Ernest Alexandre Joseph Bourget (10 March 1814 – 2 October 1864 in

Thomery Thomery () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France, between the forest of Fontainebleau and the river Seine. Thomery station has rail connections to Montereau-Fault-Yonne, Melun and Par ...

(

Seine-et-Oise Seine-et-Oise () was the former department of France encompassing the western, northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris.playwright,

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...

and

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

. In 1847 at the Café des Ambassadeurs,

Paul Henrion Paul Henrion, (20 July 1819 – 24 October 1901 ) was a 19th-century French composer. President of the Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique of which he was a co-founder with Victor Parizot and Ernest Bourget, he was also ...

Victor Parizot Victor Parizot (18?? – 26 March 1860) was a 19th-century French composer. With Ernest Bourget and Paul Henrion Paul Henrion, (20 July 1819 – 24 October 1901 ) was a 19th-century French composer. President of the Société des auteurs, com ...

and Ernest Bourget refused to pay the bill as long as they would not receive anything from the performance of their works in the facility. The ensuing trial would mark the creation of the SACEM. According to recent research it was not this legendary event that Bourget took to trial. The contemporary journal ‘Le Droit‘ tells another story. M. Bourget was refused the drink he ordered at another establishment: the Café Morel. In the evenings the proprietor, M. Morel, served only guests who ordered drinks for which the garçon could not ‘deceive the corkscrew’. The profit from a modest eau sucré was ‘too small a thing for the proprietor to be able to present music and seats through a whole evening’. Bourget was annoyed and sued M. Morel who, after two trials in Tribunal de Commerce de la Seine and one in Cour d’Appel de Paris, had been sentenced to pay a total of 800 francs. The verdicts established that the

transaction costs In economics and related disciplines, a transaction cost is a cost in making any economic trade when participating in a market. Oliver E. Williamson defines transaction costs as the costs of running an economic system of companies, and unlike pro ...

for a systematic collection of performing right fees could be covered by amounts claimed at a level which was related to the indemnity decided on by the Parisian courts of justice. Hence, on 18 March 1850 Ernest Bourget, Victor Parizot and Paul Henrion, aided by the publisher Jules Colombier, started a mutual collecting society which later became known as La Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Éditeurs de Musique (SACEM). Ernest Bourget is the author or co-author of several librettos for

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ' ...

Works

Librettos

*1856: ''

Tromb-al-ca-zar, ou Les criminels dramatiques ''Tromb-al-ca-zar, ou Les criminels dramatiques'' is a ''bouffonnerie musicale'' in one act of 1856 with music by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was by Charles Dupeuty, Charles-Désiré Dupeuty and Ernest Bourget. With its dialogue contain ...

'', music by

, libretto with

Charles Dupeuty Charles Désiré Dupeuty (6 February 1798 – 20 October 1865), was a 19th-century French librettist and playwright. Biography After he studied at the Lycée Impérial, he enrolled in the army during the Hundred Days then worked as an employ ...

*1856: ''Les Dragées du baptême'', music by Jacques Offenbach, libretto with Charles Dupeuty *1857: ''Les Deux Pêcheurs ou le Lever du soleil'', music by Jacques Offenbach, libretto with Charles Dupeuty *1857: ''Les Chansons populaires de la France'', music by

Alphonse Varney Alphonse Varney (; 1 December 1811 – 7 February 1879) was a French conductor, mainly of opera. His son was the composer Louis Varney who studied music with his father. Education He studied at the Paris Conservatoire including counterpoint w ...

*1860: ''Bibi Bambou'', melody by Jacques Offenbach, poem by Ernest Bourget *1867: ''La Leçon de chant électro-magnétique'', music by Jacques Offenbach

Songs

*1841: ''Les Dîners parisiens'', music by

*1845: ''La Mère Michel aux Italiens'', music by Victor Parizot *1855: ''Le Sire de Framboisy'' ou ''Le Sire de Franc-Boisy'' (1855), music by Laurent de Rillé, lyrics by Bourget, ed. Meissonier fils, performed by Joseph Kelm at Théâtre des Folies-Nouvelles *1855: ''Le Vigneron'', music by

*1855: ''À bas la crinoline'', music by Edmond Lhuillier *1859: ''Végétal, animal et minéral'', music by Charles-François Plantade *186?: ''Les Canotiers'', music by A. Marquerie

Bibliography

* Chantal Brunschwig, Louis-Jean Calvet, Jean-Claude Klein, ''Cent ans de chanson française'', Seuil, 1972 (1re éd. reliée) ; ré-éd. poche (coll. Points actuels), 1981 * Christian Goubault, « Ernest Bourget » in ''Dictionnaire de la musique en France au XIXe siècle'', Joël-Marie Fauquet (dir.), Fayard, Paris, 2003

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourget, Ernest 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights French opera librettists French lyricists 1814 births 1864 deaths