Émile Paladilhe (3 June 1844 – 6 January 1926) 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 the late romantic period.

Biography

Émile Paladilhe was born in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

. He was a musical

child prodigy A child prodigy is, technically, a child under the age of 10 who produces meaningful work in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to describe young people who are extraordinarily talented in some f ...

, and moved from his home in the south of France to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to begin his studies at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

at age 10. He became an accomplished

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

, and was the youngest winner of the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

, three years after

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the 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'', which has become ...

, in 1860. For a time Galli-Marié was his lover, and she helped create some of his works. Paladilhe married the daughter of the librettist

Ernest Legouvé Gabriel Jean Baptiste Ernest Wilfrid Legouvé (; 14 February 180714 March 1903) was a French dramatist. Biography Son of the poet Gabriel-Marie Legouvé (1764–1812), he was born in Paris. His mother died in 1810, and almost immediately aft ...

. He formed a friendship with the elderly

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

Works

He wrote a number of compositions for the stage, a

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

, over a hundred

mélodie A ''mélodie'' () is a form of French art song, arising in the mid-19th century. It is comparable to the German '' Lied''. A ''chanson'', by contrast, is a folk or popular French song. The literal meaning of the word in the French language is " ...

s, piano works, and a wide range of sacred music, including

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

s, masses, chorales, and a noted

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

, ''Les Saintes-Marie de la mer''. His opera ''Patrie!'' of 1886 was his greatest success, and was one of the last

grand opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and Orchestra, orchestras. The original productions consisted of spectacular design and stage effects with plots normally based on o ...

s to premiere at the

Paris Opéra 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 kn ...

. It was a piece d'occasion, created for a gala in honour of the French colony in Monaco, but had a Flemish-nationalist theme. The librettists were

Victorien Sardou Victorien Sardou ( , ; 5 September 1831 – 8 November 1908) was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play. He also wrote several plays that were made into popular 19th-c ...

and

Louis Gallet Louis Gallet (14 February 1835 in Valence, Drôme – 16 October 1898) was a French writer of operatic libretti, plays, romances, memoirs, pamphlets, and innumerable articles, who is remembered above all for his adaptations of fiction —and ...

Le guide musical ''Le Guide musical'' (English: The Music Guide) was a weekly French-language Belgian and French classical music periodical founded 1 March 1855 in Brussels by Peter Bernhard Schott (1821–1873), of the Brussels music publishing house Schott frèr ...

'' 54 1908 "La semaine dernière, nous avons eu, au Théâtre royal français, la première représentation de Patrie, grand-opéra en cinq actes, poème de Victorien Sardou et Gallet, musique de Paladilhe, qui fut exécuté pour la première fois au théâtre " A few of Paladilhe's works for solo

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and Ree ...

and solo

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound produ ...

are still performed today, the most notable being his ''Solo pour hautbois'', alternatively titled ''Solo de concert'', written in 1898.

Operas

*''La fiancée d'Abydos'', 1864–66, fragments *''Le passant'',

opéra-comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

in one act, (F. Coppée), first performed (f.p.)

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

, 24 April 1872 *''L'amour africain'', opéra-comique in two act, (E. Le Gouvé), f.p. Opéra-Comique, 8 May 1875 *''Suzanne'', opéra-comique in 3 acts, (de Lockroy & Cormon), f.p. Opéra-Comique, 30 December 1878 *''Diana'', opéra-comique in 3 acts, (Regnier & Normand), f.p. Opéra-Comique, 23 February 1885 *'' Patrie!'', grand opera in 5 acts, (Sardou & Gallet), f.p.

Opéra de Paris 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 kn ...

(

Palais Garnier The (, Garnier Palace), also known as (, Garnier Opera), is a historic 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from 1861 to 1875 at the ...

), 16 December 1886 *''Vanina'', opéra in 4 acts, (Legouvé & Gallet), composed 1890 (unperformed) *''Dalila'', opéra in 3 acts, (Feuillet et Gallet), composed 1896 (unperformed)

References

External links

Classical Archives site
(in French) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paladilhe, Emile 1844 births 1926 deaths Musicians from Montpellier Conservatoire de Paris alumni French classical composers French opera composers French male opera composers Prix de Rome for composition French composers of sacred music Pupils of Antoine François Marmontel Officers of the Legion of Honour Members of the Académie des beaux-arts