Daniel Auber

Daniel François Esprit Auber.

Daniel François Esprit Auber (January 29, 1782 â€" May 13, 1871), French composer, the son of a Paris print-seller, was born in Caen in Normandy.

Destined by his father to the printselling trade, he was allowed, nevertheless, to indulge his fondness for music, and learnt to play at an early age on several instruments, his first teacher being the Tirolean composer, Josef Alois Ladurner (March 7, 1769 â€" February 20, 1851). Sent at the age of twenty to London to complete his business training, he was obliged to leave England in consequence of the breach of the treaty of Amiens (1804).

He had already attempted musical composition, and at this period produced several concertos pour basse, in the manner of the violoncellist Lamarre, in whose name they were published. The praise given to his concerto for the violin, which was played at the Conservatoire by Mazas, encouraged him to undertake a resetting of the old comic opera, Julie (1811). Conscious by this time of the need of regular study of his chosen art, he placed himself under the severe training of Cherubini, by which the special qualities of the young composer were admirably developed.

In 1813 the unfavourable reception of his one-act debut opera Le séjour militaire put an end for some years to his attempts as composer. But the failure in business and death of his father, in 1819, compelled him once more to turn to music, and to make that which had been his dream the serious employment of his life. He produced another opera, Le testament et les billets-doux (1819), which was no better received than the former. But he persevered, and the next year was rewarded by the complete success of La bergère châtelaine, an opera in three acts.

This was the first in a long series of brilliant successes. In 1822 began his long association with Eugène Scribe as librettist. The opera of Leicester, in which they first worked together (1823), is remarkable also as showing evidences of the influence of Rossini. But his own style was an individual one, marked by lightness, sparkling vivacity, grace and elegance, clear and piquant of melody— characteristically French.

Auber achieved his greatest musical triumph in La muette de Portici, once familiarly known as Masaniello after its hero. Produced at Paris in 1828, it rapidly became a European favourite, and its overture, songs and choruses were everywhere heard. The duet Amour sacré de la patrie was welcomed like a new Marseillaise; its performance at Brussels on 25 August 1830, in which Adolphe Nourrit sang the tenor role, engendered a riot that became the signal for the Belgian Revolution that drove out the Dutch.

Official and other dignities testified the public appreciation of Auber's works. In 1829 he was elected a member of the Institute, in 1830 he was named director of the court concerts, and in 1842, at the wish of Louis Philippe, he succeeded Cherubini as director of the Conservatoire. He was also a member of the Legion of Honour from 1825, and attained the rank of commander in 1847. Napoleon III made Auber his Imperial Maître de Chapelle in 1857. Fascinating manners, his witty sayings, and his ever-ready kindness and beneficence won for him a secure place in the respect and love of his fellow-citizens. He remained in his old home during the German siege of Paris, 1870-71, but the miseries of the Paris Commune which followed sickened his heart, and died in Paris on the 13th of May 1871.

Today, the Rue Auber leads up to the Paris Opera House and the nearest RER station is Auber, named after him.

See Adolph Kohut: "Auber," vol. xvii. of Musiker Biographien Leipzig, 1895.

List of operas

L'erreur d'un moment (1805, Salle Doyen, Paris)
Jean de Couvin (September 1812, Château de Chimay, Belgium)
Le séjour militaire (27 February 1813, Opéra-Comique, Paris)
Le testament et les billets-doux (18 September 1819, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Le bergère châtelaine (27 January 1820, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Emma, ou La promesse imprudente (7 July 1821, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Leicester, ou Le château de Kenilworth (25 January 1823 Opéra Comique, Paris)
La Neige, ou Le nouvel Éginhard (8 October 1823, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Vendôme en Espagne (5 December 1823, Théâtre de l'Opéra, Paris)
Les trois genres (27 April 1824, Théâtre de l'Odéon, Paris)
Le concert à la cour, ou la débutante (3 June 1824, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Léocadie (4 November 1824, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Le Maçon (3 May 1825, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Le timide, ou le Nouveau séducteur (30 May 1826, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Fiorella (28 November 1826, Opéra Comique, Paris)
La muette de Portici [Masaniello] (29 February 1828 Théâtre de l'Opéra, Paris)
La fiancée (10 January 1829, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Fra Diavolo, ou L'hôtellerie de Terracine (28 January 1830, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Le dieu et la bayadère, ou La courtisane amoureuse (13 October 1830, Théâtre de l'Opéra, Paris)
Le philtre (20 June 1831, Théâtre de l'Opéra, Paris)
La marquise de Brinvilliers (31 October 1831, Théâtre de l'Opéra, Paris)
Le serment, ou Les faux-monnayeurs (1 October 1832, Théâtre de l'Opéra, Paris)
Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué (27 February 1833, Théâtre de l'Opéra, Paris)
Lestocq, ou L'intrigue et l'amour (24 May 1834, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Le cheval de bronze (23 March 1835, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Actéon (23 January 1836, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Les chaperons blancs (9 April 1836, Opéra Comique, Paris)
L'ambassadrice (21 December 1836, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Le domino noir (2 December 1837, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Le lac des fées (1 April 1839, Théâtre de l'Opéra, Paris)
Zanetta, ou Jouer avec le feu (18 May 1840, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Les diamants de la couronne (6 March 1841, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Le duc d'Olonne (4 February 1842, Opéra Comique, Paris)
La part du diable (16 January 1843, Opéra Comique, Paris)
La sirène (26 March 1844, Opéra Comique, Paris)
La barcarolle, ou L'amour et la musique (22 April 1845, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Les premiers pas (15 November 1847, Opéra national, Paris)
Haydée, ou Le secret (28 December 1847, Opéra Comique, Paris)
L'enfant prodigue (6 December 1850, Théâtre de l'Opéra, Paris)
Zerline, ou La corbeille d'oranges (16 May 1851, Théâtre de l'Opéra, Paris)
Marco Spada (21 December 1852, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Jenny Bell (2 June 1855, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Manon Lescaut (23 February 1856, Opéra Comique, Paris)
La Circassienne (2 February 1861, Opéra Comique, Paris)
La fiancée du roi de garbe (11 January 1864, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Le premier jour de bonheur (15 February 1868, Opéra Comique, Paris)
Rêve d'amour (20 December 1869, Opéra Comique, Paris)

References