Amélie-Julie Candeille

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Amélie-Julie Candeille (31 July 1767–4 February 1834) was a French composer, librettist, writer, singer, actress and instrumentalist.

Candeille, like many women musicians of her time, came from a musical family. Her father, Pierre Joseph Candeille, was also a composer and singer and was her primary teacher. Some have speculated that her father’s deeply invested interest in his daughter’s education was an effort to bolster his career. Candeille performed extensively while still a child. By the age of 13 she had performed in public as a singer, pianist and harpist, as well as for the king. At the age of 15 she sang the title role in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide. At 16 Candeille made her fortepiano debut at the Concert Spirituel, where she performed a concerto by Clementi. The following year she debuted a concerto that she composed. A reporter from the Mercure de France said:

"Miss Candeille, who has a very pleasing face and figure, brings to a special talent for the fortepiano, acquired as a composer, new claims to applause. The concerto, which she performed very well, is charmingly cast, and she cannot be too much encouraged in the cultivation of an art in which she promises so well." (found in Sadie, 200)

In order to support her family, Candeille took to the stage, and made her debut at the Comédie-Française in September 1785. After receiving mixed reviews on her performances she left the troup in 1789 and traveled in the northern provinces. Candeille composed her first pieces of dramatic music during her travels. In 1790 Candeille returned to the stage, joining the Théâtre de la République. It was here that she debuted her most famous opera, Catherine, ou La belle fermière, in 1792. Candeille wrote the words and music for the opera and performed in the title role. It was performed over 150 times in the next 35 years and received some international acclaim, prompting numerous editions of arrangements of the airs with harp or piano accompaniment.

She was never able to duplicate the success of Catherine. Though she did compose other comedic operas, none of the scores survived. Other compositions include a keyboard concerto, piano sonatas (some with violin accompaniment), duos for pianos, fantasies and variations for piano, and songs with French texts.

Candeille was often criticized for her vanity, and received many unfavorable reviews in Parisian papers. Some suggested that her success with Catherine was a result of her father assisting in composition. After such a critical article appeared in the Jounral de Paris after the debut of her second opera, La bayadère, Candeille published a passionate response:

"When persecution pursues me, when injustice and calumny seek my ruin, I must, for my supporters – and myself – repudiate the treacherous insinuations of those who would still wish to rob me of public esteem after having cheated all my efforts to give pleasure. Never did an insensitive pride, never did an arrogant pretension, guide me in the service of the arts. Submissiveness and necessity led me to the theater; propensity for and the love of this work emboldened me to write. These two sources united are my sole means or survival. The need to support my family, other more onerous responsibilities, my present needs, and above all the uncertainty of the future – these are my reasons for speaking out. I dare to believe that had they known, my detractors themselves would not have been able to resolve to make me the object of ridicule and aversion, while I become that of forbearance and countenance." (found in Neuls-Bates, 88)

Contemporary discussions of Candeille’s works highlight the supremacy of melody and use of simple harmonies used throughout her works. She composed in the style of Grétry, whom she greatly admired. Her works for keyboard, which she composed for her personal performances, are virtuosic. Candeille also worked throughout her lifetime to support the work of other women musicians, including the dedication of many of works to Hélène de Montgeroult and Pauline Duchambge.

[edit] Works

Candeille composed a total of 8 works for stage, only one of which (Catherine, ou La Belle fermière) is extant. Other surviving works include a concerto for keyboard, three keyboard sonatas, and a duo for piano. Many works, which are lost, including additional keyboard sonatas, duos, fantasias and variations.

Modern editions of the concerto for keyboard, three arias and the overture from Catherine are available through Hildegard Publishing (http://www.hildegard.com)

[edit] References

• Goertzen, Valerie Woodring. “The Eighteenth Century.” In From Convent to Concert Hall: A Guide to Women Composers, ed. Sylvia Glickman and Martha Furman Schleifer, 91-152. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003.
• Letzter, Jacqueline and Robert Adelson. Women Writing Opera: Creativity and Controversy in the Age of the French Revolution. Berkely: University of California Press, 2001.
• Neusl-Bates, Carol. Women in Music: An Anthology of Source Readings from the Middle Ages to the Present. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1996.
• Rushton, Julian, et al.: 'Candeille, Julie', Grove Music Online (Accessed 14 February 2007), <http://www.grovemusic.com/shared/views/article.html?section=music.04725>
• Saide, Julie Anne. “Musiciennes of the Ancien Régime.” In Women Making Music: The Western Art Tradition, 1150-1950, ed. Jane Bowers and Judith Tick, 91-223. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1987.

[edit] Discography

• Mostly Romantic Music by Women Composers. Sonata no. 1. Selma Epstien, piano. Chromattica (1987). 1 Sound cassette.
• Women Composers: An International Sampler. Grande Sonata no.1. Selma Epstein, piano. Chromattica (1988). 1 Sound cassette.