Edmee Sophie Gail née Garre (28 August 1775 – 24 July 1819) was a renowned French singer and composer, famous for writing romances (a French song genre) and ''

opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular ''opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Théâtre de la foire, Fair Theatres of St Germain and S ...

''.

Life

Sophie Garre was born 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 ...

in the parish of Saint Sulpice, the daughter of Marie-Louise Adelaide Colloz and surgeon Claude-Francois Garre (1730–1799). She studied piano as a child and published her first composition, a romance, at the age of 14. At the age of 19, she married editor

Jean-Baptiste Gail Jean-Baptiste Gail (1755–1829) was a French Greece, Hellenist scholar, member of the Institut de France (French Institute). Early years Gail was born in Paris on July 4, 1755. In 1791 he was appointed deputy, and in 1792 titular professor at th ...

(1755–1829) and had one son,

Jean François Gail 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 d ...

. She and her husband divorced in 1801, and Sophie Garre toured as a singer in Europe. She studied with Fétis, Perne and Sigismund Neukomm and wrote an opera comique as her first work for theater. Her compositions were praised by the critique Castil-Blaze as "the best works in this genre that flowed from the pen of a woman". Her works were very popular during her lifetime, with her two most popular operas accruing more than 250 performances. She died in Paris of tuberculosis at the age of 43.

Works

Selected works include: *1797, ''Deus airs'' for the drama ''Montoni'' *1813, ''Les deux jaloux'', opéra comique in 1 act *1814, ''Il est vrai que Thibaut mérite'', romance *1853, ''Ma Fanchette est charmante'', trio *1813, ''Mademoiselle de Launay à la Bastille'', opéra-comique in 1 act *1813 ''Ma liberté, ma liberté'', romance *1814, ''Angela ou L'atelier de Jean Cousin'', opéra comique in 1 act *1814, ''La Méprise'', opéra comique in 1 act *1818, ''La Sérénade'', opéra *1807, ''N'est-ce pas elle'', romance with piano accompaniment *1807, ''La jeune et charmante Isabelle'', romance *1808, ''Heure de soir'', romance with piano and harp accompaniment *1814, ''Les devoirs du chevalier'', romance on a poème de Creuzé de Lesser *1814, ''Variations concertantes'' for flute and piano *1861, ''Transcription variée de Moeris'' for piano *1815, ''Prière aux songes'', nocturne à deux voix sur un poème de M. Cheurlin, with piano and harp accompaniment *1815, ''Le souvenir du diable'' *1838, ''Le Diable'', chansonnette sur un poème d'Arnault with piano *1838, ''A mes fleurs'', with piano *1820, ''Les langueurs et le Le Serment'', nocturnes with piano

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gail, Sophie 1775 births 1819 deaths 18th-century French classical composers 19th-century French classical composers French opera composers Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery French women opera composers 19th-century French women composers 18th-century women composers