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Luigi Cherubini

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Luigi Carlo Zanobi Salvadore Maria Cherubini
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(born Sept. 14, 1760, Florence — died March 15, 1842, Paris, France) Italian-French composer. Born into a musical family, the precocious youth had written dozens of works before he was 20 years old. In 1786 he settled permanently in Paris. He enjoyed operatic successes in the 1790s, and Napoleon expressed his particular admiration. He became co-superintendent of the royal chapel in 1816 and in 1822 director of the Paris Conservatoire, where he would remain the rest of his life. Ludwig van Beethoven called Cherubini his greatest contemporary. His counterpoint text (1835) was used widely for a century. Of his nearly 40 operas, the most popular were Lodoïska (1791), Médée (1797), and Les Deux Journées (1800). His other important works include a symphony (1815), six string quartets, requiems in C minor and D minor (1816, 1836), and nine surviving masses.

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Music Encyclopedia: Luigi (Carlo Zanobi Salvadore Maria) Cherubini
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(b Florence, 8/14 Sept 1760; d Paris, 15 March 1842). Italian composer and teacher. He was a dominant figure in French musical life for half a century. At 18, with 36 works (mainly church music) to his credit, he began a period of study with Sarti in Bologna and Milan (1778-80). The resulting Italian operas he produced in Italy and London (1784-5), and his work as an Italian opera director (1789-90) in Paris (where he had settled in 1786), pale in significance next to the triumphant première of his second French opera, Lodoïska (Paris, 1791). He was appointed inspector at the new Institut National de Musique (from 1795 the Conservatoire), his status soon being enhanced by the successes of Médée (1797) and Les deux journées (1800). As surintendant de la musique du roi under the restored monarchy, he turned increasingly to church music, writing seven masses, two requiems and many shorter pieces, all well received (unlike his later operas). National honours, a commission from the London Philharmonic Society (1815) and the directorship of the Conservatoire (1822) and completion of his textbook, Cours de contrepoint et de fugue (1835), crowned his career.

Cherubini's importance in operatic history rests on his transformation of merely picturesque or anecdotal opéra comique into a vehicle for powerful dramatic portrayal (e.g. Médée's depiction of psychological conflict) and for the serious treatment of contemporary topics (Lodoïska's realistic heroism; social reconciliation in Les deux journées). His best church music, notably the C minor Requiem (specially admired by Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms and Berlioz), unites his command of counterpoint and orchestral sonority with appropriate dramatic expression, while his non-vocal works, chiefly the operatic overtures, Symphony in D and six string quartets, make their effect through the creative use of instrumental colour.

works:
Operas
  • Lodoïska (1791)
  • Médée (1797)
  • Les deux journées (1800)
  • Anacréon, opéra-ballet (1803)
  • Faniska (1806)
  • over 15 others
Vocal music
  • Requiem, c (1816)
  • Requiem, d (1836)
  • 9 other masses
  • over 60 smaller sacred works
  • secular cantatas
  • ceremonial works
  • arias, duets, songs, canons
Instrumental music
  • Ov., G (1815)
  • Sym. D
  • orch dances, marches
  • 6 str qts (1814-37)
  • other chamber works
  • pf pieces

Biography: Luigi Carlo Zanobi Salvatore Maria Cherubini
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Luigi Carlo Zanobi Salvatore Maria Cherubini (1760-1842) was an Italian-born composer and teacher who lived in France. His dramatic compositions revitalized the French opéra comique. As a pedagogue, he had profound influence in shaping French music in the 19th century.

Luigi Cherubini was born in Florence on Sept. 12, 1760. He began his musical studies with his father, a musician of modest attainments. In 1778 Cherubini went to Bologna to study with the eminent opera composer Giuseppe Sarti. At a young age Cherubini had already begun to compose his own catalog, recording a "Mass" and an "Intermezzo" completed when he was 13. His first opera was produced when he was 20. After a brief attempt to establish himself in London, Cherubini settled in Paris in 1787 and remained there the rest of his life.

In 1789 Cherubini was named music director for the Théâtre Monsieur, founded to produce opéra comique (comic opera), and later, for the Théâtre Feydeau, an informal club for the aristocracy during the Revolution. In 1791 he electrified Paris with his first major "rescue opera," Lodoīska. This was followed by Eliza (1794), Médée (1797), and the immensely popular Les Deux journées (1800), known also under its German title, Der Wasserträger (The Water Carrier).

In the Napoleonic era Cherubini became more and more conservative in both his life and music. Described as moody and aloof, he made his most lasting friendship with J. A. D. Ingres, the great French painter of the neoclassic tradition. In 1808 Cherubini turned his attention to the composition of church music and became one of the few major composers active in the 19th century to write effectively in this genre. Long involved in pedagogical activities, he became director of the Conservatory in 1822, the institution he had been partially instrumental in founding in 1795. Elected to the Institut de France in 1815, he was named commander of the Légion d'Honneur in 1842 shortly before his death on March 15.

