(b Dieuze, 25 June 1860; d Paris, 18 Feb 1956). French composer. He studied at the Lille Conservatory and with Massenet in Paris, developing a passion for the bohemian life of Montmartre and a distaste for authority, also winning the Prix de Rome in 1887. In Rome he wrote the orchestral suite Impressions d′Italie, the symphony-drama La vie du poète and the first act of his most famous work, the opera Louise (1900). His growing reputation and the expected scandal of its theme of w omen's liberation made Louise a success; it anticipated Puccini's verismo works but also recalls Gounod and, in its leitmotifs and harmony, Wagner. In 1913 he had short-lived success with his last opera, Julien, further operas of the ‘people’ being projected but not completed. He was founder of the Conservatoire Populaire Mimi Pinson, which gave free musical tuition to midinettes from 1902.
Charpentier, Gustave (güstäv' shärpäNtyā'), 1860-1956, French composer; pupil of Massenet. His best-known works are the opera Louise (1900), portraying bohemian Parisian life, and his orchestral suite Impressions d'Italie (1892).
Charpentier was born in Dieuze, on June 25, 1860. He did not come from a musical family -- his father was a baker -- but his family encouraged his interest in music and allowed him to study the violin at an early age. His formal studies, however, did not begin until he was a teenager. He began working in a spinning mill in 1875, and gave violin lessons to his employer, Albert Lorthiois. Charpentier's musical abilities must have been impressive, for Lorthiois subsequently sponsored Charpentier for entrance into the Lille Conservatoire. Finally, in 1881, Charpentier was formally accepted into the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied violin with Massart, harmony with Pessard, and composition with Massenet. Charpentier's composition studies with Massenet began in 1885; surprisingly, only two years later, the young composer won the prestigious Prix de Rome for his cantata, Didon.
While living and composing in Rome at the Villa Medici -- a condition of winning the Prix de Rome -- Charpentier completed an number of important works, including a symphony entitled La vie du poete, and an orchestral suite, Impressions d'Italie. He also began work on an opera, Louise, which was destined to become his most famous work.
Charpentier returned to Paris in 1890 with the libretto for Louise, which he had written himself. The text of the opera concerned a dressmaker's shop girl named Louise and her life in Paris. Many of Charpentier's friends and colleagues suggested that the libretto was too realistic, too crude; the composer made a number of revisions to the text before finally completing the music in 1896. The opera was premiered at the Opera Comique early in 1900 and was an astounding success. It has been called a "roman musical," an early example of "verismo," and a "realist" drama; most importantly, Louise secured Charpentier's fame as a composer and earned him many honors, including election to the Academie des Beaux Arts. In 1900, he was also named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.
In 1902, Charpentier founded a school of music, the Conservatoire Populaire Mimi Pinson, which offered free musical instruction to Paris' many "midinettes" -- the shop girls who were popularized in his Louise. Charpentier also organized successful festivals throughout the country, many of which featured his own music, and thus enlarged his fame.
Charpentier's next success was the opera Julien of 1913, essentially a sequel to Louise. Probably the second work in an intended trilogy (never to be completed), Julien was not as successful as Louise, but shares many of the latter's charateristics: both are naturalistic music dramas that include the sights and sounds of life on the streets of Paris.
After Julien, Charpentier completed virtually no music, and instead busied himself with organizing concerts and writing music criticism. Interested in modern technological developments like the gramophone, radio, and film, Charpentier participated in a film version of Louise in 1936; however, Charpentier became a recluse after World War II, and produced no more music until his death (Paris, February 18, 1956). ~ Alexander Carpenter, All Music Guide
He was born in Dieuze, the son of a baker, and after studying at the conservatoire in Lille entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1881. There he studied compositions under Jules Massenet and in 1887 won the Prix de Rome for his cantataDidon. During the time in Rome that the prize gave him, he wrote the orchestralImpressions d'Italie and began work on the libretto and music for what would become his best known work, the opera Louise.
Charpentier returned to Paris, and continued to compose, including songs on texts by Charles Baudelaire and Voltaire. He eventually completed Louise, and it was accepted for production by the Opéra-Comique. A realistic portrait of Parisian working-class life, it is sometimes considered a French example of verismo opera.
The premiere of Louise on February 2, 1900 under the baton of André Messager made it the first new opera to be produced at the Opéra-Comique in the twentieth century. It was an immediate success, soon being performed all over the world and bringing Charpentier wide acclaim. It also launched the career of the Scottish sopranoMary Garden, who took over the title role during an early performance. A film version of the work was made in 1939 with Grace Moore in the title role, and Louise is still occasionally performed today, with the soprano aria "Depuis le jour" a popular recital piece.
In 1902, Charpentier founded the Conservatoire Populaire Mimi Pinson, intended to provide a free artistic education to Paris's working girls. However, he became unproductive as a composer. He worked on a sequel to Louise, Julien, ou la vie d'un poète, but it was not as great a success as Louise on its 1913 premiere, and was quickly forgotten. Charpentier wrote virtually no music for the rest of his life. He died in Paris.
