Hippolyte André Jean Baptiste Chélard (1 February 1789 – 12 February 1861) was a French composer, violist, and conductor of the Classical era. He was born in Paris and studied composition with

François-Joseph Gossec François-Joseph Gossec (17 January 1734 – 16 February 1829) was a French composer of operas, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works. Life and work The son of a small farmer, Gossec was born at the village of Vergnies, then a French e ...

and viola with

Rodolphe Kreutzer Rodolphe Kreutzer (15 November 1766 – 6 January 1831) was a French violinist, teacher, conductor, and composer of forty French operas, including ''La mort d'Abel'' (1810). He is probably best known as the dedicatee of Beethoven's Violin Sona ...

. Chélard won the 1811

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

for his cantata ''Ariane''. He earned his living for much of his career as a violist at the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

. His 1827 opera ''Macbeth'' was a flop in Paris, but a great success in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. From that time on, he composed for the German market, his most popular work being ''Die Hunnenschlacht'' which premiered in Munich in 1835. The compositions of Chélard reflect a variety of stylistic traditions including the Gluck-Cherubini-Spontini and German Romantic schools. While some his work enjoyed limited success, particularly among amateur keyboardists, it is mostly notable in the development of southern German music at the time. Some aspects of Chélard's music are said to be echoed in the works of Berlioz and Liszt. He died in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

, where he established himself as theater-conductor and in the 1840s he had met, and signed a contract dividing conducting duties with, the newly arrived

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

References

* Walker, Alan. ''Franz Liszt. v. 2. The Weimar years, 1848-1861.'' Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. 1989, 1993. . Many references to Chélard. 1789 births 1861 deaths Composers from Paris French Classical-period composers French male classical composers French opera composers Male opera composers Prix de Rome for composition French classical violists French conductors (music) French male conductors (music) 19th-century French male musicians {{France-conductor-stub