Henri Marius Christiné (27 December 1867 – 25 November 1941) was a French composer of Swiss birth. The son of a French

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Sa ...

ard watchmaker, Christiné was born in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

, Switzerland. He began by teaching at the

lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

in Geneva, while pursuing his interest in music and playing organ in a local church. He married a cafe singer whose troupe was passing through Geneva, and went with her to

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

where they were married. He made his home in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, writing songs firstly for his wife and then for popular singers such as Mayol, Dranem, and Fragson. He also conducted for the

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Br ...

at the Place Clichy. Although Christiné wrote some

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its ...

s for the Scala theatre in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, his career took off when he had his operetta ''

Phi-Phi ''Phi-Phi'' is an opérette légère in three acts with music by Henri Christiné and a French libretto by Albert Willemetz and Fabien Solar. The piece was one which founded the new style of French comédie musicale, the first to really use the l ...

'' staged the day of the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...

on 11 November 1918, with words by

Albert Willemetz Albert Willemetz (14 February 1887 – 7 October 1964) was a French librettist. Career Albert Willemetz was a prolific lyricist. He invented a new type of musical, with a humorous and "sexy" style. He was the author of more than 3000 songs, inc ...

and Fabien Solar and which ran for three years at the Bouffes-Parisiens. This success was followed by '' Dédé'' in 1921, ''Madame'' (1923) and ''J'adore ça'' (1925). These works were in the forefront of a new fashion in music-theatre: sparkling, witty, jazzy musical plays. Christiné's tunes often build on repeated refrains of six or seven notes (a 'hook') which made them catchy and popular for contemporary audiences. In the 1930s Christiné contributed to the renewed fashion for more large-scale spectacular musicals, with pieces for the

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a ...

in Paris, ''Au temps des Merveilleuses'' and ''Yana''; for these he wrote the more vibrant numbers, while Richepin did the romantic songs. "Le Bonheur, Mesdames" and "Le Flirt ambulant" were rearrangements of his songs from the 1900s. He died in Nice, France. ''Phi-Phi'' and ''Dédé'' are still occasionally revived in France.

Works

*1903 : ''Service d'amour'', Brussels *1904 : ''Mam'zelle Chichi'', Paris *1907 : ''Les Vierges du harem'', Brussels *1908 : ''Cinq minutes d'amour'', Paris *1918 : ''

'', Paris *1921 : '' Dédé'', Paris *1923 : ''Madame'', Paris *1925 : ''J'adore ça'' ; ''PLM'',( Le Train Bleu) Paris *1926 : ''J'aime !'', Paris *1929 : ''Arthur'', Paris *1931 : ''Encore cinquante centimes'' (with Maurice Yvain), Paris *1933 : ''La Madone du promenoir'' ; ''L'Affaire Brocs'', Paris *1934 : ''Le Bonheur, mesdames !'' ; ''Au temps des Merveilleuses'' (with Tiarko Richepin) *1934 : ''La Poule'' ; ''Yana'' (with Tiarko Richepin)

Songs

*"Le beau gosse" *"Jamais en colère" *"A la Martinique" *"Le long du Missouri" *"La Baya" *"La petite dame du Métro" *"Dans la vie faut pas s'en faire" *"Oh ! Maurice" *"Je sais que vous êtes jolie" *"Ah ! Voui" *"L'amour" *"L'amour qui rit" *"Un bon mouvement" *"Le beau môme" *"Chanson des petits païens *"Elle n'est pas si mal que ça" *"Faut jamais dire ça aux femmes" *"Je suis républican" *"Mon cœur" *"Pas pour moi" *"Quand un soldat.." *"Que je n'ose pas dire" *"Viens poupoule !" *"Si j'avais su" *"La Petite Tonkinoise" (1905) *"Elle est épatante" *"Je connais une blonde" *"Reviens" *" Valentine" *The Medinettes (Suzy)"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Christine, Henri 1867 births 1941 deaths French operetta composers French opera composers Male opera composers French male conductors (music) French conductors (music) Recipients of the Legion of Honour Scientists from Geneva French male classical composers