Louis Charles Bonaventure Alfred Bruneau (3 March 1857 – 15 June 1934) was a French

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

who played a key role in the introduction of

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

in French

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

Life

Born in Paris, Bruneau studied the

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

as a youth at the

Paris Conservatory The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

and played in the Pasdeloup orchestra. He soon began to compose, writing a

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

, ''Geneviève de Paris'', while still a young man. In 1884, his ''Ouverture héroïque'' was performed, followed by the choral symphonies '' Léda'' (1884) and '' La Belle au bois dormant'' (1886). In 1887, he produced his first opera, ''Kérim''. The following year, Bruneau met

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

, launching a collaboration between the two men that would last for two decades. Bruneau's 1891 opera '' Le Rêve'' was based on the Zola

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

of the same name, and in the coming years Zola would provide the subject matter for many of Bruneau's works, including ''

L'attaque du moulin ''L'attaque du moulin'' (''The Attack on the Mill'') is a ''drame lyrique'' (opera) in four acts by the French composer Alfred Bruneau. The libretto, by Louis Gallet with the collaboration of Émile Zola, is based on a short story by Zola (included ...

'' (1893). Zola himself wrote the libretti for the operas ''

Messidor Messidor () was the tenth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word , which means ''harvest''. Messidor was the first month of the summer quarter (). It started on 19 or 20 June. It ended on 18 or 19 Jul ...

'' (1897) and '' L'Ouragan'' (1901). Other works influenced by Zola include '' L'Enfant roi'' (1905), '' Naïs Micoulin'' (1907), '' Les Quatres journées'' (1916), and '' Lazare'' (produced posthumously in 1954). Other operatic works by Bruneau contained themes by

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

('' Le Jardin du Paris'' in 1923) and

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

(''

Angelo, tyran de Padoue ''Angelo, Tyrant of Padua'' (french: Angelo, tyran de Padoue) is an 1835 play by the French writer Victor Hugo. It is a historical work on podestà ''Angelo'', set in Padua in northern Italy. It was a return to the theatre for Hugo, whose previou ...

'' in 1928). Bruneau's orchestral works show the influence of

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

. His other works include his ''Requiem'' (1888) and two collections of songs, ''Lieds de France'' and ''Chansons à danser''. Bruneau was decorated with the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 1895. He died in Paris.

Bibliography

Arthur Hervey Arthur Hervey (26 January 1855 – 10 March 1922) was an Irish composer, music critic, and an expert in French music. Life Hervey was born in Paris of Irish parentage – his father was Charles J.V. Hervey who owned Killiane Castle in County We ...

: ''Alfred Bruneau'' (London, 1907) * James Ross: '"Messidor": Republican Patriotism and the French Revolutionary Tradition in Third Republic Opera'; in: Barbara Kelly (ed.): 'French Music, Culture and National Identity, 1870-1939' (Rochester, N.Y., 2008), pp. 112–130; *Steven Huebner: "Alfred Bruneau and Émile Zola" and "L'Attaque du moulin", in: ''French Opera at the Fin de Siècle'' (Oxford, 1999), pp. 395–425; *

Manfred Kelkel Manfred Kelkel (15 January 1929 – 18 April 1999) was a 20th-century French musicologist and composer of contemporary music. A pupil of Darius Milhaud at the Conservatoire de Paris, he got interested in the music of Russian composer Alexander Scri ...

: ''Naturalisme, Vérisme et Réalisme dans l'opéra'' (Paris, 1984); *''Viking Opera Guide'', ed. Holden (1993)

References

External links

* 1857 births 1934 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century French composers 20th-century classical composers Prix de Rome for composition Burials at Batignolles Cemetery Conservatoire de Paris alumni French male classical composers French opera composers Male opera composers Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Musicians from Paris 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians 19th-century French male musicians {{France-composer-stub