Henri Christiné
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Henri Marius Christiné (27 December 1867 – 25 November 1941) was a French composer of Swiss birth. The son of a French
Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...
ard watchmaker, Christiné was born in
Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
, Switzerland. He began by teaching at the
lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...
in Geneva, while pursuing his interest in music and playing organ in a local church. He married a cafe singer whose troupe was passing through Geneva, and went with her to
Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionFrance France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, writing songs firstly for his wife and then for popular singers such as Mayol, Dranem, and Fragson. He also conducted for the
music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...
at the Place Clichy. Although Christiné wrote some
operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...
s for the Scala theatre in
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 ...
before the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, his career took off when he had his operetta '' Phi-Phi'' staged the day of the
Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...
on 11 November 1918, with words by Albert Willemetz and Fabien Solar and which ran for three years at the Bouffes-Parisiens. This success was followed by '' Dédé'' in 1921, ''Madame'' (1923) and ''J'adore ça'' (1925). These works were in the forefront of a new fashion in music-theatre: sparkling, witty, jazzy musical plays. Christiné's tunes often build on repeated refrains of six or seven notes (a 'hook') which made them catchy and popular for contemporary audiences. In the 1930s Christiné contributed to the renewed fashion for more large-scale spectacular musicals, with pieces for the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, ''Au temps des Merveilleuses'' and ''Yana''; for these he wrote the more vibrant numbers, while Richepin did the romantic songs. "Le Bonheur, Mesdames" and "Le Flirt ambulant" were rearrangements of his songs from the 1900s. He died in Nice, France. ''Phi-Phi'' and ''Dédé'' are still occasionally revived in France.


Works

*1903 : ''Service d'amour'', Brussels *1904 : ''Mam'zelle Chichi'', Paris *1907 : ''Les Vierges du harem'', Brussels *1908 : ''Cinq minutes d'amour'', Paris *1918 : '' Phi-Phi'', Paris *1921 : '' Dédé'', Paris *1923 : ''Madame'', Paris *1925 : ''J'adore ça''; ''PLM'',( Le Train Bleu) Paris *1926 : ''J'aime !'', Paris *1929 : ''Arthur'', Paris *1931 : ''Encore cinquante centimes'' (with Maurice Yvain), Paris *1933 : ''La Madone du promenoir''; ''L'Affaire Brocs'', Paris *1934 : ''Le Bonheur, mesdames !''; ''Au temps des Merveilleuses'' (with Tiarko Richepin) *1934 : ''La Poule''; ''Yana'' (with Tiarko Richepin)


Songs

*"Le beau gosse" *"Jamais en colère" *"A la Martinique" *"Le long du Missouri" *"La Baya" *"La petite dame du Métro" *"Dans la vie faut pas s'en faire" *"Oh ! Maurice" *"Je sais que vous êtes jolie" *"Ah ! Voui" *"L'amour" *"L'amour qui rit" *"Un bon mouvement" *"Le beau môme" *"Chanson des petits païens *"Elle n'est pas si mal que ça" *"Faut jamais dire ça aux femmes" *"Je suis républican" *"Mon cœur" *"Pas pour moi" *"Quand un soldat.." *"Que je n'ose pas dire" *"Viens poupoule !" *"Si j'avais su" *"La Petite Tonkinoise" (1905) *"Elle est épatante" *"Je connais une blonde" *"Reviens" *" Valentine" *The Medinettes (Suzy)"


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Christine, Henri 1867 births 1941 deaths French operetta composers French opera composers French male opera composers French male conductors (music) French conductors (music) Recipients of the Legion of Honour Scientists from Geneva