Charles Gounod

Charles Gounod in 1859, the year of the premier of Faust.

Charles-François Gounod (June 18, 1818 – October 18, 1893) was a French composer, best known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.

Biography

Gounod was born in Paris, the son of a pianist mother and a draftsman father. His mother was his first piano teacher. Under her tutelage, Gounod first showed his musical talents. He entered the Paris Conservatoire where he studied under Fromental Halévy.

Caricature from Punch, 1882.

He won the Prix de Rome in 1839 for his cantata Ferdinand.

He subsequently went to Italy where he studied the music of Palestrina. He concentrated on religious music of the sixteenth century.

Gounod eventually returned to Paris and composed the "Messe Solennelle", also known as the "Saint Cecilia Mass". This work was first performed in London during 1851 and began his reputation as a noteworthy composer.

He wrote two symphonies in 1855. His Symphony No.1 in D major was the inspiration for Georges Bizet's (who was then Gounod's 17 year old student) Symphony No. 1 in C, composed later that same year. Despite their charm and brilliance, Gounod's symphonies are seldom performed. One of the few recordings of the symphonies was made by Sir Neville Mariner.

Gounod wrote his first opera, Sappho, in 1851, but had no great success until Faust (1859), based on the play by Goethe. This remains his best-known work. The romantic and highly melodious Roméo et Juliette (based on the Shakespeare play), premiered in 1867, is also performed and recorded regularly. The charming and highly individual Mireille of 1864 is admired by connoisseurs.

There is some controversy surrounding "Faust". Many critics believed it was a far advancement over Gounod's prior works. One critic stated his doubt that Gounod composed it, which prompted Gounod to challenge the critic to a duel. The critic withdrew his statement.^{[citation needed]}

From 1870 to 1875 Gounod lived in England, becoming the first conductor of what is now the Royal Choral Society. Much of Gounod's music from this time is vocal or choral in nature.

Later in his life, Gounod returned to his early religious impulses, writing much religious music, including a musical setting of Ave Maria based on the first prelude from Book I of the Well-Tempered Clavier by J.S. Bach and Hymnus Pontificius the anthem of Vatican. In fact, he died as he put the finishing touches to a requiem "Le Grand Requiem" inspired by the death of his grandson, a major work which he was never to hear performed.

Gounod died in 1893 in Saint-Cloud, France.

Compositions

Charles Gounod.

Operas

• Sapho (1851, revised 1884)
• La nonne sanglante (1854)
• Le médecin malgré lui (1858)
• Faust (1859, revised 1869)
• Philémon et Baucis (1860, revised 1876)
• La colombe (1860)
• La reine de Saba (1862)
• Mireille (1864)
• Roméo et Juliette (1867, revised 1888)
• Cinq-Mars (1877)
• Polyeucte (1878)
• Le tribut de Zamora (1881)
• Maître Pierre (incompleted)

Oratorios

• Tobie (c. 1866)
• Gallia (1871)
• Jésus sur le lac de Tibériade (1878)
• La rédemption (1882) (commissioned for, and premiered at the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival)
• Christus factus est (1883)
• Mors et Vita (1884)
• Requiem" (1893)

Charles Gounod's burial site (Auteuil, Paris, France)

Symphonies

• Symphony No. 1 in D major (1855)
• Symphony No. 2 in E flat major
• Symphony No. 3 in B flat major (Little Symphony for Wind Instruments, see below under "Chamber music")

Chamber music

• String Quartet in A minor (Old No.3)
• String Quartet No.1 in C minor "Le petit quatuor"
• String Quartet No.2 in A Major
• String Quartet No.3 in F Major
• Petite Symphonie for Winds (Petite Symphonie pour instruments à vent, Symphony No. 3 in B flat major)

Instrumental

• "Funeral March of a Marionette" (1872), well-known for being the theme music to the TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.^[1]

Sources

• Sadie, S. (ed.) (1980) The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, [vol. # 7].

References

• Charles Gounod: Works. Charles GOUNOD: The Website !. Retrieved on March 31, 2005.
• Scholes, The Oxford Companion to Music, 10th ed., pp. 416-417.

1. ^ Richard K. Fitzgerald (July 25, 2006). Gounod’s "Roméo et Juliette" at Wolf Trap.

External links

• Performance of Ave Maria
• Free Mp3 file of the Fantasie elegante on Gounod's "Faust" by Ignace Leybach, played by John Kersey
• Gounod cylinder recordings, from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
• Charles Gounod free scores in the Werner Icking Music Archive
• Sound-bites from String Quartet in a minor & short bio
• Catholic Encyclopedia article
• Roméo et Juliette Complete MP3 Creative Commons Recording
• Charles Gounod was listed in the International Music Score Library Project