cdv photo 1860s paris france Charles Gounod opera composer ave maria fausto

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Charles-François Gounod (French: [ʃaʁl fʁɑ̃swa ɡuno]; 17 June 1818 – 17 October[1][2] or 18 October[3][4] 1893) was a French composer, best known for his Ave Maria (based on a work by Bach) as well as his opera Faust. Another opera by Gounod, occasionally still performed, is Roméo et Juliette.Contents [hide] 1 Biography 2 Compositions 3 Media 4 References 4.1 Portraits 4.2 Articles 4.3 Sheet music 4.4 Recordings 5 External links Biography[edit] Charles Gounod in 1859, the year of the premiere of Faust Gounod was born in Paris, the son of a pianist mother and an artist father. His mother was his first piano teacher. Under her tutelage, Gounod first showed his musical talents. He entered the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied under Fromental Halévy and Pierre Zimmermann (he later married Zimmermann's daughter). In 1839, he won the Prix de Rome for his cantata Fernand. He was following his father; François-Louis Gounod (d. 1823) had won the second Prix de Rome in painting in 1783.[4] During his stay of four years in Italy, Gounod studied the music of Palestrina and other sacred works of the sixteenth century; these he never ceased to cherish. Around 1846-47 he gave serious consideration to joining the priesthood, but he changed his mind before actually taking holy orders, and went back to composition.[5] During that period, he was attached to the Church of Foreign Missions in Paris. In 1854, Gounod completed a Messe Solennelle, also known as the Saint Cecilia Mass. This work was first performed in its entirety in the church of St. Eustache in Paris on Saint Cecilia's Day, 22 November 1855; from this rendition dates Gounod's fame as a noteworthy composer. Gounod late in his career. During 1855 Gounod wrote two symphonies. His Symphony No. 1 in D major was the inspiration for the Symphony in C, composed later that year by Georges Bizet, who was then Gounod's 17-year-old student. In the CD era a few recordings of these pieces have emerged: by Michel Plasson conducting the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, and by Sir Neville Marriner with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Fanny Mendelssohn, sister of Felix Mendelssohn, introduced the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach to Gounod, who came to revere Bach. For him, The Well-Tempered Clavier was "the law to pianoforte study...the unquestioned textbook of musical composition". It inspired Gounod to devise a melody and superimpose it on the C major Prelude (BWV 846) from the collection's first book. To this melody, in 1859 (after the deaths of both Mendelssohn siblings), Gounod fitted the words of the Ave Maria, resulting in a setting that became world-famous.[6] Gounod wrote his first opera, Sapho, in 1851, at the urging of a friend of his, the singer Pauline Viardot; it was a commercial failure. He had no great theatrical success until Faust (1859), derived from Goethe. This remains the composition for which he is best known; and although it took a while to achieve popularity, it became one of the most frequently staged operas of all time, with no fewer than 2,000 performances of the work having occurred by 1975 at the Paris Opéra alone.[7] The romantic and melodious Roméo et Juliette (based on the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet), premiered in 1867, is revived now and then but has never come close to matching Faust's popular following. Mireille, first performed in 1864, has been admired by connoisseurs rather than by the general public. The other Gounod operas have fallen into oblivion. Caricature from Punch, 1882 Charles Gounod's guitar. The guitar was of Italian worksmanship, made by "Gaetano Vinaccia, Napoli, Rua Catalana, No. 46, 1834." It was made of Italian maple, with back and sides varnished golden yellow, with inlay on the soundboard (gone). It had an ebony bridge. It was damaged during the Siege of Paris (1870–71), when a Prussian artillery officer kicked it. Its body, head, neck and fingerboard got scorched by fire and its back was ripped off. A friend of Gounod's found it and put it in the Museum of the Paris Opera.[8] From 1870 to 1874 Go... read more

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