexion with a classical subject, and consisted in some choruses written for Ulysse, a tragedy by See also:Ponsard, played at the See also:Theatre See also:Francais in 1852, when the See also:orchestra was conducted by See also:Offenbach. The composer's next opera, La Nonne sanglante, given at the Paris Opera in 18J4, was a failure.
See also:Goethe's See also:Faust had for years exercised a strong See also:fascination over Gounod, and he at last determined to turn it to operatic See also:account. The performance at a Paris theatre of a See also:drama on the same subject delayed the See also:production of his opera for a time. In the meanwhile he wrote in a few months the music for an operatic version of See also:Moliere's See also:comedy, Le Medecin malgre lui, which was produced at the Theatre Lyrique in 1858. See also:Berlioz well described this charming little work when he wrote of it, " Every-thing is See also:pretty, piquant, fluent, in this ` opera comique '; there is nothing superfluous and nothing wanting." The first performance of Faust took See also:place at the Theatre Lyrique on the 19th of See also: For years it remained the recognized type of See also:modern French opera. At the time of its production in Paris it was scarcely appreciated according to its merits. Its style was too novel, and its luscious harmonies did not altogether ,suit the palates of those dilettanti who still looked upon See also:Rossini as the incarnation of music. Times have indeed changed, and French composers have followed the road opened by Gounod, and have further See also:developed the See also:form of the lyrical drama, adopting the theories of Wagner in a manner suitable to their See also:national temperament. Although in its original version Faust contained spoken See also:dialogue, and was divided into set pieces according to See also:custom, yet it differed greatly from the operas of the past. Gounod had not studied the works of See also:German masters such as Mendelssohn and Schumann in vain, and although his own style is eminently Gallic, yet it cannot be denied that much of its See also:charm emanates from a certain poetic sentimentality which seems to have a See also:Teutonic origin. Certainly no music such as his had previously been produced by any French composer. See also:Auber was a See also:gay trifler, scattering his See also:bright effusions with See also:absolute insouciance, teeming with melodious ideas, but lacking See also:depth. Berlioz, a musical Titan, wrestled against See also:fate with a superhuman See also:energy, and, Jove-like, subjugated his hearers with his thunderbolts. It was, however, reserved for Gounod to introduce la See also:note tendre, to sing the See also:tender See also:passion in accents soft and languorous. The musical See also:language employed in Faust was new and fascinating, and it was soon to be adopted by many other French composers, certain of its idioms thereby becoming hackneyed. Gounod's opera was given in See also:London in 1863, when its success, at first doubtful, became enormous, and it was heard concurrently at Covent See also:Garden and Her See also:Majesty's theatres. Since then it has never lost its popularity. Although the success of Faust in Paris was at first not so great as might have been expected, yet it gradually increased and set the See also:seal on Gounod's fame. The fortunate composer now experienced no difficulty in finding an outlet for his works, and the succeeding See also:decade is a specially important one in his career. The opera from his See also:pen which came after Faust was See also:Philemon et Baucis, a setting of the mythological See also:tale in which the composer followed the traditions of the Opera Comique, employing spoken dialogue, while not abdicating the individuality of his own style. This work was produced at the Theatre Lyrique in 186o. It has repeatedly been heard in London. La Reine de Saba, a four-See also:act opera, produced at the Grand Opera on the 28th of See also:February 1862, was altogether a far more ambitious work. For some See also:reason it did not meet with success, although the score contains some of Gounod's choicest inspirations, notably the well-known See also:air, " Lend me your aid." La Reine de Saba was adapted for the See also:English See also:stage under the name of See also:Irene. The non-success of this work proved a great disappointment to Gounod, who, however, set to work again, and this time with better results, Mireille, the See also:fruit of his labours, being given for the first time at the Theatre Lyrique on the 19th of March 1864. Founded upon the Mireio of the Provencal poet See also:Mistral, Mireille contains much charming and characteristic music. The libretto seems to have militated against its success, and although several revivals have taken place and various modifications and alterations have been made in the score, yet Mireille has never enjoyed a very great vogue. Certain portions of this opera have, however, been popularized in the See also:concert-See