Charles-Gaston Levadé (3 January 1869 – 27 October 1948) was a French composer. A pupil of

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...

, Grand

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 ...

in 1863, Levadé wrote

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

, melodies, religious music, drama and opéras comiques. He was very successful in his time.

Life

Levadé was born in the

9th arrondissement of Paris The 9th arrondissement of Paris (''IXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as (; "ninth"). The arrondissement, called Opéra, is located on the right bank of th ...

. At the age of 13 he entered 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 ...

where he followed the solfège classes of

Albert Lavignac Alexandre Jean Albert Lavignac (21 January 1846 – 28 May 1916) was a French music scholar, known for his essays on theory, and a minor composer. Biography Lavignac was born in Paris and studied with Antoine François Marmontel, François Ben ...

, Charles de Bériot,

Georges Mathias Georges Amédée Saint-Clair Mathias (; 14 October 182614 October 1910) was a French composer, pianist and teacher. Alongside his teaching work, Georges Mathias was a very active concert pianist. Biography Mathias was born in Paris. He studied a ...

, and Auguste Bazille. A few years later, at Lavignac's that he met

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born 17 May 18661 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoire but was an undi ...

who dedicated one of his '' Ogives'' and one of his ''

Gymnopédies The ''Gymnopédies'' (), or ''Trois Gymnopédies'' ('Three Nude Dances"), are three piano compositions written by French composer and pianist Erik Satie. He completed the whole set by 2 April 1898, but they were at first published individually ...

'' to him. He was a student of

, of whom he wrote in 1911, in the ''Annales politiques et littéraires'', 17 December 1911: After Massenet's resignation in 1896, Levadé attended the classes of Charles Lenepveu and obtained the Grand Prix de Rome in 1899 with his cantata ''Callirhoe'' to a text by Eugène Adénis. In 1895 he produced a Japanese pantomime: ''Coeur de magots'', a "sketch" given at the "Grand Guignol" in 1897, and a "salon opera" in 1903. He wrote a three-act opera: ''The Heretics'', a lyrical tragedy on a poem by

Ferdinand Hérold Louis Joseph Ferdinand Herold (28 January 1791 – 19 January 1833), better known as Ferdinand Hérold (), was a French composer. He was celebrated in his lifetime for his operas, of which he composed more than twenty, but he also wrote ballet mus ...

. In 1908, he composed the music for ''La Courtisane de Corinthe'', to a text by

Michel Carré Michel Carré (; 20 October 1821, Besançon – 27 June 1872, Argenteuil) was a prolific French librettist. He went to Paris in 1840 intending to become a painter but took up writing instead. He wrote verse and plays before turning to writing li ...

and Paul Bilhaud which was staged in 1908 by

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...

, then ''Les Fiançailles de l'ami Fritz'', after Erckmann-Chatrian in 1919. Other musical adaptations of literary texts include ''Le Capitaine Fracasse'', libretto by Émile Bergerat and Michel Carré, lyrical comedy from

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

's eponymous novel and in 1929, ''La Peau de chagrin'', lyrical comedy in four acts after Balzac, libretto by Pierre Decourcelle and Michel Carré, then ''La Rôtisserie de la reine Pédauque'', lyrical comedy in four acts based on the novel by

Anatole France (; born ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters.religious music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for Religion, religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as a ri ...

: Prélude religieux for organ, ''Agnus Dei'' for choir, Psaume CXIII for solo, choir and orchestra. Levadé died in

Cabourg Cabourg (; ) is a commune in the Calvados department, region of Normandy, France. Cabourg is on the coast of the English Channel, at the mouth of the river Dives. The back country is a plain, favourable to the culture of cereal. The town sits ...

on 27 October 1948.

Selected works

* ''Antigone'', cantata, 1893 * ''Clarisse Harlowe'', cantata, 1895 * ''Cœur de Magots'', japanese pantomime, 1895 * ''Mélusine'', cantata, 1896 * ''Hortense, couche-toi !'' by Georges Courteline, Théâtre du Grand-Guignol, 1897 * ''Callirhoé'', cantata, 1899 * ''L’amour d’Héliodora'', Salon Opera, 1903 *
Les Hérétiques
', poem by Ferdinand Hérold, à

Béziers Béziers (; ) is a city in southern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. Every August Béziers ho ...

, libretto by Ferdinand Hérold. 1905 * Stage music for ''La Courtisane de Corinthe''''La Courtisane de Corinthe''
on Bibliothèque nationale de France by

and Paul Bilhaud, 1908 * ''Les Fiançailles de l'ami Fritz'' by Jean-Marc d’Anthoine, 1919 * ''La Rôtisserie de la reine Pédauque'', adapted by , 1920 * ''Caroles de Noël'', opera, 1923 * ''Sophie'', opéra comique after

Louis Tiercelin Louis Tiercelin (Rennes, 1846 - Paramé, 1915), was a French writer, poet and playwright associated with the Breton cultural renaissance of the early 20th century. He debuted at the age of 18 with two plays performed at the theatre of Rennes. He ...

, Georges Docquois and Alfred Aubert, 1923 * ''La Peau de chagrin'', lyrical comedy based on Honoré de Balzac's

La Peau de chagrin ''La Peau de chagrin'' (, ''The Skin of Shagreen''), known in English as ''The Magic Skin'' and ''The Wild Ass's Skin'', is an 1831 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850). Set in early 19th-century Paris, it tel ...

by Pierre Decourcelle and Michel Carré, 1929 * ''Le Capitaine Fracasse'', comedy by Émile Bergerat and Michel Carré based on the novel of the same name by

* ''Prélude religieux'' for string orchestre * ''Danses alsaciennes'' for Grand Orchestra * ''Feuilles d’album'' for Grand Orchestra * ''Arrichino'' for piano * ''Berceuse'' for piano and violin * ''Prélude religieux'' for

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

* ''Agnus Dei'' for Choir * ''Psaume CXIII'' for Soli, Choir and Orchestra

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Levade, Charles 1869 births 1948 deaths Composers from Paris Conservatoire de Paris alumni French classical composers French male classical composers Prix de Rome for composition