Pauline Marie Elisa Thys Lebault'' (1835–1909) was a French

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

librettist 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. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

. She was born in Paris, her father was 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 ...

composer

Alphonse Thys Alphonse Thys (8 March 1807 – 1 August 1879) was a 19th-century French composer. Short biography He studied harmony at the Conservatoire de Paris with Émile Bienaimé and composition with Henri-Montan Berton. In 1833, he won the first Prix ...

(1807–1879). Initially she composed salon romances and light piano music, before she turned to writing music for the stage including

operettas 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 ...

, opéra-comiques, and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

s, some of which to her own libretto. In 1877, she was the founder of the ''Association des femmes artistes et professeurs''. In 1883, she became a ''Chevalier de l'

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

''.

Selected works

Stage *''La Pomme de Turquie'', operetta, 1 act (1857) *''Quand Dieu est dans le ménage, Dieu le garde'', operetta (1860) *''La Perruque du Bailli'', operetta (1860) *''Le Roi de Cocagne'', opéra-comique, 2 acts (libretto: Pierre Jean Baptiste Choudard Desforges) (1862) *''Manette'', opéra-comique (1865) *''La Congiura di Chevreuse'', opéra (1876) *''Le Cabaret du Pot-cassé'', operetta, 2 acts (1878) *''Le Fruit vert'', opéra-comique, 3 acts *''Nedgeya'', operetta (libretto: P. Nemo) (1880) *''Le Mariage de Tabarin'' (French version of her own ''La Congiura di Chevreuse''), opéra-comique, 3 acts (libretto by Thys) (1885) *''Judith'', tragédie lyrique Songs *''Chanson créole'' (1856) *''Le Chant du gondolier'' (1856) *''Le Souvenir'' (1856) *''Les Larmes sont soeurs'' (1858) *''Ma Pendule'' (1858) *''Les Chants de la sirène'' (1859) *''Six Fables de La Fontaine'' for solo voice (1861, reprinted 1872); includes 1. ''L'Amour et la folie''; 2. ''Le Satyre et le passant''; 3. ''Les Médecins''; 4. ''L'Huître et les plaideurs''; 5. ''La Montagne qui accouche''; 6. ''La Femme noyée''. *''Tes vingt ans'' (1861) *''La Neige tombe sur nos toits'' (1862) *''Le Pays de Cocagne'' (1862) *''Jeunes filles et papillons'' (1864) *''Qu’en dites-vous, Monsieur Genniès'' (1862, reprinted 1872) *''Quand on est vieux'' (1863) *''Mignonne, voici le jour'' (1884) Piano *''Air havanais'' (1875)

References

1836 births 1909 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century French composers Women opera composers French classical composers French women classical composers French opera composers 19th-century women composers {{France-composer-stub