also:room. La Colombe, a little opera in two acts without pre-tension, deserves mention here. It was originally heard at See also:Baden in 186o, and subsequently at the Opera Comique. A suavely melodious entr'acte from this little work has survived and been repeatedly performed. Animated with the See also:desire to give a See also:pendant to his Faust, Gounod now sought for See also:inspiration from See also:Shakespeare, and turned his See also:attention to Romeo and Juliet. Here, indeed, was a subject particularly well calculated to See also:appeal to a composer who had so eminently qualified himself to be considered the musician of the tender passion. The operatic version of the Shakespearean tragedy was produced at the Theatre Lyrique on the 27th of See also:April 1867. It is generally considered as being the composer's second best opera. Some See also:people have even placed it on the same level as Faust, but this See also:verdict has not found See also:general See also:acceptance. Gounod himself is stated to have expressed his See also:opinion of the relative value of the two operas enigmatically by saying, " Faust is the See also:oldest, but I was younger; Romeo is the youngest, but I was older." The luscious strains wedded to the love scenes, if at times somewhat cloying, are generally in See also:accord with the situations, often irresistibly fascinating, while always absolutely individual. The success of Romeo in Paris was great from the outset, and eventually this work was transferred to the Grand Opera, after having for some time formed See also:part of the repertoire of the Opera Comique. In London it was not until the part of Romeo was sung by See also:Jean de See also:Reszke that this opera obtained any real hold upon the English public. After having so successfully sought for inspiration from Moliere, Goethe and Shakespeare, Gounod now turned to another famous dramatist, and selected See also:Pierre See also:Corneille's Polyeucte as the subject of his next opera. Some years were, however, to elapse before this work was given to the public. The Franco-German See also:War had broken out, and Gounod was compelled to take See also:refuge in London, where he composed the " biblical See also:elegy " Gallia for the inauguration of the Royal See also:Albert See also: In style it has a certain See also:affinity with Palestrina. The Redemption, which seems to have acquired a permanent footing in Great See also:Britain, was produced at the See also:Birmingham Festival of 1882. It was styled a sacred trilogy, and was dedicated to See also:Queen See also:Victoria. The score is prefixed by a commentary written by the composer, in which the See also:scope of the See also:oratorio is explained. It cannot be said that Gounod has altogether risen to the magnitude of his task. The music of The Redemption bears the unmistakable imprint of the composer's See also:hand, and contains many beautiful thoughts, but the work in its entirety is not exempt from monotony. Mors et vita, a sacred trilogy dedicated to See also:Pope See also:Leo XIII., was also produced for the first time in Birmingham at the Festival of 1885. This work is divided into three parts, Mors," " Judicium," " Vita." The first consists of a Requiem, the second " depicts the See also:Judgment, the third Eternal Life. Although quite equal, if not See also:superior to The Redemption, Mors et vita has not obtained similar success. Gounod was a great worker, an indefatigable writer, and it would occupy too much space to attempt even an incomplete See also:catalogue of his compositions. Besides the works already mentioned may be named two symphonies which were played during the 'fifties, but have See also:long since fallen into neglect. Symphonic music was not Gounod's forte, and the French master evidently recognized the fact, for he made no further attempts in this style. The incidental music he wrote to the dramas See also:Les Deux Reines and Jeanne d'Arc must not be forgotten. He also attempted to set Moliere's comedy, Georges Dandin, to music, keeping to the original See also:prose. This work has never been brought out. Gounod composed a large number of songs, many of which are very beautiful. One of the vocal pieces that have contributed most to his popularity is the celebrated Meditation on the First Prelude of Bach, more widely known as the See also:Ave Maria. The idea of fitting a See also:melody to the Prelude of Bach was original, and it must be admitted that in this See also:case the experiment was successful. Gounod died at St See also:Cloud on the 18th of October 1g93. His See also:influence on French music was immense, though during the last years of the Toth century it was rather counterbalanced by that of Wagner. Whatever may be the verdict of posterity, it is unlikely that the quality of individuality will be denied to Gounod. To be the composer of Faust is alone a sufficient See also:title to lasting fame. (A. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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