Jean-Jacques-Joseph Debillemont (12 December 1824,

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

– 14 February 1879, Paris), was a 19th-century French musician, both a composer, music critic, and conductor who devoted himself mainly to

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

(

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 ...

s and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

s).

Biography

Having learned the violin at age nine in his hometown, he moved to the capital aged fifteen to join the

Conservatoire de Paris 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 ...

. He then continued his training by joining the orchestra of the

Opéra-comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...

and followed lessons of

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...

with Leborne Carafa and thanks to a grant from the General Council of the

Côte d'Or Côte is a British cafe chain founded by Richard Caring, Andy Bassadone, Chris Benians and Nick Fiddler in Wimbledon, London Wimbledon () is a district and town of Southwest London, England, southwest of the centre of London at Charing Cross ...

. He founded a chamber music quartet with violinist Jules Mercier (died 1868) and played his first compositions in Dijon (''le Renégat'', 1849, ''le Bandolero'', 1850, ''Feu mon oncle'',

opéra bouffe Opéra bouffe (, plural: ''opéras bouffes'') is a genre of late 19th-century French operetta, closely associated with Jacques Offenbach, who produced many of them at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, inspiring the genre's name. Opéras bouf ...

, 1851, ''le Joujou'') before giving his first works in Paris. His many works include ''C'était moi'', operetta in 1860, ''Astaroth'' opéra comique in 1861, ''la Vipérine'' operetta in 1866, '' Napoléon devant les peuples'',

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 ...

in 1867, ''Grand Duc de Matapa'' opéra bouffe in 1868, ''le Pantalon de Casimir'', one-act operetta in 1873, ''Le Miroir magique'', féerie-ballet in 3 acts, in 1876. His works, especially his opéras comiques, had some success.

François-Joseph Fétis François-Joseph Fétis (; 25 March 1784 – 26 March 1871) was a Belgian musicologist, composer, teacher, and one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century. His enormous compilation of biographical data in the ''Biographie univers ...

said about the premiere of the ''Grand-duc de Matapa'', 16 November 1868 at the Théâtre des Menus-plaisirs: "the music of Mr. Debillemont pleasantly caresses the ear. It is cheerful, as befits an opéra comique score, but never stops being fine and distinguished". But his compositions sometimes encounter reluctance as that of Felix Clement in his ''Dictionnaire des opéras, supplément, 1872'' à propos ''La Revanche de Candaule'', opéra comique in one act presented in 1869: "Everything is grotesque in this little work. ..The music offered nothing salient." Alongside his composing activity, around 1865, Debillemont headed the orchestra of the Société des Beaux-Arts, before directing the orchestra of the

Opéra Comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular '' opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent (and to a l ...

at the

Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin The Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin is a venerable theatre and opera house at 18, Boulevard Saint-Martin in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. History It was first built very rapidly in 1781 under the direction of (1726–1810) to house t ...

. He was also responsible for music critic columns in various newspapers such as ''L'élu du peuple'' in Dijon or ''la Revue et gazette des théâtres'' in Paris. Jean-Jacques Debillemont also participated in various theater projects such as stage adaptations of works by

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

like '' Le Tour du monde en 80 jours'', play in 5 acts and one prologue (15 tableaux) premiered in Paris at the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, 7 November 1874, text by MM.

Adolphe d'Ennery Adolphe Philippe d'Ennery or Dennery (17 June 181125 January 1899) was a French playwright and novelist. Life Born in Paris, his real surname was Philippe. He obtained his first success in collaboration with Charles Desnoyer in ''Émile, ou le ...

and Jules Verne, or '' Les Enfants du capitaine Grant'' in 1879.Partition ''Quadrille brillant''
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References

External links

Jean-Jacques Debillemont
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IMSLP

Jean-Jacques Debillement
on data.bnf.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Debillemont, Jean-Jacques French operetta composers French conductors (music) French male conductors (music) Musicians from Dijon 1824 births 1879 deaths 19th-century French male musicians