List of compositions by Jacques Offenbach
Encyclopedia
This is a list of musical compositions by Jacques Offenbach
(1819–1880). Offenbach is principally known for his operettas, of which he composed 98 between 1847 and 1880. He also wrote two opéra
s, Die Rheinnixen
and his unfinished masterpiece Les contes d'Hoffmann.
In his early career he was an internationally celebrated cello
virtuoso, and he also wrote a series of vocal and instrumental pieces.
Jacques 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....
(1819–1880). Offenbach is principally known for his operettas, of which he composed 98 between 1847 and 1880. He also wrote two opéra
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s, Die Rheinnixen
Die Rheinnixen
Die Rheinnixen is a romantic opera in four acts by Jacques Offenbach. The original libretto by Charles-Louis-Etienne Nuitter was translated into German by Alfred von Wolzogen....
and his unfinished masterpiece Les contes d'Hoffmann.
In his early career he was an internationally celebrated cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
virtuoso, and he also wrote a series of vocal and instrumental pieces.
Operas
-
- Die RheinnixenDie RheinnixenDie Rheinnixen is a romantic opera in four acts by Jacques Offenbach. The original libretto by Charles-Louis-Etienne Nuitter was translated into German by Alfred von Wolzogen....
(Les fées du Rhin) (1864) — romantic opera in 4 acts (libretto: NuitterCharles-Louis-Etienne NuitterCharles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter was a French librettist, translator, writer and librarian born in Paris, France on 24 April 1828. He died there on 23 February 1899 after suffering a stroke a few days before.-Librettist and translator:...
, translated into German by Alfred von Walzogen). Performed at the Hofoper in ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
on 4 February 1864. - The Tales of Hoffmann (1881) — Opéra in three acts, libretto by Jules BarbierJules BarbierPaul Jules Barbier was a French poet, writer and opera librettist who often wrote in collaboration with Michel Carré...
, unfinished, first performed, without the 'Giulietta' act, at the Opéra-ComiqueOpéra-ComiqueThe 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...
on 10 February 1881.
- Die Rheinnixen
Ballet
-
- Le papillonLe Papillon (ballet)Le papillon is a "fantastic ballet" in 2 acts, with choreography by Marie Taglioni and music by Jacques Offenbach to a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges....
(1860) — ballet-fantastique in 2 acts (libretto: Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, choreography: Marie TaglioniMarie TaglioniMarie Taglioni was a famous Italian/Swedish ballerina of the Romantic ballet era, a central figure in the history of European dance.-Biography:...
). The only full length ballet composed by Offenbach; it was performed at the Paris OperaParis OperaThe Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
on 26 November 1860 and ran for 42 performances.
- Le papillon
Incidental music
-
- Un mariage sous la Régence (GuillardNicolas-François GuillardNicolas-François Guillard was a French librettist. He was born in Chartres and died in Paris, the recipient of a government pension in recognition of his work writing librettos. He was also on Comité de Lecture of the Paris Opéra...
, 1850) - Le joueur de flûte (Émile AugierÉmile AugierGuillaume Victor Émile Augier was a French dramatist. He was the thirteenth member to occupy seat 1 of the Académie française on 31 March 1857.-Biography:...
, 1850) - Valéria (MaquetAuguste MaquetAuguste Maquet was a French author, best known as the chief collaborator of French novelist Alexandre Dumas, père, co-writing such works as The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers....
and Jules Lacroix, 1851) - Mademoiselle de la Seiglière (SandeauJules SandeauLeonard Sylvain Julien Sandeau was a French novelist.He was born at Aubusson , and was sent to Paris to study law, but spent much of his time in unruly behaviour with other students. He met George Sand, then Madame Dudevant, at Le Coudray in the house of a friend, and when she came to Paris in...
, 1851) - Le malade imaginaire (MolièreMolièreJean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
, 1851/2) - Le bonhomme jadis (Henri MurgerHenri MurgerLouis-Henri Murger, also known as Henri Murger and Henry Murger was a French novelist and poet....
, 1852) - Le barbier de Séville ou La précaution inutile (BeaumarchaisPierre BeaumarchaisPierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais was a French playwright, watchmaker, inventor, musician, diplomat, fugitive, spy, publisher, arms dealer, satirist, financier, and revolutionary ....
