Georges Adolphe Hüe (6 May 1858 – 7 June 1948) 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 ...

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

Biography

Hüe was born in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

into a noted family of architects. His musical education included studies with Charles Gounod and César Franck. In 1879, he won the Prix de Rome with his

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 ...

''Médée''. Upon his return to Paris, the Opéra Comique produced his first stage work, ''Les Pantins'' ("The Jumping Jacks"). This plotless, two-act set-piece for four singers doubling roles completely ignored fashionable realist trends of the day, and won high acclaim. For the next twenty years, his musical career went in other directions. Hüe returned to the stage with his first full-length opera, ''Le Roi de Paris'', a historical drama with a subplot about unrequited love. His follow-up opera was ''Titania''. Stimulated by fantasy and

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, this work is noteworthy for its impressionistic woodland scenes for chorus and orchestra. In 1910, the Opéra produced ''Le Miracle'', a grand five-act work combining the

mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

story of

Pygmalion Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to: Mythology * Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue Stage * ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau * ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...

with a religious miracle. Hüe's most successful work with the public was ''Dans l'ombre de la cathédrale'', whose topical plot was driven by the conflicting ideals of

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. The opera was revived several times in the 1920s. Following his own travels to the Far East, he wrote ''Siang-Sin'', a ballet-pantomime created for a Chinese spring festival in 1924. His final stage work was based on a

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales ...

. During his lifetime, Hüe wrote a broad range of other compositions, of which his choral works are most noteworthy. Some pieces for

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

are occasionally performed, including ''Fantaisie'' for flute and orchestra (composed in 1913 for flute and piano and orchestrated in 1923Musopen
/ref>), written for

Adolphe Hennebains Adolphe Hennebains (14 November 1862 – 17 September 1914) was a French classical flautist and music teacher. Biography Hennebains comes from a large shoemaker family. In 1878, he entered the class of Joseph-Henri Altès at the Conservatoire ...

, professor of the Paris Conservatory. Hüe's music met with limited success mainly because his style did not change with the times. However, he was an often inspired composer whose works garnered the admiration of several famous colleagues, including

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

and

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

. He died in Paris in 1948.

Operas

*''Les Pantins'', opéra comique (2 acts, E. Montagne), f.p. 28 December 1881, Opéra Comique (Favart), Paris. *''Le Roi de Paris'', opéra (3 acts, H. Bouchut), f.p. 26 April 1901, Opéra, Paris. *''Titania'', opéra (3 acts, L. Gallet & A. Corneau), f.p. 20 January 1903, Opéra Comique (Favart), Paris. *''Le Miracle'', opéra (5 acts, P.B. Gheusi & A. Mérane), f.p. 14 December 1910, Opéra, Paris. *''Dans l'ombre de la cathédrale'', opéra (3 acts, M. Léna & H. Ferrare, after Blasco Ibanez), f.p. 7 December 1921, Opéra, Paris. *''Siang-Sin'', ballet-pantomime (2 acts, P. Jobbé-Duval), f.p. 12 March 1924, Opéra, Paris. *''Riquet à la houppe'' ("Prince Riquet with the Tuft") comédie-musicale (3 acts, R. Gastambide, after Perrault), f.p. 17 December 1928, Opéra Comique (Favart), Paris.

Bibliography

*Richard Langham Smith: "Hüe, Georges (Adolphe)", in: Stanley Sadie (ed.): ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', vol. 2 (London & New York: MacMillan, 1992); .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hue, Georges 1858 births 1948 deaths 19th-century French composers 19th-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers French male classical composers French opera composers Male opera composers Impressionist composers Musicians from Versailles Prix de Rome for composition French Romantic composers 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians 19th-century French male musicians