Nicolas Isouard

Nicolas Isouard.

Nicolas Isouard (or Nicolò Isouard) (b. 16 May 1773, Porto Salvo, Valletta, Malta – d. March 23, 1818, Paris) was a Maltese composer.

Isouard studied in Rabat or Mdina with Francesco Azopardi, in Palermo with Giuseppe Amendola, and in Naples with Nicola Sala and Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi. From 1795 he was organist at St. John de Gerusalemme in Valletta at the Conventual Church of the Order of Saint John, San Giovanni di Malta.

He moved to Paris, where he worked as a free composer and befriended composer Rodolphe Kreutzer. The pair worked together on several operas, including Le petit page ou La prison d'état (1800) and Flaminius à Corinthe (1801). Isouard adopted the pseudonym Nicolò (or Nicolò de Malte) and found rapid success in the field of opéra comique with Michel-Ange (1802) and L'intrigue aux fenêtres (1805). He composed regularly for the Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, writing some thirty works for them.

He composed masses, motets, cantatas, romances, and duos, along with over 45 operas.

Isouard had two daughters, Sophie-Nicole (1809–?), a composer of romances, and Annette-Julie (1814–1876), and pianist and composer. His brother Joseph (1794–1863) had a career as a singer and opera director before being named inspector of historic monuments in Rouen. Nicolas Isouard was buried in Notre-Dame-des-Victoires. A bust of the composer was placed on one of the facades of both the Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique and the Palais Garnier, and one of the main squares in Paris was given his name.

Works

Casaciello, perseguitato da un Mago, (Opera buffa - Two-act comedy) 1793, Malta

Sacred Works - all with orchestra and voices (In alphabetical order). Original Manuscripts - Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris Angelus Domini Credo Leg a 4 Voci 1795 De torrente in A flat major De torrente in B flat major Diffusa est Gratia Dixit Dominus a 4 Dixit Dominus Leg Dominus Deus a Terzetto Gloria in D Gratia agimus tibi in E flat Gloria Patri in E flat Kyrie in E flat Kyrie in C minor Kyrie Messa no 2 in E flat - fragment Juravit Dominus Lauda Jerusalem Laetatus sum Magnificat Missa a Quattro Voci 1790 ( attr. to another composer) Cospicua Archives Missa Pro Defunctorum - Jommelli, orchestrated by Isouard (Brussels Conservatoire Library) Nisi Dominus Panis Angelicus Qui Tollis Quoniam Tu Solus Salve Regina Sinfonia in C minor Stabat Mater (5 fragments) Suscepimus Deus Te Deum 1791 Vexilla Regis Virgam Virtutis for tenor and bass duet Virgam Virtutis for solo tenor Virtute Magna All of the above have been edited by Richard Divall and are available from the University of Divinity, Australia. Richard Divall is currently preparing a publication of a monograph and Complete Thematic Catalogue, and en edition of the opera Cendrillon.

External links

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