Cherubini is remembered more as a haughty, academic composer than as the creator of exciting revolutionary theater. He was a master contrapuntalist, was wary of innovation, and in an age which prized individual eccentricities, Cherubini became notorious as a reactionary traditionalist. In particular, he was the bane of the young Hector Berlioz. Beethoven, however, admired Cherubini above all his contemporaries, and Médée was not only a source of inspiration but a model as well for Fidelio. Cherubini's sense of decorum and propriety and his slavish respect for tradition have contributed to the beclouding in modern times of his genuine accomplishments.

Further Reading

The best study of Cherubini in English is Basil Deane, Cherubini (1965). His operas are discussed in Donald J. Grout, A Short History of Opera (1947; 2d ed. 1965).

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Luigi Cherubini
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Cherubini, Luigi (lwē'jē kārūbē'nē), 1760-1842, Italian composer, who lived in Paris after 1788. Before he was 16 he wrote masses and other sacred works; he later composed Italian opera. In Paris he assimilated French operatic tradition and wrote operas of broad dramatic scope with rich orchestration, such as Médée (1797) and Les Deux Journées (1800), which influenced Beethoven's vocal music. In 1816 he became professor of composition at the Paris Conservatory, and in 1822 he became its director. Renowned for his contrapuntal skill, in his later years he wrote mostly sacred music, including his masses in F Major (1809) and A Major (1825) and his Requiem in D Minor (1836).
Artist: Luigi Cherubini
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Luigi Cherubini
  • Period: Classical (1750-1819)
  • Country: Italy
  • Born: September 14, 1760 in Florence, Italy
  • Died: March 15, 1842 in Paris, France
  • Genres: Ballet, Chamber Music, Choral Music, Opera, Symphony, Vocal Music

Biography

Much admired by musicians, Cherubini was Beethoven's favorite contemporary composer. What Beethoven and many others particularly admired was Cherubini's ability to weave his polyphonic virtuosity, Classical stylistic polish, and a truly Romantic sense of drama into music of extraordinary depth and dramatic power. The work that made Cherubini's famous as a dramatist of exceptional psychological acumen was the opera Medée, based on the harrowing tragedy by Euripides. Cherubini also excelled as a church composer. In his sacred music, particularly the later works, Cherubini combined his profound knowledge and skill as a contrapuntalist with an ability to express, tempering a passionate dramatic impulse with the discipline of religious contemplation, the tremendous experience of faith.

Born in Florence, on September 14, 1760, Cherubini started studying music with his father; his first work, a mass and Credo, was performed in 1773. Five years later, he went to study with Giuseppe Sarti, composing his first opera, Il Quinto Fabio, during this apprenticeship. Returning to Florence in 1782, Cherubini continued composing operas. In 1785, following a successful visit to London, Cherubini traveled to Paris, permanently establishing himself in the French capital. His first work for the French stage, the opera Démophon, was produced in 1788. The following year, which marked the beginning of the French Revolution, Cherubini was named director of a new opera company, an enterprise initiated under the auspices of King Louis XVI's brother, who later ruled France as Louis XVIII. In 1791, Cherubini produced his opera Lodoïska, which was received with tremendous enthusiasm. In 1792, however, the opera company, viewed by revolutionaries as a royalist relic, ceased to exist, and Cherubini found refuge at a friend's country house in Normandy. Nevertheless, he returned to the capital in 1793, hoping, despite the dangerous political situation, to resume his career. Having made the proper political connections, Cherubini won an appointment at the Institut National de Musique. When the Institute became the Conservatoire National in 1795, Cherubini became one of its inspectors. During this period, Cherubini composed ephemeral works glorifying the new government.

A turning point in Cherubini's career was the 1797 production of Medée. As Philip G. Downs has observed, Medée is a brilliant synthesis of the opéra comique (with spoken dialogue), the tragédie lyrique (with a story from mythology), Gluck's opera, and the allegorical opera during the French Revolution. Medea, the mythological sorceress who murders her children, is traditionally portrayed as a demonic figure. Significantly, Cherubini's work, while conveying the sheer horror of Medea's actions, focuses on the chilling, sinister, yet profoundly human, nature of his protagonist's rage.

