composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
and a member of the French
Académie des Beaux-Arts
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
(1813).
He is considered alongside
André Grétry
André Ernest Modeste Grétry (; baptised 11 February 1741; died 24 September 1813) was a
composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (present-day Belgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous ...
and
François-André Danican Philidor
François-André Danican Philidor (7 September 1726 – 31 August 1795), often referred to as André Danican Philidor during his lifetime, was a French composer and chess player. He contributed to the early development of the ''opéra comique''. ...
to have been the founder of a new musical genre, 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 ...
'', laying a path for other French composers such as
François-Adrien Boieldieu
François-Adrien Boieldieu (, also ) (16 December 1775 – 8 October 1834) was a French composer, mainly of operas, often called "the French Mozart". His date of birth was also cited as December 15 by his biographer and writer Lucien Augé de Lass ...
,
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire.
Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally when ...
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...
, and
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...
in this genre.
Biography
Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny was born at
Fauquembergues
Fauquembergues (; vls, Valkenberg; pcd, Fauquimbergue) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. First mentioned in 961 as "in monten qui dicitur Falcoberg", the place later in 1124 was called ''Fal ...
Pas-de-Calais
Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...
), four months before the marriage of his parents, Marie-Antoinette Dufresne and Nicolas Monsigny.
He was educated at the Walloon Collége des Jésuites in Saint-Omer. It was here that he first discovered his aptitude for music.
As the eldest child, in 1749, a few months after his father's death, he left for Paris with only a few coins in his pocket, a violin and a recommendation letter, in an attempt to further his musical career and provide for his siblings. He entered into the service of the connoisseur of art and the theater, Louis Guillaume Baillet de Saint-Julien, in the bureau of the Comptabilité du Clergé de France. In 1752, after watching a performance of '' La serva padrona'' by
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Giovanni Battista Draghi (; 4 January 1710 – 16 or 17 March 1736), often referred to as Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (), was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and organist. His best-known works include his Stabat Mater and the opera ''L ...
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 ...
, he decided upon his true vocation. He then became Pietro Gianotti's student, and a contra-bassist at the Paris Opéra.
Secretly, with a text by La Ribardière, he wrote ''Les aveux indiscrets'', his first comic opera, which premiered at the theater of the Foire St Germain in February 1759. This work was well received, and that encouraged him to compose a second opera, in two acts, on a
libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
by
Pierre-René Lemonnier
Pierre-René Lemonnier (1731, Paris – 8 January 1796, Metz) was an 18th-century French playwright and librettist.
Works
*1760: ''Vaudeville des Pèlerins de la Courtille'', (parodie des Paladins). N, -B. Duchesne, in-8.
*1760: ''Le Maitre en ...
. ''Le maître en droit'', the following year, received the same positive public response.
Michel-Jean Sedaine
Michel-Jean Sedaine (2 June 1719 – 17 May 1797) was a French dramatist and librettist, especially noted for his librettos for '' opéras comiques'', in which he took an important and influential role in the advancement of the genre from th ...
, a well-liked librettist, proposed to Monsigny a collaboration, following ''Le cadi dupés success. Their common production was excellent: ''On ne s'avise jamais de tout'', ''Le roi et le fermier'' and ''
Rose et Colas
''Rose et Colas'' is a French opéra-comique in 3 acts by Michel-Jean Sedaine, music by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny, first performed on the Théâtre-Français at the Hôtel de Bourgogne on 8 March 1764.Académie royale de Musique, his epic ballet in three acts ''
Aline, reine de Golconde
''Aline, reine de Golconde'' (‘Aline, Queen of Golconda’) is an opera (ballet-héroïque) in three acts by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny to a libretto by Michel-Jean Sedaine based on a story by Stanislas-Jean de Boufflers. It was first performe ...
'' was not as successful as expected. The critics were harsher two years later, with ''L'île sonnante''. The music, it is true, preserves its usual grace of Monsigny's touch. However, Charles Collé's libretto happened to be ill-adapted to the stage and justified the work's lack of success.
It is during this same year of 1768 that the composer purchased the post of maître d'hôtel in the service of the great courtier Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans. A place in the entourage of this patron proved favorable to Monsigny's inspiration.
Michel-Jean Sedaine
Michel-Jean Sedaine (2 June 1719 – 17 May 1797) was a French dramatist and librettist, especially noted for his librettos for '' opéras comiques'', in which he took an important and influential role in the advancement of the genre from th ...
submitted his libretto, '' Le déserteur'', for which he composed his most successful score. Yet ''Le faucon'', created in 1771 was a failure. On 17 August 1775, ''La belle Arsène'' caused controversy among critics.
In 1777, following the success of ''Félix, ou L'enfant trouvé'', Monsigny stopped composing. At the beginning of 1784, he married Amélie de Villemagne, with whom he lived peacefully until 1789. The French Revolution and The Terror deprived them of all their material existence. The musician and his family sank into deep misery and oblivion for a few years. Hearing of the composer's state of poverty, the members 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 ...
gave him a pension of 2400 pounds, in order to prove their gratitude to one of the founders of their theater.
The years of adversity came to an end and Monsigny reached once again his deserved success. He became inspector of teaching at the Conservatoire de Musique de Paris. In 1804, he received the title of Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. In 1813, he succeeded Grétry at the Institute. Total blindness afflicted his last years. Monsigny died in Paris.
Works
See
List of operas by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny
This is a list of the complete operas of the French composer Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny (1729–1817). The majority of Monsigny's operas were premiered by the Opéra-Comique, first at the Parisian fairs of Foire Saint-Germain, Saint-Germain and Foir ...
.
References
;Sources
*Noiray, Michel (1992), 'Monsigny, Pierre-Alexandre' in ''The
New Grove Dictionary of Opera
''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...
'', ed. Stanley Sadie (London)
Bibliography
* Bruce Alan Brown: ''Gluck and the French Theatre in Vienna'' (Oxford, 1991)
* A. E. M. Grétry: ''Mémoires, ou Essais sur la musique'' (Paris, 1789, 2/1797)
*
Daniel Heartz
Daniel Heartz (1928–2019) was an American musicologist and professor emeritus of music at the University of California, Berkeley.
Heartz studied at Harvard University. He lived in Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern ...
: "The Beginnings of Operatic Romance: Rousseau, Sedaine, and Monsigny", ''Eighteenth Century Studies'', xv (1981–2), 149–78
* Raphaëlle Legrand: "L'opéra comique de Sedaine et Monsigny", ''Michel Sedaine (1719–1797): Theatre, Opera and Art'', ed. D. Charlton and M. Ledbury (Aldershot, forthcoming)
* P. J. B. Nougaret: ''De l'art du théâtre'' (Paris, 1769)
* Karin Pendle: "L'opéra-comique à Paris de 1762 à 1789", ''L’opéra-comique en France au XVIIIe siècle'', ed. P. Vendrix (Liège,1992), 79–178
* Arthur Pougin: ''Monsigny et son temps'' (Paris, 1908) Copy at the Internet Archive Copy at Google Books.