André Ernest Modeste Grétry

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André Ernest Modeste Grétry
André Ernest Modeste Grétry

André Ernest Modeste Grétry (February 8, 1741 – September 24, 1813) was a composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (present-day Belgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality.

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[edit] Biography

He was born at Liège, his father being a poor musician. He was a choir-boy at the church of Saint-Denis.

Grétry wearing his medal from the Légion d'honneur
Grétry wearing his medal from the Légion d'honneur

In 1753 he became a pupil of Leclerc and later of the organist at St-Pierre de Liège, Nicolas Rennekin, for keyboard and composition and of Henri Moreau, music master at the collegiate church of St. Paul. But of greater importance was the practical tuition he received by attending the performance of an Italian opera company. Here he heard the operas of Galuppi, Pergolesi, and other masters; and the desire of completing his own studies in Italy was the immediate result. To find the necessary means he composed in 1759 a mass which he dedicated to the canons of the Liège cathedral, and it was at the cost of Canon Hurley that he went to Italy in March 1759. In Rome he went to the Collège de Liège. Here Grétry resided for five years, studiously employed in completing his musical education under Casali. His proficiency in harmony and counterpoint was, however, according to his own confession, at all times very moderate.

His first great success was achieved by La vendemmiatrice, an Italian intermezzo or operetta, composed for the Aliberti theatre in Rome and received with universal applause. It is said that the study of the score of one of Monsigny's operas, lent to him by a secretary of the French embassy in Rome, decided Grétry to devote himself to French comic opera. On New Year's day 1767 he accordingly left Rome, and after a short stay at Geneva (where he made the acquaintance of Voltaire, and produced another operetta) went to Paris.

There for two years he had to contend with the difficulties incident to poverty and obscurity. He was, however, not without friends, and by the intercession of Count Creutz, the Swedish ambassador, Grétry obtained a libretto from Marmontel, which he set to music in less than six weeks, and which, on its performance in August 1768, met with unparalleled success. The name of the opera was Le Huron. Two others, Lucile and Le Tableau parlant, soon followed, and thenceforth Grétry's position as the leading composer of comic opera was safely established.

Altogether he composed some fifty operas. His masterpieces are Zémire et Azor and Richard Cœur de Lion,—the first produced in 1771, the second in 1784. The latter in an indirect way became connected with a great historic event. In it occurs the celebrated romance, O Richard, O mon Roi, l'univers t'abandonne, which was sung at the banquet—"fatal as that of Thyestes," remarks Carlyle—given by the bodyguard to the officers of the Versailles garrison on October 3, 1789. La Marseillaise not long afterwards became the reply of the people to the expression of loyalty borrowed from Grétry's opera. Richard Cœur de Lion was translated and adapted for the English stage by John Burgoyne.

His opera-ballet La caravane du Caire, with modest turquerie exoticism in harp and triangle accompaniment, is a rescue adventure along the lines of Die Entführung aus dem Serail; premiered at Fontainebleau in 1783, it remained in the French repertory for fifty years.

The composer himself was not uninfluenced by the great events he witnessed, and the titles of some of his operas, such as La rosière républicaine and La fête de la raison, sufficiently indicate the epoch to which they belong; but they are mere pièces de circonstance, and the republican enthusiasm displayed is not genuine. Little more successful was Grétry in his dealings with classical subjects. His genuine power lay in the delineation of character and in the expression of tender and typically French sentiment. The structure of his concerted pieces on the other hand is frequently flimsy, and his instrumentation so feeble that the orchestral parts of some of his works had to be rewritten by other composers, in order to make them acceptable to modern audiences. During the Revolution Grétry lost much of his property, but the successive governments of France vied in favouring the composer, regardless of political differences. From the old court he received distinctions and rewards of all kinds; the republic made him an inspector of the conservatoire; Napoleon granted him the cross of the legion of honour and a pension. Grétry died at the Hermitage in Montmorency, formerly the house of Rousseau. Fifteen years after his death Grétry's heart was transferred to his birthplace, permission having been obtained after a tedious lawsuit. In 1842 a colossal bronze statue of the composer was set up at Liège.

