Ambroise Thomas
Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas (French:
Born into a musical family, Thomas was a student at the Conservatoire de Paris, winning France's top music prize, the Prix de Rome. He pursued a career as a composer of operas, completing his first opera, La double échelle, in 1837. He wrote twenty further operas over the next decades, mostly comic, but he also treated more serious subjects, finding considerable success with audiences in France and abroad.
Thomas was appointed as a professor at the Conservatoire in 1856, and in 1871 he succeeded Daniel Auber as director. Between then and his death at his home in Paris twenty-five years later, he modernised the Conservatoire's organisation while imposing a rigidly conservative curriculum, hostile to modern music, and attempting to prevent composers such as César Franck and Gabriel Fauré from influencing the students of the Conservatoire.
Thomas' operas were generally neglected during most of the 20th century, but in more recent decades they have experienced something of a revival both in Europe and the US.
Life and career
Early years
Thomas was born in
In 1832, at his second attempt, Thomas won France's premier music prize, the
Composing career
The first opera Thomas composed was La double échelle (The Double Ladder, 1837), a one-act comedy, praised by Berlioz for its "extreme vivacity and wit".[3] It was produced at the Opéra-Comique, received 247 performances,[4] and in the next few years was given in Brussels, New Orleans, Berlin, Vienna and London.[3] His first full-length opera, Le perruquier de la Régence (The
Thomas' next work for the Opéra-Comique, Le songe d'une nuit d'été (The Summer Night's Dream, 1850), was also a popular success. The text, by
Professor
In 1856 Thomas was appointed professor of composition at the Conservatoire, under the directorship of
During the 1850s Thomas continued to compose, writing five operas, none of which made much impression. After a fallow spell in the early 1860s he wrote Mignon, the work by which his name became most widely known.[2] The libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre.[4] Forbes writes that, unusually, Thomas had the advantage of a well-judged and theatrically effective libretto, and that although in the novel Mignon dies, the happy ending works well in the opera. (A happy ending was then compulsory at the Opéra-Comique: it was another nine years before Carmen defied the convention there, ending with the death of the main character.)[4] The strong original cast featured, in the title role, Célestine Galli-Marié, a celebrated singer who later created the part of Carmen in Bizet's opera.[2]
Thomas was similarly fortunate in his cast for his next success,
Later in Thomas' life his academic career largely overtook his activities as a composer, and after Hamlet, he composed only one more opera: Françoise de Rimini (1882), which was well received but did not enter the regular operatic repertoire.[4]
Later years
On the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 Thomas, though aged nearly sixty, volunteered to serve in the Garde Nationale.[3] The following year Auber resigned as director of the Conservatoire, shortly before his death, and Thomas was appointed his successor.[n 5] He was so widely seen as Auber's heir apparent that the minister of education, Jules Simon, said in his letter offering Thomas the post, "You are so obviously fitted for the office that if I did not nominate you I should seem to be signing your dismissal from a post already yours."[19][n 6] As director Thomas ran an intransigently conservative regime.[22] The music of Auber, Halévy and especially Meyerbeer was regarded as the correct model for students, and early French music such as that of Rameau and modern music, including that of Wagner were kept rigorously out of the curriculum.[23] Thomas strove to keep progressive musicians from being appointed to the faculty of the Conservatoire – unsuccessfully in the case of César Franck, who was appointed against Thomas' wishes in 1872, but successfully as regards Gabriel Fauré whose appointment to the Conservatoire was delayed until after Thomas' death.[24]
Thomas was, on the other hand, innovative in the running of the Conservatoire: he increased the number of classes, improved the conditions of the faculty, and expanded the curriculum to include solfège, sight-reading and compulsory orchestral practice.[25] The faculty under Thomas included, at various times the composers Franck, Théodore Dubois, Jules Massenet and Ernest Guiraud, and the singers Pauline Viardot and Romain Bussine.[26][27]
In 1889 the Opéra staged Thomas' ballet La tempête (another treatment of a Shakespeare play –
Thomas died in his flat in the Conservatoire in 1896, aged 84, of congestion of the lungs.[2][29] He was survived by his widow, Elvire, née Remaury (1827–1910), whom he married in 1878.[1] He was succeeded as director of the Conservatoire by Dubois.[30]
Music
He brings to his task an inborn instinct for the stage, and a remarkable gift of interpreting dramatic situations of the most varied and opposite kinds. His skill in handling the orchestra is consummate, both in grouping instruments of different timbre, and obtaining new effects of sound; but though carrying orchestral colouring to the utmost pitch of perfection, he never allows it to overpower the voices. With a little more boldness and individuality of melody this accomplished writer, artist, and poet – master of all moods and passing in turn from melancholy musings to the liveliest banter – would rank with the leaders of the modern school of composers; as it is, the purity and diversity of his style make him a first-rate dramatic composer.[32]
In the 2001 edition of Grove, Langham Smith writes, "In the context of French opera of the late 19th century Thomas was a figure of considerable importance, an imaginative innovator and a master of musical characterization."[3] Langham Smith concludes that after years of neglect, Thomas' work saw a considerable revival, beginning in the late 20th century, with major productions of Mignon and Hamlet in France, Britain and the US.[3]
Forbes writes that Thomas was an eclectic composer able to write in a wide variety of styles. She identifies Hérold and Auber as influences on his early works, and considers Le caïd the first of his works to show true originality, though nonetheless clearly showing the influence of Rossini. In later works, Thomas' music could still be derivative: Forbes cites Psyché (1857) as "an inferior copy of Gounod's Sapho" and his Le carnaval de Venise (also 1857) as imitating Victor Massé.[4] She concludes that at his best – which he was not always – Thomas wrote delightful and individual music, was capable of orchestration that is "often quite ravishing", and musically conveyed the character of the important roles strongly and clearly. "If Thomas had written no stage works except Mignon and Hamlet he would probably be more widely recognized as one of the most influential and important of French 19th-century operatic composers."[4]
List of compositions
Operas
See: List of operas by Ambroise Thomas.
