Philippe Emile François Gille (10 December 1831 – 19 March 1901) was a French

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

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 ...

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 ...

, who was born and died in Paris. He wrote over twenty librettos between 1857 and 1893, the most famous of which are

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'' ...

's ''

Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was first ...

'' and Delibes' ''

Lakmé ''Lakmé'' is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. The score, written from 1881 to 1882, was first performed on 14 April 1883 by the Opéra-Comique at the (second) Salle Favart in P ...

''. Although Gille studied law and was a clerk for a time at the Préfecture de la Seine, he became secretary of the Théâtre Lyrique then from 1869 an art and music critic for ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...

''.Smith C. Philippe Gille. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. Gille was elected to the

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, ...

in 1899.

Librettos by Philippe Gille

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera '' ...

**''

Vent du soir, ou L'horrible festin ' is a one-act ''opérette-bouffe'' with music by Jacques Offenbach and a libretto by Philippe Gille, which was premiered at the Bouffes-Parisiens Salle Choiseul, on 16 May 1857. Background The work was the first collaboration between Philippe G ...

'' (1857) **''Le carnaval des revues'' (1860) **''Jeanne qui pleure et Jean qui rit'' (1864) **''Les bergers'' (1865) **''

Pierrette et Jacquot ''Pierrette et Jacquot'' is a one-act opérette of 1876 by Jacques Offenbach with a French libretto by Jules Noriac and Philippe Gille. Performance history The première of Pierrette et Jacquot was on 13 October 1876 at the Bouffes-Parisiens, Sa ...

'' (1876) **''

Le docteur Ox ''Le docteur Ox'' is an opéra bouffe in three acts and six tableaux of 1877 with music by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was by Arnold Mortier and Philippe Gille, adapted from the 1872 short story '' Une fantaisie du docteur Ox'' by Jul ...

'' (1877) *

Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and '' Sylvia'' (1876) and the opera ''Lakm� ...

**''Monsieur de Bonne-étoile'' (1860) **''Le serpent à plumes'' (1864) **'' Jean de Nivelle'' (1880) **''

'' (1883) **''Kassya'' (1893) *

Robert Planquette Jean Robert Planquette (31 July 1848 – 28 January 1903) was a French composer of songs and operettas. Several of Planquette's operettas were extraordinarily successful in Britain, especially ''Les cloches de Corneville'' (1878), the length of ...

**''

Rip van Winkle "Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Dutchmen, imbibes their liquor and falls aslee ...

'' (1882) *

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' ...

**''

'' (1884)

References

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* 1831 births 1901 deaths 19th-century French male writers French opera librettists 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights French male dramatists and playwrights {{Opera-bio-stub