Henri-Montan Berton (17 September 1767 – 22 April 1844) was a French composer, teacher, and writer, mostly known as a composer of operas for the Opéra-Comique.

Career

Henri-Montan Berton was born the son of Pierre Montan Berton.Charlton 2001."Henri-Montan Berton" in Sadie 1992, vol. 1, pp. 453–455. He is principally remembered as a composer of operas, most of which were first performed at the Opéra-Comique. Riding a wave of anti-clericalism which arose at the time of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, his first real success was with ''Les rigueurs du cloître'' (23 August 1790), "in which a young nun is saved from entombment at the hands of a corrupt mother superior." The work has been described as the first

rescue opera Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation. Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ho ...

. Later more notable operas include ''Montano et Stéphanie'' (15 April 1799), ''Le délire'' (7 December 1799), and ''La Romance'' (26 January 1804). One of his greatest early successes was ''Aline, reine de Golconde'' (3 September 1803), which was performed internationally. Later in his career he tried tragedy with ''Virginie'', which was premiered by the Paris Opera at the

Salle Le Peletier The Salle Le Peletier or Lepeletier (sometimes referred to as the Salle de la rue Le Peletier or the Opéra Le Peletier) was the home of the Paris Opera from 1821 until the building was destroyed by fire in 1873. The theatre was designed and con ...

on 11 June 1823, and received a total of 39 performances. His greatest success was ''Les deux mousqetaires'', which was premiered by the Opéra-Comique at the

Salle Feydeau Salle is the French word for 'hall', 'room' or 'auditorium', as in: * Salle des Concerts Herz, a former Paris concert hall *Salle Favart, theatre of the Paris Opéra-Comique *Salle Le Peletier, former home of the Paris Opéra *Salle Pleyel, a Par ...

on 22 December 1824 and continued to be performed each year up to 1834, receiving a total of 117 representations. He was the music director of the Théâtre de l'Impératrice from 1807 to 1810 and the chorus master at the Paris Opera from 1810 to 1815. After

Étienne Méhul Étienne Nicolas Méhul (; 16 November 1765 ~ 24 December 1817) was a French composer of the classical period. He was known as "the most important opera composer in France during the Revolution". He was also the first composer to be called a ...

's death on 18 October 1817, Berton was appointed to take over Méhul's composition class at the

Paris Conservatoire 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 ...

on 1 January 1818, and continued to teach there until his death in 1844. Among his students were François Bazin,

Bernhard Crusell Bernhard Henrik Crusell (15 October 1775 – 28 July 1838) was a Swedish-Finnish clarinetist, composer and translator, "the most significant and internationally best-known Finnish-born classical composer and indeed, — the outstanding Finn ...

Louis-Barthélémy Pradher Louis-Barthélémy Pradher (16 December 1782 – 19 October 1843) was a French composer, pianist and music educator. Life Born in Paris, Pradher was the son of a violinist of the Prince de Condé. He received his first music lessons from his fat ...

and . Following in the family tradition, his son,

Henri François Berton Henri François Berton called Berton fils (3 May 1784, in Paris – 19 July 1832, in Paris) was an early 19th-century French composer. Pierre Montan Berton was his grandfather and Henri-Montan Berton Henri-Montan Berton (17 September 1767 ...

was also a composer, and several of his works were performed at the Opéra-Comique.Wild and Charlton 2005, p. 487.

References

;Notes ;Sources * Charlton, David (2001). "Berton, Henri-Montan" in Sadie 2001. * Sadie, Stanley, editor (1992). ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

''. London: Macmillan. . * Sadie, Stanley, ed.; John Tyrell; exec. ed. (2001). ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'', 2nd ed. London: Macmillan. (hardcover). (eBook). * Smith, Patrick John (1970). ''The Tenth Muse: A Historical Study of the Opera Libretto''. New York: Knopf. . (1971 reprint: London: Gollancz. .) * Wild, Nicole; Charlton, David (2005). ''Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique Paris: répertoire 1762-1972''. Sprimont, Belgium: Editions Mardaga. .

External links

Biography and list of works
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berton, Henri-Montan 1767 births 1844 deaths French Classical-period composers French male classical composers French opera composers Male opera composers 19th-century French male classical violinists Musicians from Paris Conservatoire de Paris faculty