[edit] Operas

[edit] 1764-69
Completion Title Length Première Libretto
1764/1765 La vendemmiatrice 2 intermezzi Carnival 1765, Rome, Teatro Albert
1766 Isabelle et Gertrude, ou Les sylphes supposés 1 act December 1766, Geneva Charles-Simon Favart, after Voltaire, Gertrude, ou De l'éducation d'une fille
1768 Les mariages samnites 1 act January 1768, Paris, Prince de Conti P Légier, after Le château du prince de Conti by Jean-François Marmontel
1768 Le connaisseur 3 acts unperformed Jean-François Marmontel
1768 Le Huron 2 acts 20 August 1768, Paris, Comédie-Italienne Jean-François Marmontel, after L'Ingénu by Voltaire
1768-1769 Lucile 1 act 5 January 1769, Paris, Comédie-Italienne Jean-François Marmontel, after L’école des pères
1769 Le tableau parlant 1 act 20 September 1769, Paris, Comédie-Italienne Louis Anseaume
1769 Momus sur la terre prologue 1769, Chateau de la Roche-Guyon Claude-Henri Watelet

[edit] 1770-79
Completion Title Length Première Libretto
1770 Silvain 1 act 19 February 1770, Paris, Comédie-Italienne Jean-François Marmontel, after Salomon Gessner, Erast
1770 Les deux avares 2 acts 27 October 1770, Fontainebleau;

revised version: 6 December 1770, Paris, Comédie-Italienne; second revised version: 6 June 1773 Paris, Comédie-Italienne

 Charles Georges Fenouillot de Falbaire
1770 L'amitié à l'épreuve 2 acts 13 November 1770, Fontainebleau;

revised version under the title: Les vrais amis, ou L’amitié à l’épreuve op 24 October 1786, Fontainebleau; second revised version: 30 October 1786, Paris, Comédie-Italienne

 Charles-Simon Favart and Claude-Henri de Fusée de Voisenon, after Jean-François Marmontel Contes moraux (1761)
1771 L'ami de la maison 3 acts 26 October 1771, Fontainebleau Jean-François Marmontel, Le connaisseur
1771 Zémire et Azor 4 acts 9 November 1771, Fontainebleau Jean-François Marmontel, after Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée, Amour par amour
1773 Le magnifique 3 acts 4 March 1773, Paris, Comédie-Italienne Michel-Jean Sedaine, after Jean de La Fontaine
1773 La rosière de Salency 4 acts 23 October 1773, Fontainebleau Alexandre-Frédéric-Jacques Masson de Pezay
1773 Céphale et Procris, ou L'amour conjugal 3 acts 30 December 1773, Versailles;

revised version: 2 May 1775, Paris, Opéra Garnier

 Jean-François Marmontel, after Ovid, Metamorphoses
1775 La fausse magie 2 acts 1 February 1775, Paris, Comédie-Italienne;

revised version: 9 February 1775, Paris, Comédie-Italienne; second revised version: 18 March 1776; third revised version: 8 January 1778

 Jean-François Marmontel
1776 Les mariages samnites (rev) 3 acts 12 June 1776, Paris, Comédie-Italienne;

revised version: 22 May 1782

 Barnabé Farmian de Rosoi, after Jean-François Marmontel
1776-1778 Les statues 3 acts unperformed Jean-François Marmontel, after the One Thousand and One Nights
1777 Amour pour amour 3 divertissements 10 March 1777, Versailles Pierre Laujon
1777 Matroco 5 acts 3 November 1777, Paris, Château du prince de Condé Pierre Laujon
1778 Le jugement de Midas 3 acts 28 March 1778, Paris, Palais royal T. D’Hèle, after Kane O'Hara
1778 Les trois âges de l'opéra;

