Edmond Audran
Encyclopedia
Achille Edmond Audran was a French composer
best known for several internationally successful operetta
s, including Les noces d'Olivette
(1879), La mascotte
(1880), Gillette de Narbonne (1882), La cigale et la fourmi (1886), Miss Helyett (1890), and La poupée
(1896).
After Audran's initial success in Paris, his works also became a regular feature in the West End
of London, in adaptations that Audran supervised. Most of his works are now neglected, but La mascotte has been revived occasionally and has been recorded for the gramophone.
, the son of Marius-Pierre Audran (1816–87), who had a career as a tenor
at the Opéra-Comique
. He studied music at the École Niedermeyer
under Jules-Laurent Duprato, where he won the prize for composition in 1859. In 1861 his family moved to Marseille
, where his father accepted the post of singing teacher, later becoming director of the conservatory.
Audran became organist of the church of St Joseph there, for which he wrote religious music including, in 1873, a mass that was also performed in Paris at St Eustache
. He made his first appearance as a dramatic composer at Marseilles with L'Ours et le Pacha (1862), a musical version of one of Eugène Scribe
's vaudeville
s. This was followed by La Chercheuse d'Esprit (1864), a comic opera, also produced at Marseille. Audran's compositions included a funeral march on the death of Giacomo Meyerbeer
, which was performed with some success; some songs in the Provençal dialect, including La cour d'amour (Marseilles, 1881), and various sacred pieces. He produced a Mass
(Marseille, 1873), an oratorio
, La sulamite (Marseille, 1876), Adoro te, a motet
(Paris, 1882) and numerous minor works, but he is known almost entirely as a composer of light opera.
(1879), which had "an enormous vogue". The work speedily found its way to London (as Olivette), in an English translation by H. B. Farnie
, and ran for more than a year at the Strand Theatre
(1880–81). The critic of The Pall Mall Gazette, predicting "a brilliant and enduring success", wrote, "Bizet
in his Carmen
has scarcely been more successful in catching the atmosphere of Andalusia than has M. Audran in assigning to Les Noces d'Olivette that of Provence."
After Audran moved to Paris, most of his stage works were premiered there before being presented abroad, but four of his works were premiered elsewhere: La paradis de Mahomet (Brussels, 1887), Photis (Geneva
, 1896), Indiana (Manchester
, 1886) and La reine des reines ( Strasbourg
, 1896). In Paris, the success of La mascotte (1880) was so great that the intendant of the Bouffes-Parisiens and Audran entered into a five-year contract under which Audran would compose for no other Paris theatre. He worked with a large number of librettists, but his most frequent collaborators were Maxime Boucheron, Chivot, Duru and Maurice Ordonneau. Of one of his collaborations, a critic wrote, "I might dispose of the new three-act comic opera brought out at the Bouffes-Parisiens by simply stating that its title is Pervenche, that its libretto is by MM. Chivot and Duru, its score by M. Edmond Audran, and that both authors and composer have adhered so closely to their well-known style as to necessitate no further call on your space."
Audran's music met with as much favour in England as in France, and all but a few of his works were given in English adaptations in London theatres. The most successful of Audran's many comic operas were: Le grand mogol (Marseille, 1877; Paris, 1884; London, as The Grand Mogul, 1884 with a libretto by Farnie, starring Florence St. John
, Fred Leslie
and Arthur Roberts; New York as The Snake Charmer, 1881); La mascotte
(Paris, 1880; New York, 1881; London, as The Mascotte, 1881 with a libretto by Farnie, and cast including Lionel Brough
and Henry Bracy
); Gillette de Narbonne (Paris, 1882; London, as Gillette, 1883, libretto by Savile Clarke, with additional music by Walter Slaughter
and Hamilton Clarke
); La cigale et la fourmi (the grasshopper and the ant) (Paris, 1886; London, as La Cigale, 1890; English version by F. C. Burnand
, starring Geraldine Ulmar
, Eric Lewis
and Brough); Miss Helyett (Paris, 1890; London, as Miss Decima, 1891, libretto by Burnand); and La poupée
(Paris, 1896; London, 1897, libretto by Arthur Sturgess, starring Courtice Pounds
and Willie Edouin
).
