Alexandre Georges (25 February 1850 – 18 January 1938) was a French organist, teacher and composer. Of his compositions, his most successful opera was '' Miarka'', given at the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

and later at the

Opéra This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most co ...

. His most popular work was the

song-cycle A song cycle () is a group, or cycle, of individually complete songs designed to be performed in sequence, as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combination of solo songs mingled ...

, ''Chansons de Miarka''.

Life

Born in

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

, Georges studied at the

École Niedermeyer de Paris The () was a Paris school for church music, founded in 1853 by Louis Niedermeyer as successor to the , which had been established and run by Alexandre-Étienne Choron, Alexandre Choron between 1817 and 1834. Background Although a protestant from ...

, after which he joined the army and subsequently became at the Basilica of Saint Clotilde, Paris, where

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

was organist.Langham Smith, Richard
"Georges, Alexandre"
''Grove Music Online'', 2002 He later became organist at Saint-Vincent de Paul."Mort d'Alexandre Georges"
''Le Figaro'', 19 January 1938, p. 2 In addition to his church appointments he was a teacher, returning to the École Niedermeyer as professor of harmony, and was also a successful organ teacher.Slonimsky and Kuhn, p. 1249 Strongly attracted by the theatre, Georges composed several operas, of which the most successful was ''Miarka'', premiered at the

and later revised for a production at the

. It tells the story of a Romany girl destined, according to the

tarot Tarot (, first known as ''trionfi (cards), trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a set of playing cards used in tarot games and in fortune-telling or divination. From at least the mid-15th century, the tarot was used to play t ...

cards, to become a queen. He wrote the incidental music for two important symbolist plays by

Villiers de L'Isle-Adam Jean-Marie-Mathias-Philippe-Auguste, comte de Villiers de l'Isle-Adam (7 November 1838 – 19 August 1889) was a French symbolist writer. His family called him Mathias while his friends called him Villiers; he would also use the name Auguste wh ...

, performed at the Paris Odéon in the 1890s. His Requiem Mass was performed before 10,000 people outside

Arras Cathedral Arras Cathedral ( French: ''Cathédrale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Vaast d'Arras'') is the Catholic church in the city of Arras, France. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishops of Arras. History When the diocese of Arras was renewed in 1094 with Lamber ...

in the 1920s, commemorating France's soldiers who died in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. His most popular work was ''Les chansons de Miarka'', a cycle of fourteen songs for voice and piano, with words by

Jean Richepin Jean Richepin (; 4 February 1849 – 12 December 1926) was a French poet, novelist and dramatist. Biography Born on 4 February 1849 at Médéa, French Algeria, Jean Richepin was the son of an army doctor. At school and at the École Normale ...

(1888). Georges died, aged 87, on 18 January 1938. According to ''

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and th ...

'' and ''

Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'' is a major reference work in the field of music, originally compiled by Theodore Baker, PhD, and published in 1900 by G. Schirmer, Inc. The ninth edition, the most recent edition, was published in ...

'' he died in Paris; obituaries in ''

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

'' and ''

Le Temps ' (, ) is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. The paper was launched in 1998, formed out of the merger of two other newspapers, and (the former being a merger of two other papers), ...

'' say that he died in his native Arras."Nécrologie"
''Le Temps'', 20 January 1938, p. 5

Works

According to ''Grove'', Georges' style, is "often restlessly chromatic", showing the influence of Franck, but like many composers of his generation, "he introduced local colour into his works by using characteristic regional dances and songs".

Operas

*''Le Printemps'' (1888) *''Poèmes d'amour'' (1892) *''Charlotte Corday'' (1901) *''Miarka'' (1905) *''Myrrha'' (1909) *''Sangre y sol'' (1912)

Church music

*''Notre Dame de Lourdes'' *''Balthazar'' *''Chemin de Croix'' *''Passion'' *''Requiem Mass''

Symphonic poems

*''Leila'' *''La Naissance de Venus'' *''Le Paradis perdu''

Song cycle

*''Chansons de Miarka'' for voice and piano (also with orchestra)

References

Sources

External links

*

Alexandre Georges: ''Miarka, L'hymne au soleil''
(YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Georges, Alexandre 1850 births 1938 deaths People from Arras French Romantic composers French opera composers French classical organists French music educators 19th-century French composers 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians 19th-century French male musicians French male classical organists