Irénée Bergé (February 1, 1867 – July 30, 1926) was a French composer, conductor and instructor who lived in the United States. In spite of confusions between his

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

and "Irène", Bergé was male.

Early life and career

According to one source he was born in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

although other sources say

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

.''Pierre Key's Music Year Book 1926–27'' (New York: Pierre Key Inc., 1926), p. 327."Irénée Bergé dead," ''Musical Observer'' vol. 25, no. 9 (Sept. 1926), p. 45."Irénée Berge," bituary/nowiki> ''Musical America'' (August 7, 1926), p. 23. He attended the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or 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 Jean Ja ...

where he studied with

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...

and

Théodore Dubois Clément François Théodore Dubois (; 24 August 1837 – 11 June 1924) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, organist, and music teacher. After study at the Paris Conservatoire, Dubois won France's premier musical prize, the Prix de Ro ...

. While under Massenet's tutelage, he and other of the composers' students purchased a gift for the opera singer

Sibyl Sanderson Sibyl Sanderson (December 7, 1864May 16, 1903) was a famous American operatic dramatic coloratura soprano during the Parisian Belle Époque. Biography She was born in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Sibyl's father Silas Sanderson ...

, who rewarded them by making a personal visit and sang an excerpt from the opera

Esclarmonde ''Esclarmonde'' () is an opéra () in four acts and eight Tableau vivant, tableaux, with prologue and epilogue, by Jules Massenet, to a French libretto by Alfred Blau and Louis de Gramont, Louis Ferdinand de Gramont. It was first performed at th ...

with the composer at the piano. "The students were spellbound...never had they enjoyed their professor's opera so much, and never had they heard such artistic singing." Although not mentioned in his obituaries, Berge apparently also was a tenor. In an 1897 performance of

Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

L'enfance du Christ ''L'Enfance du Christ'' (''The Childhood of Christ''), Opus 25, is an oratorio by the French composer Hector Berlioz, based on the Holy Family's flight into Egypt (see Gospel of Matthew 2:13). Berlioz wrote his own words for the piece. Most of it ...

, a reviewer noted "Irénée Bergé, a young tenor of excellent schooling, whose voice—though not too powerful—had a very agreeable timbre, and a very distinguished erformance He and that of the orchestra....had a grand success." Before immigrating to the United States he was an assistant conductor at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

. At the invitation of Jeannette Thurber Bergé came to New York in 1902 to teach at the

National Conservatory of Music of America National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

Work in the United States

He wrote two operas, ''Corsica'' and ''Nicolette'' (one source includes an opera titled ''The Knave of Hearts''). ''Corsica'' was written to a libretto by Frederick F. Schrader. It had its premiere in the week prior to November 13, 1910 on a bill with

Joseph Carl Breil Joseph Carl Breil (29 June 1870 – 23 January 1926) was an American lyric tenor, stage director, composer and conductor. He was one of the earliest American composers to compose specific music for motion pictures. His first film was '' Les am ...

's opera ''Love Laughs at Locksmiths'' (also with a libretto by Schrader) in Kingston, New York, as part of Breil's touring opera company. A 1915 announcement indicated that ''Corsica'' "has been just acquired for London and was scheduled for production in the spring." In 1915 he wrote the song "Blue Bonnet" (with lyricist George Sloan Bryan) and entered it in a contest for the

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

state song. Bergé is known for composing many

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

music cues. These were not written for a specific film but as generic pieces appropriate to the mood of the specific scene.See for example works published in: Erno Rapee, ''Motion Picture Moods for Pianists and Organists'' (New York: G. Schirmer, 1924), S. M. Berg, ''Cinema Incidental Series'' (New York: Belwin, 1918-), ''Capitol Photoplay Series'' (New York: Robbins-Engel, 1925), ''Artist's orchestra repertoire: Photoplay series'' (New York: Ross Jungnickel, 1922-1924). He had been living at 35 Van Wagenen Avenue,

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, when he died on July 30, 1926. He was survived by his wife Jeanne.