Pierre Louis Deffès (25 July 1819 – 28 May 1900) was a 19th-century French composer. He excelled as a composer of both operas and large-scale sacred music.
Life
Deffès was born in
Toulouse and admitted to the
Paris Conservatory in 1839, where he studied with
Fromental Halévy and
Henri Montan Berton
Henri-Montan Berton (17 September 1767 Р22 April 1844) was a French composer, teacher, and writer, mostly known as a composer of operas for the Op̩ra-Comique.
Career
Henri-Montan Berton was born the son of Pierre Montan Berton.Charlton ... (composition),
François Bazin (harmony),
Auguste Barbereau
Mathurin Auguste Balthasar Barbereau (14 November 1799 – 14 July 1879) was a French composer and music theorist.
Barberau was born in Paris. He entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1810 and received numerous prizes. He was awarded with the Pri ... (counterpoint and fugue), and
Théodore Mozin (piano). In 1844, he composed ''La Toulousaine''. The piece gained great popularity and became a signature tune of his home town. In 1847, he won second prize at the "Concours de Chants Historiques" with his composition ''Les Charmes de la Paix'', and in the same year the
Grand Prix de Rome with the cantata ''L'Ange et Tobie'', based on a poem by
Léon Halévy
L̩on Hal̩vy (4 January 1802 Р2 September 1883) was a French civil servant, historian, and dramatist.
Early life
Born to a Jewish family in Paris, Léon was the son of the writer and chazzan Élie Halévy and the younger brother of the ... .
During his stay in Rome, which was connected with the prize, he composed his ''Messe solennelle'', which was first performed in 1850. In 1857, a performance followed at
Notre Dame de Paris with 500 participants. In 1855, ''L'Anneau d'argent'', the first of his twenty successful operas, was premiered at 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 ... .
The
Franco-Prussian War interrupted the succession of performances of his operas. Instead, he now wrote compositions such as the ''Marche funèbre'', the motet ''Gaude floris'', a ''Messe brève à trois voix'' and the song ''La Phrygienne'' for choir and piano.
With ''Le Trompette de Chamboran'' Deffès returned to the opera stage in 1877. His symphonic overture ''Un Triomphe à Rome'' was performed at the
1878 World Exhibition . A new mass by Deffès was performed at the Saint-Etienne Cathedral of Toulouse in 1879. Here he succeeded Paul Mériel as director of the Conservatoire de Toulouse in 1883. He held the position until his death, his successor was Bernard Crocé-Spinelli.
Deffès had been a member of the
Association des Artistes Musiciens since its foundation in 1843 and belonged to its central committee; he was also a founding member of the
Société des Compositeurs de musique (1863). In 1884, he became a corresponding member of the composition section of the
Académie des Beaux-Arts . He was awarded the title of Knight of the
Legion of Honour .
Selected works
Opéras comiques
* ''La Lanterne magique'', 1 act, lyrics by Auguste Carré
* ''L'Anneau d'Argent'', 1 act, lyrics by
Jules Barbier and
Léon Battu
Léon Battu was a French dramatist, born 1829Walsh T J. ''Second Empire Opera: The Théâtre Lyrique Paris 1851–1870.'' John Calder (Publishers Ltd), London, 1981, Appendix D, p. 342. in Paris, where he died on 22 November 1857.
Life and ... (1855)
* ''La Clé des champs'', 1 act, lyrics by
Henry Boisseaux
Claude-Nicolas-Henry Boisseaux (14 October 1821 – 20 November 1863) was a 19th-century Theatre in France, French playwright and opera libretto, librettist.
Biography
Boisseaux studied law in his hometown where he was destined to an important ... (1857)
* ''Broskovano'', 2 acts, lyrics by
Eugène Scribe and Henry Boisseaux (1858)
* ''Les Deux Bazile'', 2 acts, libretto by Henry Boisseaux and Eugène Scribe 1858
* ''Les Petits violons du roi'', 3 acts, libretto by Henry Boisseaux and Eugène Scribe (1860)
* ''Les Bourguignonnes'', 1 act, lyrics by
Henri Meilhac
Henri Meilhac (23 February 1830 – 6 July 1897) was a French dramatist and opera librettist, best known for his collaborations with Ludovic Halévy on Georges Bizet's ''Carmen'' and on the works of Jacques Offenbach, as well as Jules Massenet's ... (1861)
* ''Le Café du Roi'', 1 act, lyrics by Henri Meilhac (1861)
* ''Le Fantôme du Rhin'', 1 act, libretto by
Joseph Méry and
Jules Adenis Jules-Adenis de Colombeau (28 June 1823 – 1900) was a 19th-century French opera librettist, playwright, and journalist.
Adenis was born in Paris and studied at the Collège royal de Bourbon (now the Lycée Condorcet). Colombeau was initially emp ... (1863)
* ''Valse et Menuet'', 1 act, lyrics by Joseph Méry (1863)
* ''La Boite à surprises'', 1 act, lyrics by
Laurencin
Laurencin, real name Paul-Aimé Chapelle, (10 January 1806 - 9 December 1890) was a French playwright and librettist.
He authored numerous theatre plays, vaudevilles and operettas, most of them in collaboration. '' Le 66'' and '' Monsieur et ... (1865)
* ''Les Croqueuses de Pommes'', 5 acts, lyrics by
Eugène Grangé
Eugène Grangé (16 December 1810 – 1 March 1887) was a French playwright, librettist, chansonnier and goguettier.
Biography
The son of Pierre-Joseph Basté and Louise-Thérèse Grangé, Pierre-Eugène Basté was born in rue Beautreillis ... and Émile Abraham (before 1868)
* ''Petit bonhomme vit encore'', 2 acts, lyrics by
Émile de Najac
Comte Émile de Najac (December 1828 – 11 April 1889) was a French librettist. He was a prolific writer during the Second Empire and early part of the Third Republic, supplying plays and opéra comique librettos, many in one act.
Biography
É ... (1868)
* ''Le Trompette de Chamboran'', 1 act, lyrics by
Adolphe de Leuven and Jules Adenis (before 1877)
* ''Les Noces de Fernande'', 3 acts, lyrics by
Victorien Sardou and Émile de Najac (1878)
Operas
* ''Gessica'', 4 acts, libretto by Jules Adenis after ''
The Merchant of Venice '' by
William Shakespeare (given in 1898 but composed before 1889)
Orchestral music
* ''Un Triomphe à Rome'' (symphonic poem)
Chamber music
''Marche funèbre'', for piano
Incidental music
* ''Passé minuit'', music for the
comédie en vaudevilles by
Lockroy
Joseph-Philippe Simon, called Lockroy (February 17, 1803 – January 19, 1891)Death notice
HOME Consider donating to Wikimedia
