Gounod

(goo-nd), Charles Frangois, Paris, June 17, 1818—Oct. 17, 1893; son of a talented painter and engraver; his mother taught him the f. and he entered the Lycée SaintTris: 1836 studied at the Paris Cons. with Reicha (harm.), Halévy (cpt. and fugue), Lesueur and Paer (comp.); took 2nd Prix de Rome with cantata “‘Marie Stuart et Rizzio”. in 1837; his cantata ‘“‘Fern and a”’ won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1839, and he studied church music at Rome; 1841 his orch. ma was performed; in 1842 he cond. his Requiem at Vienna with great succ.; returned to Paris as precentor and organist of the Mi ions Etrangéres; studied theology 2 years, intended to take orders and was called l’Abbé Gounod by a publisher in 1846; after 5 years of seclusion, parts of his Me e Solennelle were played with profound succ. in London; he prod. a symhony, but his opera ‘‘Sappho”’ failed Gr. péra, 1851); revised 1884, it failed again; a gr. opera, “La Nonne Sanglanie” (1854), and a comic opera, ‘Le Médec in Malgré Lui” (played in London as “The Mock Doctor’) (1858), both failed; 185250 cond. the ‘‘Orphéon,” Paris, and c. choruses and 2 ma es. The opera “Faust” (Th. Lyrique, 1859) was and still is a great succ. “‘Philémon et Baucis” (1860); “‘La Reine de Saba” (in London as ‘‘Irene’’) (1862); “Mireille” (1864), ‘‘La Colombe” (1866), were not great works, but “ Romeo et Juliette’ (1867) still holds the stage; 1866 member of the Institut de France and commander of the Legion of Honour. In 1870, during the war he livec in London; founded Gounod’s Choir. In 1871 he prod. “Gallia,” a cantata based on ‘“‘Lamentations”; 1875 returned to Paris, prod. “‘Cing Mars” (Opéra Comique, 1877), ‘‘Polyeucte” (Gr. Opéra, 1878), and ‘‘Le Tribut de Zamora” (1881), none succ. The sacred trilogy ‘‘La Rédempt i on” (Birmingham, 1882) (music and French words), and “‘Mors et Vita” (Birmingham, 188s) (Latin text arranged by Gounod) are He also c. ‘‘Me e So len standard. nelle & Ste. Cecile’; ma es; ‘‘ Angeli custo des’ (1882); ‘‘Jeanne d’ Arc” (1887); a Stabat Mater with orch.; the oratorios ‘‘Tobie,” ‘‘Les Sept Paroles de Jésus,’ ‘‘Jésus sur le Lac de Tibériade”’; the cantatas ‘‘A la Frontiére’”’ (1870, Gr. Opéra), ‘‘Le Vin des Gaulois,” and “‘La Danse de V Epée,” the French and English songs, etc. He left 2 operas, ‘‘Mattre Pierre’. (incomplete) and ‘‘Georges Dandin”’ (said to be the first comic opera set to prose text, cf. Bruneau). He wrote “‘Méthode de cor a pistons,” e ays, etc. Biog. by Jules Clarétie (Paris, 1875); Mme. Weldon (London, 1875); Paul Vo (Leipzig, 1895); ‘‘Mémoires’’ (Paris, 1895). (goo-vé), Théodore, Goffontaine, Rhenish Pru ia, 1819— Leipzig, 1898; pianist and composer.