. "He had little of Offenbach's humour, but his music is distinguished by an elegance and a refinement of manner which lift it above the level of opera bouffe to the confines of genuine opera comique. He was a fertile if not a very original melodist, and his orchestration is full of variety, without being obtrusive or vulgar. Many of his operas, La mascotte in particular, reveal a degree of musicianship which is rarely associated with the ephemeral productions of the lighter stage."
In 1957, the critic Philip Hope-Wallace wrote, "Those who attend on seaside bandstands will know the name of Edmond Audran … for his overtures to La Mascotte, La Poupie and Miss Helyett still set the old squares' feet a-tapping. If he never quite shook out of his sleeve any little inspiration which could rival Offenbach he made a very good second best talent go a long way. He himself did not greatly care for La Mascotte ... thinking his other works more subtle." Few of Audran's works have been recorded, but a French set of La mascotte was issued in 1957. La mascotte is credited with bringing the word "mascot
" into the English language. The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins states, "The French operetta La Mascotte by Edmond Audran had its première on 29 December 1880. The next year the word made its first appearance in English. French mascotte derives from masco 'witch' in the dialect of southern France. At first mascot meant simply 'a person or thing supposed to bring good luck' and did not have to be carried or displayed, as now."
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
best known for several internationally successful operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
s, including Les noces d'Olivette
Les noces d'Olivette
Les noces d'Olivette is an opéra comique in three acts composed by Edmond Audran, with a libretto by Alfred Duru and Henri Charles Chivot. The work premiered under the direction of Louis Cantin in Paris on 13 November 1879 at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens...
(1879), La mascotte
La mascotte
La mascotte is an opéra comique by Edmond Audran. The French libretto was by Alfred Duru and Henri Charles Chivot. The story concerns a farm girl who is believed to bring good luck to whoever possesses her, so long as she remains a virgin...
(1880), Gillette de Narbonne (1882), La cigale et la fourmi (1886), Miss Helyett (1890), and La poupée
La poupée
La poupée is an opéra comique in a prelude and three acts composed by Edmond Audran with a libretto by Maurice Ordonneau. It opened at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, Montparnasse, Paris on 31 October 1896. Along with Miss Helyett La poupée was one of Audran's late successes. The libretto was based on...
(1896).
After Audran's initial success in Paris, his works also became a regular feature in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
of London, in adaptations that Audran supervised. Most of his works are now neglected, but La mascotte has been revived occasionally and has been recorded for the gramophone.
Early life and career
Audran was born in LyonLyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, the son of Marius-Pierre Audran (1816–87), who had a career as a tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
at the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
. He studied music at the École Niedermeyer
Louis Niedermeyer
Abraham Louis Niedermeyer was a composer chiefly of church music but also of a few operas, and a teacher who took over the Ecole Choron, duly renamed École Niedermeyer, a school for the study and practice of church music, where several eminent French musicians studied including Gabriel Fauré and...
under Jules-Laurent Duprato, where he won the prize for composition in 1859. In 1861 his family moved to Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, where his father accepted the post of singing teacher, later becoming director of the conservatory.
Audran became organist of the church of St Joseph there, for which he wrote religious music including, in 1873, a mass that was also performed in Paris at St Eustache
Église Saint-Eustache, Paris
L’église Saint-Eustache is a church in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, built between 1532 and 1632.Situated at the entrance to Paris’s ancient markets and the beginning of rue Montorgueil, the Église de Saint-Eustache is considered a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture...
. He made his first appearance as a dramatic composer at Marseilles with L'Ours et le Pacha (1862), a musical version of one of Eugène Scribe
Eugène Scribe
Augustin Eugène Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years.-Biography:...
's vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
s. This was followed by La Chercheuse d'Esprit (1864), a comic opera, also produced at Marseille. Audran's compositions included a funeral march on the death of Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
, which was performed with some success; some songs in the Provençal dialect, including La cour d'amour (Marseilles, 1881), and various sacred pieces. He produced a Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
(Marseille, 1873), an oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
, La sulamite (Marseille, 1876), Adoro te, a motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
(Paris, 1882) and numerous minor works, but he is known almost entirely as a composer of light opera.
Operetta successes
While still in Marseilles, Audran wrote a half dozen operettas, the most successful of which was Le grand mogol (1877), with a libretto by Henri Chivot and Alfred Duru. He revised this for a Paris production in 1884. He moved to Paris in 1879, "where at first he occupied a humble lodging in a garret", but he was soon prosperous, with the success of Les noces d'OlivetteLes noces d'Olivette
Les noces d'Olivette is an opéra comique in three acts composed by Edmond Audran, with a libretto by Alfred Duru and Henri Charles Chivot. The work premiered under the direction of Louis Cantin in Paris on 13 November 1879 at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens...
(1879), which had "an enormous vogue". The work speedily found its way to London (as Olivette), in an English translation by H. B. Farnie
Henry Brougham Farnie
Henry Brougham Farnie , often called H. B. Farnie, was a British librettist and adapter of French operettas and an author...
, and ran for more than a year at the Strand Theatre
Royal Strand Theatre
The Royal Strand Theatre was located in Strand in the City of Westminster. The theatre was built on the site of a panorama in 1832, and in 1882 was rebuilt by the prolific theatre architect Charles J. Phipps...
(1880–81). The critic of The Pall Mall Gazette, predicting "a brilliant and enduring success", wrote, "Bizet
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
in his Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
has scarcely been more successful in catching the atmosphere of Andalusia than has M. Audran in assigning to Les Noces d'Olivette that of Provence."
After Audran moved to Paris, most of his stage works were premiered there before being presented abroad, but four of his works were premiered elsewhere: La paradis de Mahomet (Brussels, 1887), Photis (Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, 1896), Indiana (Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, 1886) and La reine des reines ( Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, 1896). In Paris, the success of La mascotte (1880) was so great that the intendant of the Bouffes-Parisiens and Audran entered into a five-year contract under which Audran would compose for no other Paris theatre. He worked with a large number of librettists, but his most frequent collaborators were Maxime Boucheron, Chivot, Duru and Maurice Ordonneau. Of one of his collaborations, a critic wrote, "I might dispose of the new three-act comic opera brought out at the Bouffes-Parisiens by simply stating that its title is Pervenche, that its libretto is by MM. Chivot and Duru, its score by M. Edmond Audran, and that both authors and composer have adhered so closely to their well-known style as to necessitate no further call on your space."
Audran's music met with as much favour in England as in France, and all but a few of his works were given in English adaptations in London theatres. The most successful of Audran's many comic operas were: Le grand mogol (Marseille, 1877; Paris, 1884; London, as The Grand Mogul, 1884 with a libretto by Farnie, starring Florence St. John
Florence St. John
Florence St. John , was an English singer and actress of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras famous for her roles in operetta, musical burlesque, music hall, opera and, later, comic plays.-Life and career:...
, Fred Leslie
Frederick Hobson Leslie
Frederick George Hobson, known as Fred Leslie , was an English actor, singer, comedian and dramatist....
and Arthur Roberts; New York as The Snake Charmer, 1881); La mascotte
La mascotte
La mascotte is an opéra comique by Edmond Audran. The French libretto was by Alfred Duru and Henri Charles Chivot. The story concerns a farm girl who is believed to bring good luck to whoever possesses her, so long as she remains a virgin...
