Frédéric Bérat (11 March 1801,

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

– 2 December 1855,

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 ...

) was a French composer,

chansonnier A chansonnier (, , Galician and , or ''canzoniéro'', ) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally " song-books"; however, some manuscripts are call ...

and

goguettier A goguette () was a singing society in France and Belgium, and its members were called ''goguettiers''. As well as providing venues for informal solo and ensemble singing, goguettes also served as places for drinking, socialising, and recreation. ...

. His best known song is ''

Ma Normandie "Ma Normandie" was the official regional anthem of the Bailiwick of Jersey, a British Crown dependency in the Channel Islands, and was written and composed by Frédéric Bérat. Jersey is historically part of the Duchy of Normandy, and French ...

'', the official anthem of the

Bailiwick of Jersey A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. In English, the original French combi ...

Biography

He was the sixth of seven children born to Jean Charles Bérat, a wealthy trader in leather and oils. His older brother, , began as a designer, but also became a chansonnier. It was intended that Frédéric would take over the family business. While studying at a local preparatory school, he also began taking

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

lessons from a private teacher. When his studies were completed, he went to Paris, where he found employment with Chevreux-Aubertot, a large trader in textiles. During his years there, he taught himself how to play the piano. Soon he was seeking advice from

Charles-Henri Plantade Charles-Henri Plantade (14 October 1764 – 18 December 1839) was a French classical composer and singing professor. His compositions included several operas, numerous Romance (music), romances, sacred music, and a sonata for harp. He taught singi ...

, concerning composition and harmony, and began writing songs that he performed for a close circle of friends. As he felt more confident, he started to attend meetings of the "". He ended by quitting his job to become a singer.

Pierre-Jean de Béranger Pierre-Jean de Béranger (; 19 August 1780 – 16 July 1857) was a prolific France, French poet and Chansonnier (singer), chansonnier (songwriter), who enjoyed great popularity and influence in France during his lifetime, but faded into obscurity ...

, the songwriter, became his close friend and worked to promote his career. He wrote several successful songs during the 1840s, but his best known is one of his first: ''Ma Normandie'' (1836), which was adopted as an anthem by Jersey and is still a regional favorite in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. More than a million copies were printed during his lifetime, and it continues to be reissued periodically.Théophile Marion Dumersan
Chansons nationales et populaires de France, accompagnées de notes historiques et littéraires
', Éditions Garnier frères, Paris, 1866. He was interred at the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise. A street and a plaza in Rouen have been named after him. In 1905, a monument dedicated to him and his brother Eustache was erected in Rouen's . It was designed by .

References

External links

Musical Manuscripts Collection
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, is an archive, library, and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berat, Frederic 1801 births 1855 deaths Musicians from Rouen French male composers Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 19th-century French composers 19th-century French male musicians

Biography

References

Further reading

External links