, 1852) - La folle journée, ou Le mariage de FigaroThe Marriage of Figaro (play)The Marriage of Figaro ) is a comedy in five acts, written in 1778 by Pierre Beaumarchais. This play is the second installment in the Figaro Trilogy, preceded by The Barber of Seville and followed by The Guilty Mother. The Barber begins the story with a simple love triangle in which the Count has...
(Beaumarchais, 1852) - Murillo ou La corde du pendu (Aylic-Langlé, 1853, also with music by MeyerbeerGiacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo 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...
) - Romulus (Dumas, FeuilletOctave FeuilletOctave Feuillet was a French novelist and dramatist.- Overview :Octave Feuillet was born at Saint-Lô, Manche . His father Jacques Feuillet was a prominent lawyer and Secretary-General of La Manche, but also a hypersensitive invalid. His mother died when he was an infant...
, BocagePaul BocagePaul Auguste Tousez, known as Paul Bocage, was a French librettist, novelist and dramatist....
, 1854) - Le songe d'une nuit d'hiver (Plouvier, 1854)
- La haine (Victorien SardouVictorien SardouVictorien Sardou was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play...
, 1874; Offenbach produced this expensive production at the Théâtre de la GaîtéThéâtre de la Gaîté (rue Papin)In 1862 during Haussmann's modernization of Paris the Théâtre de la Gaîté of the boulevard du Temple was relocated to the rue Papin across from the Square des Arts et Métiers....
, which was a financial failure and contributed to his bankruptcy.)
- Un mariage sous la Régence (Guillard
Vocal
Songs, from 1838 to 1873, including- Six fables of La FontaineJean de La FontaineJean de La Fontaine was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional...
(1842) - Le langage des fleurs (1846)
- Les voix mystérieuses (1852)
Cello
- Concerto militaire in G (1848)
- Concerto rondo (1851)
- Cello duets 'cours méthodique de duos', Opp.Opus numberAn Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
49–54 - Deux âmes au ciel, Introduction and valse mélancolique, Rêverie au bord de la mer, La course en traîneau
- Harmonies des bois: Le soir, Les larmes de Jacqueline
Piano
- Décameron dramatique (1854, ten pieces dedicated to members of the Comédie-FrançaiseComédie-FrançaiseThe Comédie-Française or Théâtre-Français is one of the few state theaters in France. It is the only state theater to have its own troupe of actors. It is located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris....
) - (Short pieces) Les roses du Bengale. Six valses sentimentales, Dernier souvenir, Valse de zimmer, Abendblatter, Schuler-Polka, Les boules de neige, Ländler, Le fleuve d’or, Valse, Le postillon, Galop, Jacqueline, Suite de valses, Polka du mendiant, Les contes de la reine de Navarre, Grande valse, Souvenirs de Londres, Polka, Herminien-Walzer, Madeleine, Polka-Mazurka, Les belles Américaines, Valse, Burlesque Polka, Valse composée au château du Val le 9 aout 1845, Musette, Les amazones, Les arabesques, Berthe, Brunes et blondes, Les fleurs d’hivers.
- Souvenir d'Aix-les-BainsAix-les-BainsAix-les-Bains is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It is situated on the shore of Lac du Bourget, by rail north of Chambéry.-Geography:...
, suite de valses (1873, also orchestrated)
Arrangements by other musicians
- Arranged and orchestrated by Manuel RosenthalManuel RosenthalManuel Rosenthal was a French composer and conductor who held leading positions with musical organizations in France and America...
:- Gaîté parisienneGaîté ParisienneGaîté parisienne is a 1938 ballet based on music by Jacques Offenbach, arranged by Manuel Rosenthal. The ballet had the original title of Tortoni, after a Paris café, but Rosenthal recalled that Count Étienne de Beaumont, the ballet's librettist, later came up with the ballet's eventual...
(1938) — a ballet score using Offenbach melodies - Offenbachiana (1953) – a 'symphonic suite on themes of Jacques Offenbach'
- La belle Hélène (1955, with Louis Aubert) – 'ballet-bouffe'
- Gaîté parisienne