Non-operatic vocal: secular
|
|
Non-operatic vocal: sacred
|
|
Songs
solo voice and piano, except where otherwise stated
|
|
Orchestral
- "Overture, 1832, lost
- "Fantaisie brillante, piano, orchestra/string quartet, undated, arranged for piano, c. 1836
- "Marche religieuse", 1865
- "Chant du psaume laudate, violin, orch, 1883
- "arr. of "La marseillaise" for military band, 1887
Ballets
- "La gipsy – 2nd act of 3-act ballet, 1839
- "Betty – 2 acts, 1846
- "La tempête, ballet fantastique, 3 acts, 1889
Chamber
- String Quartet, op.1, 1833
- Piano Trio, op.3, c. 1835
- String Quintet, op.7, c. 1839
- Romance, violin, piano, c. 1835
- "Morceau" [de concours], trombone, piano, 1848
- "Morceau" [de concours], violin, cello, 1850
- "Souvenir", piano, violin/viola, undated
- "Barcarolle", flute/violin, piano
Piano solo
- "6 caprices en forme de valses caractéristiques", op.4, 1835
- "L'absence", nocturne", op.8, c. 1835
- "Andantino", c. 1835
- "Mazurka valaque", c. 1835
- "Fantaisie sur un air favori écossais", op.5, 1836
- "Valse de salon", 1851
- "Cantabile", 1865
- "La dérobée", fantaisie sur un air breton, 1888
- "Rêverie", undated
- "Printemps", undated
Organ solo
- "Absoute", 1857
- "Offertoire", 1858
- "Prière", 1859
- 3 préludes, 1860
- "Elevazione", undated
- "Dirge", undated
- "10 pastorales", undated
- Source: Grove.[3]
Notes, references and sources
Notes
- ^ A rare modern revival was staged by the director Pierre Jourdan at the Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne in 1994.[6]
- ^ Like many other composers, Thomas made several attempts to secure election to the Académie (also known as the "Institut"). This successful application was his third attempt. Berlioz, another candidate to succeed Spontini, had to wait another five years before being elected.[7]
- ^
Other Thomas students mentioned in Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians are Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray; Charles-Alexis Chauvet; Louis Diémer; Octave Fouque(fr); Albert Lavignac; Charles-Édouard Lefebvre; Isidore-Edouard Legouix; Izydor Lotto(de); Olivier Métra; and Johan Peter Selmer(de).[9] Among Thomas' other pupils were the pianist and teacher Raoul Pugno.[10] the pianist and composer Francis Thomé,[11] and the zarzuela composer and conductor Gerónimo Giménez.[12]
- ^ Reviewing the first British performance, the music critic of The Morning Post wrote, "The little there is of Hamlet in the opera has not been understood by the composer of the music or the author of the libretto".[14] After later performances at Covent Garden, the text was condemned by The Observer ("an absurd travesty of the great original"), The Pall Mall Gazette ("No one but a barbarian or a Frenchman would have dared to make such a lamentable burlesque of so tragic a theme") and Sir Thomas Beecham ("a perfectly abominable French travesty of Hamlet" – this despite Beecham's inclusion of the piece in his 1910 season at Covent Garden.)[15][16]
- ^ Auber was briefly succeeded as director by Francisco Salvador-Daniel – appointed by the Communards and shot by the French government eleven days later – before Thomas was appointed.[18]
- ^ It is unclear whether Simon knew that the French President, Adolphe Thiers, had sounded Charles Gounod out about succeeding Auber.[20][21]
References
- ^ a b Garric, Alain. "Ambroise Thomas: Essai de Généalogie", Geneanet. Retrieved 24 September 2018
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Ambroise Thomas" Archived 23 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine, The Musical Times, Vol. 37, No. 637 (1 March 1896), pp. 165–166 (subscription required)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Langham Smith, Richard. "Thomas, (Charles Louis) Ambrose", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press 2001. Retrieved 21 September 2018 (subscription required)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Forbes, Elizabeth. "Thomas, (Charles Louis) Ambroise (opera)", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press 2001. Retrieved 21 September 2018 (subscription required)
