Nicolas-François Guillard (; 16 January 1752 – 26 December 1814) was a French

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

. He was born in

Chartres Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...

and died in Paris, the recipient of a government pension in recognition of his work writing librettos. He was also on ''Comité de Lecture'' of the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

. One of the foremost of the French librettist of his generation, he wrote libretti for many noted composers of the day, including Salieri (''

Les Horaces ''Les Horaces'' (''The Horatii'') is an operatic tragédie lyrique by Antonio Salieri. The text was by Nicolas-François Guillard after Pierre Corneille's ''Horace''. The opera was commissioned by the Paris Opera after the success of Salieri's ...

'') and in particular Sacchini (''

Œdipe à Colone () is an operatic tragédie lyrique by Antonio Sacchini first performed at Versailles on 4 January 1786 in the presence of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The libretto, by Nicolas-François Guillard, is based on the play ''Oedipus at Colonu ...

'', amongst many others). His most famous work is ''

Iphigénie en Tauride ''Iphigénie en Tauride'' (, ''Iphigenia in Tauris'') is a 1779 opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck in four acts. It was his fifth opera for the French stage. The libretto was written by Nicolas-François Guillard. With ''Iphigénie,'' Gluck too ...

'', his first libretto, set by

Gluck Christoph Willibald ( Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire at ...

after the composer had initially rejected it. Gluck collaborated with Guillard to heavily recast the libretto, not only to suit Gluck's artistic preferences, but also to accommodate pre-existing music that Gluck borrowed, both from himself and from other composers, when composing the opera. Guillard's librettos were often adaptations of previously written works, rather than the products of original invention. He used a wide range of subjects as a starting point, basing his libretto for Sacchini's final opera, '' Arvire et Évélina'', on an English dramatic poem and also using the works of

Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; ; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great 17th-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronage ...

on two occasions. In the 1790s he altered his style to fit the revolutionary atmosphere of the time, one of his last works being the epic ''

La mort d'Adam ''La mort d'Adam'' (, ) is a tragédie lyrique on a biblical theme in 3 acts by Jean-François Le Sueur with a French libretto by Nicolas-François Guillard after Klopstock, first performed in 1809, though written a few years earlier. Musicologi ...

'', where he turned to biblical themes.

Works

*1779: ''

'', opera in 4 acts, music by

Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of th ...

, premiered at the

Académie royale de musique The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

, 18 May. *1781: ''Émilie ou La Belle Esclave'', comédie lyrique in 1 act, music by

André Grétry André Ernest Modeste Grétry (; baptised 11 February 1741; died 24 September 1813) was a composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (present-day Belgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous ...

, premiered at the Académie royale de musique, 22 February. *1782: '' Électre'', opera in 3 acts, music by Jean-Baptiste Moyne, premiered at the Académie royale de musique, 2 July. *1783: '' Chimène ou le Cid'', opera in 3 acts, music by Antonio Sacchini, premiered at

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

. *1784: '' Dardanus'', three-act tragedy, after Charles-Antoine Leclerc de La Bruère, music by Antonio Sacchini, premiered at Trianon,

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 ...

, 18 September. *1786: ''

'',

tragédie lyrique This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most co ...

in 3 acts mingled with intermedes, music by

Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian composer and teacher of the classical period (music), classical period. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subje ...

, premiered at Fontainebleau, 2 November. *1786: ''

'', opera in 3 acts, music by Antonio Sacchini, premiered at Versailles, 4 January *1788: '' Arvire et Evélina'', tragédie lyrique in 3 acts, music by Antonio Sacchini, premiered at the Académie royale de musique, 29 April. *1790: ''Louis IX en Égypte'', opera in 3 acts, with François Andrieux, music by Jean-Baptiste Moyne, premiered at the Académie royale de musique, 15 June; *1792: ''Elfride'', heroic drama in 3 acts, music by Jean-Baptiste Moyne, premiered at the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

, 17 December. *1793: ''Miltiade à Marathon'', opera in 2 acts, music by Jean-Baptiste Moyne, presented at the

Opéra de Paris The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

brumaire Brumaire () was the second month in the French Republican calendar. The month was named after the French 'fog', which occurs frequently in France at that time of the year. Brumaire was the second month of the autumn quarter (''mois d'automne ...

an II (5 November) *1794: '' Proserpine'', tragédie lyrique in 3 acts, after the libretto by

Philippe Quinault Philippe Quinault (; 3 June 1635 – 26 November 1688) was a French dramatist and librettist. Biography Quinault was born in Paris. He was educated by the liberality of François Tristan l'Hermite, the author of ''Marianne''. Quinault's fi ...

, music by

Giovanni Paisiello Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born i ...

, presented at the Opéra de Paris, 8 germinal an II (28 March) *1798: ''Olimpie'', tragédie lyrique in 3 acts, music by Christian Kalkbrenner, presented at the Théâtre de la République et des Arts à Paris, 18

frimaire Frimaire () was the third month in the French Republican calendar. The month was named after the French word ''frimas'' 'frost'. Frimaire was the third month of the autumn quarter (''mois d'automne''). It started between 21 November and 23 Novem ...

an VII (8 December) *1801: ''Le Casque et les colombes'', opéra-ballet in one act, music by André Grétry, premiered at the Opéra de Paris, 7 November. *1809: ''

La Mort d'Adam ''La mort d'Adam'' (, ) is a tragédie lyrique on a biblical theme in 3 acts by Jean-François Le Sueur with a French libretto by Nicolas-François Guillard after Klopstock, first performed in 1809, though written a few years earlier. Musicologi ...

'', religious tragédie lyrique, music by

Jean-François Lesueur Jean-François () is a French given name. Notable people bearing the given name include: * Jean-François Carenco (born 1952), French politician * Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832), French Egyptologist * Jean-François Clervoy (born 1958), ...

References

External links

Nicolas-François Guillard
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Guillard, Nicolasfrancois 1752 births 1814 deaths French opera librettists Writers from Chartres 18th-century French dramatists and playwrights 18th-century French male writers

Works

References

Further reading

See also

External links