(b Paris, 24 July 1803; d there, 3 May 1856). French composer. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Reicha (counterpoint) and Boieldieu (composition). A prolific composer, he wrote more than 80 stage works, some of which, especially those produced for the Opéra-Comique such as Le châlet (1834) and Le postillon de Longjumeau (1836), had considerable and lasting success. Other notable works, showing a natural sense of theatre, fresh invention and graceful melody. include the opera Si j′étais roi (1852) and the well-known ballet Giselle (1841).
Adam, Adolphe Charles (b Paris, 24 July 1803, d Paris, 3 May 1856). French composer who wrote the scores for fourteen ballets, among them the most famous titles of the mid-19th century. They include La Fille du Danube (chor. F. Taglioni, Paris, 1836), La Jolie Fille du Gand (chor. Albert, Paris, 1842), Le Diable à quatre (chor. Mazilier, Paris, 1845), and Le Corsaire (chor. Mazilier, Paris, 1856). His masterpiece, though, was Giselle (chor. Coralli and Perrot, Paris, 1841) in which he developed the use of leitmotifs and atmosphere to great dramatic effect.
Adam, Adolphe (1803–56), French composer, who worked in the tradition of the Opéra Comique. Adam's musical compositions were influenced by François Auber and François‐Adrien Boieldieu. Among the 53 works that he produced, the most significant are the operas Le Postillon de Longjumeau (The Coachman of Longjumeau, 1836) and Si j'étais roi (If I Were King, 1852) and, above all, the ballet Giselle ou les Willis (1841), based on a story by Heinrich Heine that was adapted by Théophile Gautier and Vernoy de Saint‐Georges for the ballet. This fairy tale focuses on Albrecht, Duke of Schlesia, who falls in love with the peasant girl Giselle. When Giselle learns from Albrecht's companion that the duke is already engaged, she dances with him in great desperation and kills herself with his dagger. She is then received by Myrtha, the queen of the Willis, who commands her to return to her grave where Albrecht is mourning her death. There she is to entice him into a dance of death. However, just as he collapses, the end of the bewitching hour arrives, and Myrtha loses her power over him. Giselle must return to her grave, and Albrecht is left standing in despair. In another one of his plays, La Poupée de Nuremberg (The Doll of Nuremberg, 1852), Adam incorporated the motif of the mechanical doll that E. T. A. Hoffmann had created in his story ‘The Sandman’. In this comedy of mistaken identities, a life‐sized doll is supposed to be turned into an ideal wife through magic. However, the inventor's wife assumes the identity of the doll, tricks her husband, and is insolent towards him. In his anger he stabs the doll, but fortunately the inventor's wife does not die because she manages to switch identities with the lifeless doll before the inventor commits his ‘crime’.
Adam, Adolphe Charles (ädōlf' shärl' ädäN'), 1803-56, French composer of the popular song Cantique de Noël. He composed more than 50 stage works, including comic operas such as Le Postillon de Longjumeau (1836) and the ballet Giselle (1841).
Best known today for his ballet Giselle and for the Christmas carol Cantique de Noël, Adolphe Adam, born in 1803, was a prolific composer of ballets, vaudeville, incidental music, and comic opera, and one of the most popular of his day.
His father was a pianist and teacher, but was firmly set against the idea of his son following in his footsteps. Adam was determined, however, and studied and composed secretly under the tutelage of his older friend Ferdinand Hérold, a popular composer of the day. When Adam was 17, his father relented, and he was permitted to study at the Paris Conservatoire -- but only after he promised that he would learn music only as an amusement, not as a career. He came to the notice of Boieldieu, who became his mentor and encouraged him to write for the theater. His first opera, Le mal du pays, was premiered at the Gymnase-Dramatique (where he played in the orchestra), and was followed in 1829 by Pierre et Cathérine, at the Opéra-Comique. Paired with Auber's La fiancée, it was a great success. In 1830, Adam left Paris for London, escaping political turmoil; in England, he wrote mostly ballet music. (His brother-in-law was the manager of the King's Theater.) Though he returned to France in 1832, his work remained popular across the Channel, and he premiered his Faust in London in 1833.
The comic opera Le Chalet, in 1834, was the greatest success of his career: popular in France throughout the nineteenth century, it was later forgotten. Le Postillon de Lonjumeau (1836) and Giselle (1841) were also successful, but his attempt at grand opera, Richard en Palestine (1844), was given only polite attention.
By 1847, Adam was wealthy and influential enough to open his own opera house, the Opéra-National. However, during the political turmoil of 1848 ("the year of revolutions"), he had to close down -- only four months after its opening, losing not only his own investments but the capital he had borrowed. While greatly burdened by these debts, he was still popular enough that his old royalties and new compositions, including Le Toréador (1849) and Si j'étais roi (1852) enabled him to pay the debt off steadily while he supported himself with musical journalism. In 1849, Adam also became a composition professor at the Conservatoire, and by 1852, his debts were paid off. He died in 1856.
Adam's music is characterized by a Gallic charm, whether filtered through the wistful lyricism of Giselle or the worldly wit of Le Postillon de Lonjumeau (in which he satirized the world of opera). Often accused of superficiality, he admittedly had no great desire to produce innovative, deeply felt, or especially sophisticated works, and focused his energies on giving his audiences the tuneful, graceful music and vivid theatrical entertainment that they wanted. ~ Ann Feeney, All Music Guide
Adolphe Adam was born in Paris to Louis Adam (1758-1848), who was also a composer, as well a professor at the Paris Conservatoire. His mother was the daughter of a physician. As a child, Adolphe Adam preferred to improvise music on his own rather than study music seriously. He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1821, where he studied organ and harmonium under the celebrated opera composer François-Adrien Boïeldieu. Adam also played the triangle in the orchestra of the Conservatoire; however, he did not win the Grand Prix de Rome and his father did not encourage him to pursue a music career.
By age 20, he was writing songs for Paris vaudeville houses and playing in the orchestra at the Gymnasie Dramatique, where he later became chorus master. Like many other French composers, he made a living largely by playing the organ. In 1825, he helped Boïeldieu prepare parts for his opera La dame blanche and made a piano reduction of the score. Adam was able to travel through Europe with the money he made, and he met Eugène Scribe, with whom he later collaborated, in Geneva. By 1830, he had completed twenty-eight works for the theatre.
After quarreling with the director of the Opéra, Adam invested his money and borrowed heavily to open a fourth opera house in Paris: the Théâtre National (Opèra National). It opened in 1847, but closed because of the Revolution of 1848, leaving Adam with massive debts (Théâtre National later was resurrected under the name of Théâtre Lyrique at the Boulevard du Temple). His efforts to extricate himself from these debts include a brief turn to journalism. From 1849 to his death in Paris, he taught composition at the Paris Conservatoire.
His Christmas carol "Cantique de Noël", translated to English as "O Holy Night", is an international favorite, and is said to have been the first music broadcast on radio.[1]