- ^ Loewenberg, column 881
- ^ Rizoud, Christophe. "Le songe d'une nuit d'été d'Ambroise Thomas exhumé à Pari", Forumopera, 2 January 2017
- ^ Bloom, Peter Anthony. "Berlioz à l'Institut Revisited", Acta Musicologica, Vol. 53, Fasc. 2 (July–December 1981), pp. 178 and 82 (subscription required)
- ^ "Ambroise Thomas" Archived 30 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine Bibliothèque nationale de France. Retrieved 23 September 2018
- ^ a b "Search: Ambroise Thomas" Archived 23 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press. Retrieved 23 September 2018
- ^ "Raoul Pugno" Archived 23 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 23 September 2018
- ^ Briscoe, p. iv
- ^ Randel, p. 310
- ^ a b Forbes, Elizabeth. "Hamlet", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, 2002. Retrieved 23 September 2018 (subscription required)
- ^ "Royal Italian Opera", The Morning Post, 21 June 1869, p. 2
- ^ "Royal Italian Opera", The Observer, 9 June 1876, p. 6; "Royal Opera", The Pall Mall Gazette, 22 July 1890, p. 2; and Reid, p. 108
- ^ "Hamlet", The Times, 4 October 1910, p. 10
- ^ Sen, p. 184
- ^ Bourligueux, Guy, and Kristy Barbacane. "Daniel, Francisco (Alberto Clemente) Salvador", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, 2001. (subscription required)
- Illustrated London News, 22 February 1896, p. 230
- ^ Prod'homme and Dandelot, p. 127
- ^ Huebner, Steven. "Gounod, Charles-François", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, 2001. Retrieved 21 November 2019 (subscription required)
- ^ Nichols, p. 35; and Orenstein, p. 26
- ^ Nectoux, p. 269
- ^ Nectoux, pp. 224 and 263
- ^ "Ambroise Thomas", The Manchester Guardian, 13 February 1896, p. 5
- ^ Grove, Volume 1, p. 393
- ^ Milnes, Rodney. "Massenet, Jules" The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Oxford University Press. Retrieved 28 July 2014 (subscription required)
- ^ "M. Ambroise Thomas". The Times, 16 May 1894, p. 5, and 19 May 1894, p. 6
- ^ Massenet, pp. 213–214
- ^ Nectoux, p. 263
- ^ Langham Smith Richard. "Good, Bad and..." Archived 23 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine, The Musical Times, Vol. 138, No. 1857 (November 1997), p. 32 (subscription required)
- ^ Grove, Volume 4, p. 104
Sources
- Briscoe, James (2015). Contest pieces for trumpet or cornet and piano. Music from the Paris Conservatoire. Middleton: A-R Editions. ISBN 978-0-89579-814-5.
- OCLC 906527163.
- Grove, George (1889). A Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Volume 4. London: Macmillan. OCLC 906527163.
- Loewenberg, Alfred (1978) [1955]. Annals of opera, 1597–1940 (third ed.). London: John Calder. ISBN 978-0-7145-3657-6.
- OCLC 774419363.
- ISBN 978-0-7145-3657-6.
- ISBN 978-0-300-10882-8.
- ISBN 978-0-486-26633-6.
- ISBN 978-0-521-22807-7.
- OCLC 123185385.
- OCLC 1023745280.
- Reid, Charles (1961). Thomas Beecham: An Independent Biography. London: Victor Gollancz. OCLC 500565141.
- Sen, Suddhaseel (2013). "Shakespeare reception in France: the case of Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet". In Joseph M Ortiz (ed.). Shakespeare and the Culture of Romanticism. Farnham: Ashgate. ISBN 978-1-4094-5581-3.
Further reading
- Hervey, Arthur (1911). . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 866.
- Georges Masson, 1996. Ambroise Thomas (Metz: Editions Serpentoise)
- Free scores by Ambroise Thomas at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
External links
- Media related to Ambroise Thomas at Wikimedia Commons