Ave Maria
Composer: Jacques Francois
Fromental Elie Halevy
(1799-1862), 1857
| Recording: not available |
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| MIDI / Lyrics: not available |
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| Score: not available |
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A
biographical dictionary of musicians (ed.
Theodore Baker)
G. Schirmer, 1905 - Biography & Autobiography - 695 pages |
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Halevy, Jacques Francois Fromental Elie
gifted dramatic composer
b Paris May 27 1799 d Nice March 17 1862
His parents were Jews. At ten he entered the Paris Cons as an elementary
pupil of Cazot In iSiohe studied piano with Lambert in 181 1 harmony with
Ber ton and counterpoint for five years with Cherubini At seventeen he was
allowed to compete for the Prix de Rome he won it in 1819 with his cantata
Herminie He had previously composed an opera Les Bohemiennes never perf
published a pf sonata for 4 hands and set to music the 130th Psalm in Hebrew
the De Pro fundis During his three years stay in Italy he made great
progress writing another opera etc In 1S22 on his return to Paris he made
vain attempts to get his grand opera Pygmalion and Les deux pavilions comic
produced It was not until 1827 that he brought out a one act comic opera I
Artisan at the Th Feydeau though with little success The same year he
succeeded Daussoigne as prof of harmony and accomp at the Cons following
Fetis as prof of cpt and fugue in 1833 and taking a class of advanced
composition in 1840 In 1827 he was engaged as cembalist at the Italian |
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Opera In 182S with Rifaut he composed Le Koi ct
le Bdtelier in honor of Charles X In 1829 Clari with Malibran as prima donna
w as a success at the Th Italien Le dilettante d Avignon was produced the
same year and in 1830 the grand ballet A f anon Leseaut II was now app ehef
de chant at the Opera a post retained during 16 years In 1831 La latigue
musieale was prod at the Op Com La tenta tion 1832 ballet opera with Gide at
the Opera Les Souvenirs de Lafleur 1S32 and the same year a completion of
Ilerold's unfinished Ludovic which proved very successful In 1S35 La Julie
grand opera in 5 acts H s masterpiece was prod at the Opera on Feb 23 and
soon obtained great vogue throughout Europe Six months later appeared l
clair a sparkling comic opera To add to his growing reputation H was created
Chevalier of the Legion of Honor On the death of Reicha 1836 H succeeded him
as one of the three musical members of the Academie and in 1854 was
appointed secretary for life With La Juive H attained not only the zenith of
his powers but also of his triumphs In 1836 the blazing apparition of Les
Huguenots paled the milder fires of the French composer and Meyerbeer became
the idol of the hour La Juive was followed by Guide et Ginevra 1838 Les
Treize 1S39 I Le Drapier 1840 La Peine de Chyfre a brilliant success and Lc
Guitarero 1841 Charles VI 1843 Le Lazzarone 1S44 Les rnousquetaires de la
reine 1846 He collaborated with Adam Auber and Carafa in Les premiers pas
for the inauguration of the National Opera 1847 Le Val d Andorre was given
in 1848 adapted for the English stage in London 1850 La Pee aux roses in
1849 La Dame de pique 1850 In 1850 II conducted in London an Italian opera
La Tempesta Le Juif errant was produced in 1852 Le Nabab 1853 Jaguarila 1S55
Inconsolable under nom de plume Albert 1855 Valentine d Aubigny 1856 and La
Magicienne 1857 II was more inclined to aim at a high ideal than to please
the popular taste His music possesses true emotional and dramatic power and
is melodious but combined with so many details and refinements of harmony
and instrumentation that it could not be appreciated by the general public
though he held a high rank among artists Besides his operas he wrote a pf
sonata for 4 hands romances nocturnes part songs for male voices scenes from
Prometheus Unbound 1 849 the cantatas Les plages du AW and Italic 1859 an ef
ne almost finished scores of two operas Vanina d Ornano completed by Bizet
and Le D luge In the Paris schools his Lecons de lecture musieale was
adopted as the text book for singing Souvenirs et portraits 1861 and
Derniers souvenirs et portraits 1S63 were collections of the funeral
orations that as Secretary of the Academie he had delivered at the obsequies
of deceased members Short biographies of H were |
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published by his brother Leon 1862 E Mon nais
1S63 and A 1 ougin 1865 |
 
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