Fromental HalŽvy
Fromental HalŽvy

Author: Ruth Jordan

Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9780879100797

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Fromental Halevy, best known for his opera La Juive, captured the romantic and contentious spirit of his time. His was one of the most eventful eras in French history, ranging from the fall of Napoleon to the establishment of the Second Empire, and he took part in what was happening around him, often reflecting it in his music. As a composer, Halevy regarded opera as a magic spectacle fusing drama, music, dance and art. His work - innovative, demanding, captivating - included more than 30 grand operas and operas comiques, almost all widely performed and many immensely popular throughout nineteenth century Europe and the United States. And, loyal to his Jewish faith, Halevy set to music several psalms for liturgical use in French synagogues. Wagner, for all his virulent anti-Semitism, hailed "Halevy's brilliant energy that has sped French grand opera along a new road". This book, our century's first full-length biography of Halevy, which includes previously unpublished excerpts from his diaries and correspondence, illuminates that road.

Music, Musicians, and the Saint-Simonians
Music, Musicians, and the Saint-Simonians

Author: Ralph P. Locke

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1986-05

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 9780226489025

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The Saint-Simonians, whose movement flourished in France between 1825 and 1835, are widely recognized for their contributions to history and social thought. Until now, however, no full account has been made of the central role of the arts in their program. In this skillful interdisciplinary study, Ralph P. Locke describes and documents the Saint-Simonians' view of music as an ideological tool and the influence of this view on musical figures of the day. The disciples of Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon, believed that increased industrial production would play a crucial role in improving the condition of the working masses and in shifting power from the aristocratic "drones" to the enterprising men of talent then rising in the French middle class. As a powerful means of winning support for their views, music became an integral part of the Saint-Simonians' writings and ceremonial activities. Among the musicians Locke discusses are Berlioz, Liszt, and Mendelssohn, whose tangential association with the Saint-Simonians reveals new aspects of their social and aesthetic views. Other musicians became the Saint-Simonians' faithful followers, among them Jules Vinçard, Dominique Tajan-Rogé, and particularly Félicien David, the movement's principal composer. Many of these composers' works, reconstructed by Locke from authentic sources, are printed here, including the "Premier Chant des industriels," written at Saint-Simon's request by Rouget de Lisle, composer of the "Marseillaise."

Fromental Halévy and His Operas, 1799-1841
Fromental Halévy and His Operas, 1799-1841

Author: Robert Ignatius Letellier

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2021-04-20

Total Pages: 684

ISBN-13: 1527568776

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In his lifetime, the opera composer Fromental Halévy was considered the leader of the French school; his admirers included Wagner, Berlioz, and later Mahler. Today, he is chiefly remembered for his grand tragic opera La Juive (Paris, 1835), a unique work exploring the nature of freedom, faith, and tolerance. It has enjoyed rediscovery in recent times, and its perennial challenge to our presuppositions makes it a work of intense artistic significance. Halevy worked in the heady context of Paris after the 1830 Revolution and before the debacle of 1870—when the French capital was at the centre of the operatic world. He wrote some 30 operas in the established genres of grand opéra and opéra-comique. L’Éclair (1835) and Guido et Ginévra (1838) consolidated his success in these genres. This study throws light on this shadowy figure, looking at his life, his letters, contemporary opinion about him, and, most importantly, his operas. Each one is examined in terms of its origin, libretto, musical features, and place in the vibrant critical journalism of mid-19th century France. The text provides musical examples and something of the rich iconography that accompanied the creation of his works.

While the Music Lasts
While the Music Lasts

Author: David A. Powell

Publisher: Bucknell University Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 9780838754740

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At the same time, Sand's musical referencing techniques afford a culturally based method for looking at French society and the need for a humanist reform, all the while exploring feminist statements, narrative strategies, love plots, and questions of communication, language, and nationhood."--BOOK JACKET.