Georges Adolphe Hüe (6 May 1858 – 7 June 1948) 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 ...

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

Biography

Hüe was born in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

into a noted family of architects. His musical education included studies with

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 ...

and

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

. In 1879, he won 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 ...

with his

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 ...

''Médée''. Upon his return to Paris, the Opéra Comique produced his first stage work, ''Les Pantins'' ("The Jumping Jacks"). This plotless, two-act set-piece for four singers doubling roles completely ignored fashionable realist trends of the day, and won high acclaim. For the next twenty years, his musical career went in other directions. Hüe returned to the stage with his first full-length opera, ''Le Roi de Paris'', a historical drama with a subplot about unrequited love. His follow-up opera was ''Titania''. Stimulated by fantasy and

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, this work is noteworthy for its

impressionistic Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

woodland scenes for chorus and orchestra. In 1910, the Opéra produced ''Le Miracle'', a grand five-act work combining the

mythological Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

story of Pygmalion with a religious miracle. Hüe's most successful work with the public was ''Dans l'ombre de la cathédrale'', whose topical plot was driven by the conflicting ideals of

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. The opera was revived several times in the 1920s. Following his own travels to the Far East, he wrote ''Siang-Sin'', a ballet-pantomime created for a Chinese spring festival in 1924. His final stage work was based on a

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , , ; 12 January 162816 May 1703) was a French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales, published in his ...

. During his lifetime, Hüe wrote a broad range of other compositions, of which his choral works are most noteworthy. Some pieces for

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

are occasionally performed, including ''Fantaisie'' for flute and orchestra (composed in 1913 for flute and piano and orchestrated in 1923Musopen
/ref>), written for Adolphe Hennebains, professor of the

Paris Conservatory 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 ...

. Hüe's music met with limited success mainly because his style did not change with the times. However, he was an often inspired composer whose works garnered the admiration of several famous colleagues, including

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

and

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. ...

. He died in Paris in 1948.

Operas

*''Les Pantins'', opéra comique (2 acts, E. Montagne), f.p. 28 December 1881, Opéra Comique (Favart), Paris. *''Le Roi de Paris'', opéra (3 acts, H. Bouchut), f.p. 26 April 1901, Opéra, Paris. *''Titania'', opéra (3 acts, L. Gallet & A. Corneau), f.p. 20 January 1903, Opéra Comique (Favart), Paris. *''Le Miracle'', opéra (5 acts, P.B. Gheusi & A. Mérane), f.p. 14 December 1910, Opéra, Paris. *''Dans l'ombre de la cathédrale'', opéra (3 acts, M. Léna & H. Ferrare, after Blasco Ibanez), f.p. 7 December 1921, Opéra, Paris. *''Siang-Sin'', ballet-pantomime (2 acts, P. Jobbé-Duval), f.p. 12 March 1924, Opéra, Paris. *''Riquet à la houppe'' ("Prince Riquet with the Tuft") comédie-musicale (3 acts, R. Gastambide, after Perrault), f.p. 17 December 1928, Opéra Comique (Favart), Paris.

Bibliography

*Richard Langham Smith: "Hüe, Georges (Adolphe)", in: Stanley Sadie (ed.): ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', vol. 2 (London & New York: MacMillan, 1992); .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hue, Georges 1858 births 1948 deaths 19th-century French classical composers 20th-century French classical composers French opera composers French male opera composers Impressionist composers Musicians from Versailles Prix de Rome for composition French Romantic composers 20th-century French male musicians 19th-century French male musicians