(Paris, 1880; New York, 1881; London, as The Mascotte, 1881 with a libretto by Farnie, and cast including Lionel Brough
Lionel Brough
Lionel Brough was a British actor and comedian. After beginning a journalistic career and performing as an amateur, he became a professional actor, performing mostly in Liverpool during the mid-1860s...
and Henry Bracy
Henry Bracy
Henry Bracy was a Welsh tenor who is notable as the creator of the role of Prince Hilarion in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera Princess Ida. Bracy was often a lead tenor within the operettas in which he appeared. He was married to actress Clara T. Bracy, the sister of Lydia Thompson...
); Gillette de Narbonne (Paris, 1882; London, as Gillette, 1883, libretto by Savile Clarke, with additional music by Walter Slaughter
Walter Slaughter
Walter Alfred Slaughter was an English conductor and composer of musical comedy, comic opera and children's shows. He was engaged in the West End as a composer and musical director from 1883 to 1904.-Life and career:...
and Hamilton Clarke
Hamilton Clarke
James Hamilton Siree Clarke , better known as Hamilton Clarke, was an English conductor, composer and organist...
); La cigale et la fourmi (the grasshopper and the ant) (Paris, 1886; London, as La Cigale, 1890; English version by F. C. Burnand
Francis Burnand
Sir Francis Cowley Burnand , often credited as F. C. Burnand, was an English comic writer and dramatist....
, starring Geraldine Ulmar
Geraldine Ulmar
Geraldine Ulmar was an American singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.-Life and career:...
, Eric Lewis
Eric Lewis (actor)
Frederic Lewis Tuffley , better known by his stage name, Eric Lewis, was an English comedian, actor and singer...
and Brough); Miss Helyett (Paris, 1890; London, as Miss Decima, 1891, libretto by Burnand); and La poupée
La poupée
La poupée is an opéra comique in a prelude and three acts composed by Edmond Audran with a libretto by Maurice Ordonneau. It opened at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, Montparnasse, Paris on 31 October 1896. Along with Miss Helyett La poupée was one of Audran's late successes. The libretto was based on...
(Paris, 1896; London, 1897, libretto by Arthur Sturgess, starring Courtice Pounds
Courtice Pounds
Charles Courtice Pounds , better known by the stage name Courtice Pounds, was an English singer and actor known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and his later roles in Shakespeare plays and Edwardian musical comedies.As a young member...
and Willie Edouin
Willie Edouin
Willie Edouin was an English comedian, actor, dancer, singer, writer, director and theatre manager.After performing as a child in England, Australia and elsewhere, Edouin moved to America, where he joined Lydia Thompson's burlesque troupe, performing with this company both in the U.S. and Britain...
).
Later years and death
During his last few years, Audran suffered mental and physical illness and was forced to withdraw from Parisian society. He died in Tierceville on the north coast of France at the age of 61.Critical assessment
According to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Audran was one of the best of the successors of Jacques OffenbachJacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
. "He had little of Offenbach's humour, but his music is distinguished by an elegance and a refinement of manner which lift it above the level of opera bouffe to the confines of genuine opera comique. He was a fertile if not a very original melodist, and his orchestration is full of variety, without being obtrusive or vulgar. Many of his operas, La mascotte in particular, reveal a degree of musicianship which is rarely associated with the ephemeral productions of the lighter stage."
In 1957, the critic Philip Hope-Wallace wrote, "Those who attend on seaside bandstands will know the name of Edmond Audran … for his overtures to La Mascotte, La Poupie and Miss Helyett still set the old squares' feet a-tapping. If he never quite shook out of his sleeve any little inspiration which could rival Offenbach he made a very good second best talent go a long way. He himself did not greatly care for La Mascotte ... thinking his other works more subtle." Few of Audran's works have been recorded, but a French set of La mascotte was issued in 1957. La mascotte is credited with bringing the word "mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
" into the English language. The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins states, "The French operetta La Mascotte by Edmond Audran had its première on 29 December 1880. The next year the word made its first appearance in English. French mascotte derives from masco 'witch' in the dialect of southern France. At first mascot meant simply 'a person or thing supposed to bring good luck' and did not have to be carried or displayed, as now."