ook: Le génie de l’opéra; of: Les trois âges de la musique

 prologue 27 April 1778, Paris, Opéra Garnier Alphone-Marie-Denis Devismes de Saint-Alphonse
1778 Les fausses apparences ou L'Amant jaloux 3 acts 20 November 1778, Versailles T. D'Hèle, after Susanna Centlivre, The Wonder, a Woman Keeps a Secret
1779 Les événements imprévus 3 acts 11 November 1779, Versailles T. D'Hèle
1779 Aucassin et Nicolette, ou Les mœurs du bon vieux temps 4 acts 30 December 1779, Versailles Jean-Michel Sedaine, after Jean-Baptiste de la Curne de Sainte-Palaye, Les amours du bon vieux tems

[edit] 1780-89
Completion Title Length Première Libretto
1780 Andromaque 3 acts 6 June 1780, Paris, Opéra Garnier Louis-Guillaume Pitra, after the tragedy by Jean Racine
1781 Emilie, ou La belle esclave 1 act 22 February 1781, Paris, Opéra Garnier Nicolas-François Guillard
1781 Colinette à la cour, ou La double épreuve 3 acts 1 January 1782 Paris, Opéra Garnier Jean-Baptiste Lourdet de Santerre, after Charles-Simon Favart, Ninette à la cour
1781-1782 Électre 3 acts unperformed Jean-Charles Thilorier, after Euripides
1782 L'embarras des richesses 3 acts 26 November 1782, Paris, Opéra Garnier Jean-Baptiste Lourdet de Santerre, after Le savetier et le financier by Léonor Jean Christine Soulas d’Allainval
1782 Les colonnes d'Alcide 1 act unperformed Pitta
1783 Thalie au nouveau théâtre prologue 28 April 1783, Paris, Comédie-Italienne Jean-Michel Sedaine
1783 La caravane du Caire 3 acts 30 October 1783, Fontainebleau Etienne Morel de Chédeville
1784 Théodore et Paulin 3 acts 5 March 1784, Versailles Pierre Jean Baptiste Choudard Desforges
1784 L’épreuve villageoise 2 acts 24 June 1784, Paris, Comédie-Italienne Pierre Jean Baptiste Choudard Desforges
1784 Richard Coeur-de-lion 3 acts 21 October 1784, Paris, Comédie-Italienne Jean-Michel Sedaine
1785 Panurge dans l'île des lanternes 3 acts 25 January 1785, Paris, Grand Opéra Etienne Morel de Chédeville, after François Parfaict
1785 Oedipe à Colonne 3 acts unperformed Nicolas-François Giullard, after Sophocles
1786 Amphitryon 3 acts 15 March 1786, Versailles Jean-Michel Sedaine, after Molière
1786 Le mariage d'Antonio;

in collaboration with: Angélique-Dorothée-Lucie Grétry

 29 July 1786, Paris
1786 Les méprises par ressemblance 3 acts 7 November 1786, Fontainebleau Joseph Patrat, after Titus Maccius Plautus, Menaechmi
1786 Le comte d'Albert 2 acts 13 November 1786, Fontainebleau Jean-Michel Sedaine, after Jean de La Fontaine
1787 Toinette et Louis;

in collaboration with: Angélique-Dorothée-Lucie Grétry

 23 March 1787, Paris
1787 Le prisonnier anglais 3 acts 26 December 1787, Paris, Comédie-Italienne François Guillaume Fouques, called Desfontaines
1788 Le rival confident 2 acts 26 June 1788, Paris, Comédie-Italienne Nicolas-Julien Forgeot
1789 Raoul Barbe-bleue 3 acts 2 March 1789, Paris, Comédie-Italienne Jean-Michel Sedaine, after Charles Perrault
1789 Aspasie 3 acts 17 March 1789, Paris, Opéra Garnier Etienne Morel de Chédeville

