Robert Planquette c1890 - Gallica (cropped)

Jean Robert Planquette (31 July 1848 – 28 January 1903) 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 Def ...

of songs and operettas. Several of Planquette's operettas were extraordinarily successful in Britain, especially '' Les cloches de Corneville'' (1878), the length of whose initial London run broke all records for any piece of

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

up to that time. ''

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) also earned international fame.

Life and career

The son of a singer, Planquette was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

and educated at the Paris Conservatoire. He did not finish his studies, lacking the funds to do so, and worked as a café pianist and composer and singing (he was a

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

). A few romances that he composed brought less fame than did his song, "Sambre et Meuse", first sung in 1867 by Lucien Fugère, who went on to be one of the foremost French opera singers of his day. In 1876, the director of the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques gave Planquette a commission to compose his first operetta, '' Les cloches de Corneville''. It opened in Paris in 1877, running for an extremely successful 480 performances, and then enjoyed an astonishing London run, beginning in 1878, of a record-breaking 708 performances. Planquette's music has been praised for its pathos and romantic feeling. ''Le Chevalier Gaston'' was produced in 1879 with little success. In 1880 came ''Les Voltigeurs du 32ieme'' which had a long run in London in 1887 as ''The Old Guard'', and ''La Cantiniére'', which was translated into English as ''Nectarine'', though never produced. In 1882 ''

'' was produced in London and subsequently given in Paris as ''Rip'', in both cases with great success. The libretto is an adaptation by

H. B. Farnie Henry Brougham Farnie (8 April 1836 – 21 September 1889), often called H. B. Farnie, was a British librettist and adapter of French operettas and an author. Some of his English-language versions of operettas became record-setting hits on th ...

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

's famous tale. In 1884 the phenomenon of an opera by a French composer being produced in London before being heard in Paris was repeated in ''

Nell Gwynne Eleanor Gwyn (2 February 1650 – 14 November 1687; also spelled ''Gwynn'', ''Gwynne'') was a celebrity figure of the Restoration period. Praised by Samuel Pepys for her comic performances as one of the first actresses on the English stag ...

'', which was modestly successful, but failed when produced in Paris as ''La Princesse Colombine''. It was followed by ''La Crémaillere'' (Paris, 1885), ''Surcouf'' (Paris, 1887; London, as ''Paul Jones'', 1889), ''Captain Thérése'' (London, 1887), ''La Cocarde tricolore'' (Paris, 1892), ''Le Talisman'' (Paris, 1892), ''Panurge'' (Paris, 1895) and ''Mam'zelle Quat'sous'' (Paris, 1897). Another Planquette composition, the march ''

Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse "Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse" ( en, italics=no, "Sambre-et-Meuse Regiment") is a French poem by Paul Cézano set to music by Robert Planquette and arranged and expanded into a military march by . Background Cezano penned the lyrics to "Le R� ...

,'' has achieved fame in an arrangement for brass band; it is the tune used by the Ohio State University Marching Band when performing their famed

Script Ohio Script may refer to: Writing systems * Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire * Script (styles of handwriting) ** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of handw ...

formation. The original orchestral version has been recorded by the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by

Arthur Fiedler Arthur Fiedler (December 17, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was an American conductor known for his association with both the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one ...

and appears on the

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

Living Stereo CD ''Marches in Hi-Fi''. "The Song of the Cabin Boy," a barcarolle from Planquette's '' Les cloches de Corneville'' was played on the violin by W.K.L. Dickson in the first experiment in history in synchronizing sound and motion pictures (1894). It is viewable online as ''

The Dickson Experimental Sound Film ''The Dickson Experimental Sound Film'' is a film made by William Dickson in late 1894 or early 1895. It is the first known film with live-recorded sound and appears to be the first motion picture made for the Kinetophone, the proto- sound-film sy ...

''.

Works

All operettas and all premieres in Paris, unless otherwise noted. * ''Méfie-toi de Pharaon'', one act, 1872, Eldorado * ''Le serment de Mme Grégoire'', 1874, Eldorado * ''Paille d'avoine'', one act, 12 March 1874, Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques * ''Le valet de coeur'', saynète, one act, 1875, Alcazar d'Eté * ''Le péage'', c 1876, Eldorado * '' Les cloches de Corneville'',

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 ...

, four acts, 19 April 1877, Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques * ''Le chevalier Gaston'', one act, 8 February 1879, Opéra,

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

* ''Les voltigeurs de la 32ème'', three acts, 7 January 1880, Renaissance * ''La cantinière'', three acts, 26 October 1880, Théâtre de Nouveautés * ''

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 ...

'' (''Rip-Rip''), three acts, 14 October 1882,

Comedy Theatre The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

* ''Les chevaux-légers'', one act, 1882 * ''

'' (''La princesse Colombine''), three acts, 7 February 1884,

Avenue Theatre The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square, central London. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt in ...

, London * ''La crémaillere'', three acts, 28 November 1885, Nouveautés * '' Surcouf'', three acts, 6 October 1887, Folies-Dramatiques * ''Captain Thérése'', 1887, three acts, 25 August 1890, Prince of Wales Theatre, London * ''La cocarde tricolore'', three acts, 12 February 1892, Folies-Dramatiques * ''Le talisman'', three acts, 20 January 1893, Théâtre de la Gaîté * ''Les vingt-huit jours de Champignolette'', 17 September 1895, République * ''Panurge'', 1895, three acts, 22 November 1895, Gaîté * ''Mam'zelle Quat'sous'', four acts, 19 April 1897 Gaîté * ''Le fiancé de Margot'', one act, 1900 * ''Le paradis de Mahomet'', three acts, completed by Louis Ganne, 15 May 1906, Variétés

Sources

* *Sadie, S. (ed.) (1980) ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians'', ol. # 14 *Obituary for Robert Planquette in ''The Musical Times'', Vol. 44, No. 721 (Mar. 1, 1903), p. 177

External links

Robert Planquette
on data.bnf.fr
Information about Planquette and ''Les Cloches de Corneville''

Dickson Experimental Sound Film
brief discussion of film's recovery and restoration, with downloadable version of the film; part of the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Planquette, Robert Musicians from Paris 1848 births 1903 deaths French Romantic composers French operetta composers French musical theatre composers French opera composers Male opera composers Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 20th-century French male musicians 19th-century French male musicians