In 1805, Cherubini traveled to Vienna, where he met Haydn, Beethoven, and Napoleon, who had come to Vienna as a conqueror. The French Emperor, who never fully appreciated Cherubini's music, urged the composer to return to Paris. After his return, Cherubini fell into a deep depression, lost all interest in music, retired to the chateau of the Prince of Chimay, and turned to painting and botany. Fortunately, he was asked to compose a mass for the church in Chimay, and this request prompted him to return to music. His inspiration as powerful as ever, Cherubini devoted himself to composing music for the Church. In 1822, Cherubini became director of the Paris Conservatory, gaining the reputation of an excellent administrator. Although extremely busy at the Conservatory, Cherubini continued composing, writing, among other works, his profound Requiem in D minor. First performed in 1836, Cherubini's Requiem was also played at his funeral -- according to his wishes. ~ Zoran Minderovic, All Music Guide
Wikipedia: Luigi Cherubini
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Luigi Cherubini, c. 1815-1824, Institut Royal de France, Académie des Beaux Arts (musique).
Luigi Cherubini wearing a Legion d'Honneur medal, lithograph by Marie Alexandre Alophe after a painting (Imp. d'Aubert & Co. Galerie de la Presse de la Literature et des Beaux Arts, c. 1850).

Luigi Cherubini (8 or 14 September [1], 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian-born composer who spent most of his working life in France. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest of his contemporaries.[2]

Contents

Biography

Cherubini was born Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini in Florence. There is uncertainty about his exact date of birth. Although 14 September is sometimes stated, evidence from baptismal records and Cherubini himself suggests the 8th is correct. Perhaps the strongest evidence is his first name, Maria, which is traditional for a child born on 8 September, feast-day of the Nativity of the Virgin.[3] His Italian name appears most often in modern journals and on recordings. However, after 1790, he adopted the French version of his name, Marie-Louis-Charles-Zénobi-Salvador Cherubini, which appears in all extant documents that show his full name after that date.[3]

His instruction in music began at the age of six with his father, Bartolomeo, maestro al cembalo ("Master of the harpsichord"). Considered a child prodigy, Cherubini studied counterpoint and dramatic style at an early age. By the time he was thirteen, he had composed several religious works. In 1780, he was awarded a scholarship by the Grand Duke of Tuscany to study music in Bologna and Milan.[3]

Cherubini's early opera serias used libretti by Apostolo Zeno, Metastasio (Pietro Trapassi), and others that adhered closely to standard dramatic conventions. His music was strongly influenced by Niccolò Jommelli, Tommaso Traetta, and Antonio Sacchini, who were the leading composers of the day. His only comic work, Lo sposo di tre e marito di nessuna, premiered at a Venetian theater in November 1783.

Feeling constrained by Italian traditions and eager to experiment, Cherubini traveled to London in 1785 where he produced two opera serias and an opera buffa for the King's Theater. In the same year, he made an excursion to Paris with his friend Gianbattista Viotti, who presented him to Marie Antoinette and Parisian society. Cherubini received an important commission to write Démophon to a French libretto by Jean-François Marmontel that would be his first tragédie en musique. Except for a brief return trip to London and to Turin for an opera seria commissioned by the King of the House of Savoy, Cherubini spent the rest of his life in France.[3]

Performances of Démophon were favorably received at the Grand Opéra in 1788. With Viotti's help, the Théâtre de Monsieur in the Tuileries appointed Cherubini as its director in 1789, and three years later, he advanced to the Théâtre Feydeau. This gave him the opportunity to read countless libretti and choose one that best suited his temperament. Cherubini's music began to show more originality and daring. His first major success here was Lodoïska (1791) which was admired for its realistic heroism. This was followed by Elisa (1794), set in the Swiss Alps, and Médée (1797), which is Cherubini's best known work. Les deux journées (1800), in which Cherubini simplified his style, was a popular success. These and other operas were premièred at the Théâtre Feydeau or the Opéra-Comique. Feeling financially secure, he married Anne Cécile Tourette in 1794 and began a family of three children.

The fallout from the French Revolution had a major effect on Cherubini until the end of his life. Politics forced him to hide his connections with the former aristocracy and seek governmental appointments. Napoléon found him too complex for his tastes, however, Cherubini wrote at least one patriotic work per year for more than a decade.[3] He was appointed Napoléon's director of music in Vienna for part of 1805 and 1806, whereupon he conducted several of his works in that city.

After Les deux journées, Parisian audiences began to favor younger composers such as Boieldieu. Cherubini's opera-ballet Anacréon was an outright failure and most stage works after it did not achieve success. Faniska, produced in 1806, was an exception, receiving an enthusiastic response, in particular, by Haydn and Beethoven. Les Abencérages (1813), an heroic drama set in Spain during the last days of the Moorish kingdom of Granada, was Cherubini's attempt to compete with Spontini's La Vestale. It brought the composer critical praise but few performances.

Title page of the first edition of Cherubini's Médée, full score, 1797.
Cherubini's grave at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris with a bas relief by Augustin Dumont.

