Jean François Gail (1795–1845) was a French classicist, the only son of the prolific hellenist and editor Jean-Baptiste Gail (1755–1829), and his wife Sophie Gail (1775–1819), a singer and composer. His parents married with two decades difference in their ages and were divorced in 1801.

Career

Gail was musical. He wrote many words for songs by

Luigi Cherubini Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 SeptemberWillis, in Sadie (Ed.), p. 833 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethov ...

, and for

Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

he wrote the libretto for the cantata '' La mort de Sardanapale'' (1830), the last, of Berlioz' four attempts at 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 ...

. His text for the Prix de Rome cantata of Hippolyte-Raymond Colet (''L'entrée en Loge'', 1834) also proved successful for that composer. In his ''Réflexions sur le goût musical en France'' (1832) he criticized French composers who were dazzled by the success of

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

and were tempted to imitate him.Noted by Steven Huebner, "Italianate duets in Meyerbeer's grand operas", ''Journal of Musicological Research'', 8.3–4 (1989) pp203-58. His work ''Dissertation sur le Périple de Seylax: Et sur l'époque présumée de sa rédaction'' (1825) marks the beginning of modern critical study of the ''

Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax The ''Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax'' is an ancient Greek periplus (περίπλους ''períplous'', 'circumnavigation') describing the sea route around the Mediterranean and Black Sea. It probably dates from the mid-4th century BC, specifically t ...

''. He also edited texts of other minor Greek writers on geography.

Selected works

*''Récherches sur la nature du culte de Bacchus en Grèce, et sur l'origine de la diversité de ses rites'' ''Mémoire qui a remporté le prix proposé à l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, le 23 juillet 1819''. Paris: Gail Neveu & Treuttel et Würtz, 1821. xii, 368 pp. *''Dissertation sur le Périple de Seylax: Et sur l'époque présumée de sa rédaction'' *''Geographi Graeci Minores: Arriani Periplum Ponti Euxini; Anonymi Periplum Ponti Euxini; Anonymi (Alterius) Periplum Ponti Euxini et Maeotidis'' * (with Matthiae) ''Grammaire raisonnée de la langue grecque: Syntaxe'' (1831, 1836)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gail, Jean Francois French librettists French male writers 1795 births 1845 deaths