Félicien David

Félicien-César David (13 April 1810 – 29 August 1876) was a French composer.

Biography

Félicien David was born in

college. However, after three years, he abandoned these studies to pursue a musical career.

He first obtained a position in the orchestra of the theatre at Aix. In 1829, he became

, but realised that to complete his musical education he needed to study at Paris. An allowance of 50 francs per month from a rich uncle made this possible.

In Paris in 1830 he convinced

and others, continued successfully.

On leaving the Conservatoire, David was caught up in the

movement, for which he became a great enthusiast. The Saint-Simonians held music to be an important art, and David wrote much music for them, including a number of hymns. After the suppression of the movement in 1832, David joined with a number of adepts who visited the Middle East. This also proved a source of strong inspiration, leading eventually to his greatest success, the symphonic ode Le désert of 1844.

Returning to Paris in 1833, he wrote a number of

announced, the morning after its premiere, "A great composer has been born amongst us". To relieve his substantial debts, however, the composer sold the rights to his masterpiece for a relatively small sum.

David wrote a number of operas, of which the most notable are Christophe Colomb (1847), La perle du Brésil (1851), Herculanum (1859), and Lalla-Roukh (1862). Amongst his oratorios are Moïse au Sinaï ('Moses on Sinai') (1846), and Eden (1848).

David became a member of the

, close to Paris, in 1876.

Works

Instrumental

• Piano trio no. 1 in E♭ major
• Piano trio no. 2 in D minor
• Piano trio no. 3 in C minor
• Four string quartets
• Les Quatre Saisons: Soirées de Printemps / d'Été / d'Automne / d'Hiver (string quintet: two violins, viola, cello, double-bass)
• Nonet for brass in C minor, 1839 (4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba)
• Solo piano: Pensée (mélodie-valse), L'Absence (romance sans paroles), Rêverie, Le Soir (rêverie)
• 4 symphonies (for orchestra) (1837-1849)[2]

Vocal

• Le désert (Ode-symphonie)
• Christoph Colomb (Ode-symphonie)
• Moïse au Sinaï, oratorio
• Eden, oratorio

• La Perle du Brésil, opéra comique in three acts (22 November 1851, Paris)
• Herculanum, opéra in four acts (4 March 1859, Paris)
• Lalla-Roukh, opéra comique in two acts (12 May 1862, Paris)
• Le Saphir, opéra comique in three acts (8 March 1865, Paris) on a libretto by Michel Carré, Adolphe de Leuven and Térence Hadot (18..-18..)
• La Captive, opéra comique in three acts (1883, Paris)
• Motets Pie Jesu / Miseremini / Alma redemptoris Mater (for Aix cathedral choir), O salutaris

References

• David, Félicien-César, 1810-1876 Biography and list of compositions from Musicology.org (in French).
• This article is based on the article on Félicien David in French Wikipedia.

External links

• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "David, Félicien" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 860–861.
• Works by or about Félicien David at Internet Archive
• Free scores by Félicien David at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• David's Piano Trio in E-flat Major Score and Parts from Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection
• David Piano Trio Nos. 2 and 3, sound-bites, discussion of works, short biography and sheet music
• Maison de la lirique cds and DVDs lyric opera collection