[edit] 1790-99
Completion Title Length Première Libretto
1789-1790 Pierre le Grand 4 acts 13 January 1790, Paris, Comédie-Italienne Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, after Voltaire, Histoire de Russie sous Pierre le Grand
1790 Roger et Olivier;

revised version of: Les Mariages samnites

 unperformed
1791 Guillaume Tell 3 acts 9 April 1791, Paris, Comédie-Italienne Jean-Michel Sedaine, after Antoine-Marin Lemierre
1792 Cécile et Ermancé, ou Les deux couvents 3 acts 16 January 1792, Paris, Comédie-Italienne Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle and Jean-Baptiste-Denis Desprès
1792 Basile, ou À trompeur, trompeur et demi 1 act 17 October 1792, Paris, Comédie-Italienne Jean-Michel Sedaine, after Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
1792 L’officier de fortune 3 acts Edmond Guillaume François de Favières
1792-1793 Roger et Olivier 3 acts Jean-Marie Souriguère de Saint-Marc, after Roger et Victor de Shabran by Louis d’Ussieux
1792-1793 Séraphine, ou Absente et présente 3 acts unperformed André J. Gretry
1793-1794 L'inquisition de Madrid;

parody on Les mariages samnites (1776) and Les deux couvents (1792);

 3 acts unperformed André J. Grétry
1794 Le congrès des rois;

(together with: Henri Montan Berton, Matthieu Frédéric Blasius, Luigi Cherubini, Nicolas Dalayrac, Prosper-Didier Deshayes, François Devienne, Louis Emmanuel Jadin, Rudolphe Kreutzer, Étienne Nicolas Méhul, Jean-Pierre Solié and Armand-Emmanuel Trial)

 3 acts 26 February 1794, Paris, Opéra-Comique Antoine-François Ève, called Desmaillot
1794 Joseph Barra 1 act 5 June 1794, Paris, Opéra Comique Guillaume-Denis-Thomas Levrier Champ-Rion
1794 Denys le tyran, maître d'école à Corinthe 1 act 23 August 1794, Paris, Opéra Garnier Sylvain Maréchal
1794 La fête de la raison;

or: La rosière républicaine, ou La fête de la vertu;

 1 act 2 September 1794, Paris, Opéra Garnier Sylvain Maréchal
1794 Callias, ou Nature et patrie 1 act 19 September 1794, Paris, Opéra Comique François-Benoît Hoffman
1794 Diogène et Alexandre 3 acts unperformed Pierre-Sylvain Maréchal
1796-1797 Lisbeth 3 acts 10 January 1797, Paris, Opéra Comique Edmond Guillaume François de Favières
1797 Anacréon chez Polycrate 3 acts 17 January 1797, Paris, Grand Opéra Jean Henry Guy
1797 Le barbier du village, ou Le revenant;

music partly from: La rosière républicaine;

 1 act 6 May 1797, Paris, Théâtre Feydeau André J. Grétry
1798-1799 Elisca, ou L'amour maternel;

revised version: Elisca, ou L'habitante de Madagascar

 3 acts 1 January 1799, Paris, Opéra Comique;

revised version: 5 May 1812, Paris, Opéra Comique

 Edmond Guillaume François de Favières

[edit] 1800-03
Completion Title Length Première Libretto
1801 Le casque et les colombes 1 act 7 November 1801, Paris, Opéra Garnier Nicolas-François Guillard
1801 Zelmar ou L'asile;

or: Les Abencerages

 2 acts unperformed André J. Grétry
1803 Delphis et Mopsa;

or: Le ménage;

 2 acts 15 February 1803, Paris, Opéra Garnier Jean Henry Guy

[edit] Discography:

Denys le tyran, Nuova Era Records, Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia Conductor Francesco Vizioli. Cat: DR 3106 Released 1991

(see also articles on individual operas by Grétry )

[edit] References

[edit] External links