Background
Gounod was born in 1818 in Paris, France. Gounod's father was a painter; his mother was a fine pianist, and gave her son his early musical encouragement.
Gounod was born in 1818 in Paris, France. Gounod's father was a painter; his mother was a fine pianist, and gave her son his early musical encouragement.
After finishing his course at the Lycée Saint-Louis, Gounod entered the Paris Conservatory, and studied counterpoint under Halévy and composition under Ferdinando Paer and Jean François Lesueur.
While in that city, he studied the great church music of the Italian Renaissance.
While residing in the Eternal City he devoted much of his time to the study of sacred music, notably to the works of Palestrina and Bach.
In 1843 he went to Vienna, where a "requiem" of his composition was performed.
At that time he even contemplated the idea of entering into holy orders.
The fact was that Sapho differed in some respects from the operatic works of the period, and was to a certain extent in advance of the times.
In the meanwhile he wrote in a few months the music for an operatic version of Moliere's comedy, Le Medecin malgre lui, which was produced at the Theatre Lyrique in 1858.
Berlioz well described this charming little work when he wrote of it, " Everything is pretty, piquant, fluent, in this ' opera comique '; there is nothing superfluous and nothing wanting. "
The first performance of Faust took place at the Theatre Lyrique on the 19th of March 1859.
Goethe's masterpiece had already been utilized for operatic purposes by various composers, the most celebrated of whom was Spohr.
The subject had also inspired Schumann, Berlioz, Liszt, Wagner, to mention only a few, and the enormous success of Gounod's opera did not deter Boito from writing his Mefistofele.
Faust is without doubt the most popular French opera of the second half of the 19th century.
For years it remained the recognized type of modern French opera.
At the time of its production in Paris it was scarcely appreciated according to its merits.
Its style was too novel, and its luscious harmonies did not altogether suit the palates of those dilettanti who still looked upon Rossini as the incarnation of music.
Times have indeed changed, and French composers have followed the road opened by Gounod, and have further developed the form of the lyrical drama, adopting the theories of Wagner in a manner suitable to their national temperament.
Although in its original version Faust contained spoken dialogue, and was divided into set pieces according to custom, yet it differed greatly from the operas of the past.
Gounod had not studied the works of German masters such as Mendelssohn and Schumann in vain, and although his own style is eminently Gallic, yet it cannot be denied that much of its charm emanates from a certain poetic sentimentality which seems to have a Teutonic origin.
Certainly no music such as his had previously been produced by any French composer.
It was, however, reserved for Gounod to introduce la note tendre, to sing the tender passion in accents soft and languorous.
Since then it has never lost its popularity. Although the success of Faust in Paris was at first not so great as might have been expected, yet it gradually increased and set the seal on Gounod's fame.
The opera from his pen which came after Faust was Philemon et Baucis, a setting of the mythological tale in which the composer followed the traditions of the Opera Comique, employing spoken dialogue, while not abdicating the individuality of his own style.
This work was produced at the Theatre Lyrique in 1860.
It has repeatedly been heard in London.
La Reine de Saba, a four-act opera, produced at the Grand Opera on the 28th of February 1862, was altogether a far more ambitious work.
La Reine de Saba was adapted for the English stage under the name of Irene.
The non-success of this work proved a great disappointment to Gounod, who, however, set to work again, and this time with better results, Mireille, the fruit of his labours, being given for the first time at the Thfitoe Lyrique on the 19th of March 1864.
La Colombo, a little opera in two acts without pretension, deserves mention here.
It was originally heard at Baden in 1860, and subsequently at the Opera Comique.
A suavely melodious entr'acte from this little work has survived and been repeatedly performed. Animated with the desire to give a pendant to his Faust, Gounod now sought for inspiration from Shakespeare, and turned his attention to Romeo and Juliet.
The operatic version of the Shakespearean tragedy was produced at the The&tre Lyrique on the 27th of April 1867.
It is generally considered as being the composer's second best opera.
On Gounod's return to Paris he hurriedly set to music an operatic version of Alfred de Vigny's Cinq-Mars, which was given at the Opera Comique on the 5th of April 1877 (and in London in 1900), without obtaining much success.
Polyeucte, his much-cherished work, appeared at the Grand Opera the following year on the 7 th of October, and did not meet with a better fate.
In his later dramatic works he had, unfortunately, made no attempt to keep up with the times, preferring to revert to old-fashioned methods. The genius of the great composer was, however, destined to assert itself in another field-that of sacred music.
Among the many masses composed by Gounod at the outset of his career, the best is the Messe de Sainte Cecile, written inHe also wrote the Messe du Sacre Cceur (1876) and the Messe a la mimoire de Jeanne d'Arc (1887).
In style it has a certain affinity with Palestrina.
The Redemption, which seems to have acquired a permanent footing in Great Britain, was produced at the Birmingham Festival of 1882.
It was styled a sacred trilogy, and was dedicated to Queen Victoria.
The score is prefixed by a commentary written by the composer, in which the scope of the oratorio is explained.
It cannot be said that Gounod has altogether risen to the magnitude of his task.
The music of The Redemption bears the unmistakable imprint of the composer's hand, and contains many beautiful thoughts, but the work in its entirety is not exempt from monotony.
Mors et vita, a sacred trilogy dedicated to Pope Leo XIII, was also produced for the first time in Birmingham at the Festival of 1885.
This work is divided into three parts, "Mors", "Judicium", " Vita. "
The first consists of a Requiem, the second depicts the Judgment, the third Eternal Life.
Besides the works already mentioned may be named two symphonies which were played during the 'fifties, but have long since fallen into neglect.
The incidental music he wrote to the dramas Les Deux Reines and Jeanne d'Arc must not be forgotten.
He also attempted to set Moliere's comedy, Georges Dandin, to music, keeping to the original prose.
This work has never been brought out.
Gounod composed a large number of songs, many of which are very beautiful.
One of the vocal pieces that have contributed most to his popularity is the celebrated Meditation on the First Prelude of Bach, more widely known as the Ave Maria.
His influence on French music was immense, though during the last years of the 19th century it was rather counterbalanced by that of Wagner.
He was made a Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur in July 1888.
Later in his life Gounod returned to his early religious impulses, writing much sacred music. His Pontifical Anthem (Marche Pontificale, 1869) eventually (1949) became the official national anthem of Vatican City. A devout Catholic, he had on his piano a music-rack in which was carved an image of the face of Jesus.
He became the first conductor of what is now the Royal Choral Society.