Disappointed with his lack of acclaim in the theater, Cherubini turned increasingly to church music, writing seven masses, two requiems and many shorter pieces. During this period, he was also appointed surintendant de la musique du roi under the restored monarchy. (It was a position he held until the fall of the Bourbon Dynasty in the July Revolution of 1830). The London Philharmonic Society commissioned him to write a symphony, an overture, and a composition for chorus and orchestra in 1815, the performances of which he went especially to London to conduct, increasing his international fame.

Cherubini's Requiem in C-minor (1816), commemorating the anniversary of the execution of King Louis XVI of France, was a huge success. The work was greatly admired by Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms. In 1836, Cherubini wrote a Requiem in D Minor to be performed at his own funeral. It is for male choir only, as the religious authorities had criticised his use of female voices in the earlier work.

Although chamber music does not make up a large portion of his output, what he did write was important. Wilhelm Altmann, writing in his Handbuch für Streichquartettspielers (Handbook for String Quartet Players) about Cherubini's six string quartets, states that they are first rate and regarded Nos. 1 and 3 as masterworks. His String Quintet for two violins, viola and two cellos is also considered a first rate work.

In 1822, Cherubini became director of the Conservatoire and completed his textbook, Cours de contrepoint et de fugue, in 1835. His role at the Conservatoire would bring him into conflict with the young Hector Berlioz, who went on to portray the old composer as a crotchety pedant in his memoirs. Some critics, such as Basil Deane, maintain that Berlioz's depiction has distorted Cherubini's image with posterity. There are many allusions to Cherubini's personal irritability among his contemporaries; Adolphe Adam wrote, "some maintain his temper was very even, because he was always angry." Nevertheless, Cherubini had many friends, including Rossini, Chopin and, above all, the artist Ingres. The two had mutual interests: Cherubini was a keen amateur painter and Ingres enjoyed practising the violin. In 1841, Ingres produced the most celebrated portrait of the old composer.

During his life, Cherubini received France's highest and most prestigious honors. These included the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (1814) and Membre de l'Académie des Beaux-Arts (1815). In 1841, he was made Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur, the first musician to receive that title.[4]

Cherubini died in Paris at age 81 and is buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery, just four metres from his friend Chopin. His tomb was designed by the architect Achille Leclère and includes a figure representing "Music" crowning a bust of the composer with a wreath by sculptor Augustin Dumont.

Selected works

Operas

Religious Music

Masses

  • Five masses: (1773–1776) (lost).
  • Mass in B flat major, Messe solennelle breve (first) (–?–).
  • Mass in A major for Three Voices (1808–1809).
  • Mass in F major, Messe de Chimay (1808-1809).
  • Missa solemnis in D minor, Per il Principe Esterházy (1811).
  • Mass in C major (1816).
  • Mass in G major for the coronation of Louis XVIII. (1816-1819).
  • Missa solemnis in E major (1818).
  • Mass in A major, Messe solennelle (third), for the coronation of Charles X (1825).

Requiems

Motets & other choral works

  • 38 motets.
  • Hymne du Pantheon.

Chamber Music

  • String Quartet No.1 in E flat major, (1814).
  • String Quartet No.2 in C major, (1829). This is a transcription of his Symphony in D major with a new second movement.
  • String Quartet No.3 in D minor, (1834).
  • String Quartet No.4 in E major, (1835).
  • String Quartet No.5 in F major, (1835).
  • String Quartet No.6 in A minor, (1837).
  • String Quintet (2 violins, viola & 2 violoncellos) in E minor (1837).

Other compositions

  • Include a symphony, cantata, overture, and Hymne au printemps ("Hymn to Spring") for the Philharmonic Society of London (1815).

Notes

  1. ^ Sadie, Stanley (Ed.) (1994) [1992]. The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. vol. 1, A-D, chpt: "Cherubini, (Maria) Luigi (Carlo Zanobi Salvadore)" by Stephen C. Willis. New York: MacMillan. p. 833. ISBN 0-935859-92-6. 
  2. ^ Holden, Amanda; (editor), with Kenyon, Nicholas and Walsh, Stephen. The Viking Opera Guide. London: Viking. pp. 209. ISBN 0-670-81292-7. 
  3. ^ a b c d e Sadie, p. 833
  4. ^ Sadie, p. 834

Sources

  • Basil Deane, Cherubini (Oxford Studies of Composers, 1965)
  • Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music, Ed. W.W. Cobbett, Oxford University Press, 1963
  • Wilhelm Altmann, Handbuch für Streichquartettspielers, Hinrichtshofen, Amsterdam, 1972
  • Sadie, Stanley (Ed.) (1994) [1992]. The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. vol. 1, A-D, chpt: "Cherubini, (Maria) Luigi (Carlo Zanobi Salvadore)" by Stephen C. Willis. New York: MacMillan. ISBN 0-935859-92-6. 
  • Cherubini, Luigi (1835). Cours de contrepoint et de fugue. with Fromental Halévy. Paris: M. Schlesinger. OCLC 11909698. 

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
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