Vaucluse
Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.Saint-Étienne, he entered naval school aged 15.
In 1894, while serving on the frigate ''Iphigénie'', he wrote to a friend that he missed music and if he had the means he would go to the
Conservatoire de Paris
The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...
. While still split between the life of a sailor and musician, he worked away on harmony. He took part in campaigns on board the ''Forfait'' in the
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...
, then on the ''Vinh-Long'', where he witnessed the closing stages of the Sino-Japanese War. He brought back sketches that became the suite ''Kakémonos'', initially written for the piano, but later orchestrated and performed at the Concerts Poulet on 29 January 1923 (''Panorama, Geishas, Temple au Crépuscule, Fête'').
In the Far East he read the Oscar Wilde play '' Salome'', and decided to set it to music. On return to Europe, he sailed on the ''Marceau'' then the ''Magenta'' where finally, thanks to Admiral Gervais, he had a piano. On six months leave he followed a course at the Conservatoire by
Charles-Marie Widor
Charles-Marie-Jean-Albert Widor (21 February 1844 – 12 March 1937) was a French organist, composer and teacher of the mid-Romantic era, most notable for his ten organ symphonies. His Toccata from the fifth organ symphony has become one of th ...
. After prolonging his absence, he resigned from the navy in 1897. He entered the Schola Cantorum where he was taught by
Vincent d'Indy
Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the P ...
, who found him work as a pianist at the home of the comte de Chambrun, to whom he played each day for precisely 60 minutes, in particular the 32
sonatas
Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...
of
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
in chronological order.
Due to his mother's health, he went back to Saint-Étienne and taught piano and became an organist, also directing the symphonic society; he also wrote an operetta ''Armande''. Appointed professor of piano at the Lyon Conservatoire, he completed the score of '' Salomé'', believing himself to have permission from Wilde's estate and the publisher Methuen. In fact, having obtained the agreement to use the play, Richard Strauss had in turn asked his publisher Fürstner to acquire the rights. Wilde's particularly complicated estate led to a court case that favoured the rights of Fürstner. Mariotte learnt that Fürstner would oppose the production of a "Salomé française" and after going to
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, he obtained permission to have his piece staged, on condition that 40% royalties went to Richard Strauss and 10% to Fürstner, with all scores to be sent after the run to Fürstner to be destroyed.
Romain Rolland
Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary production a ...
, having read an article by Mariotte in the ''Revue internationale de musique'', helped him to obtain a more generous settlement from Strauss. On 30 October 1908, Mariotte's opera was produced at the Grand-Théâtre de
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
with success (de Wailly in the title role), and staged in 1910 at the Gaîté-Lyrique in Paris, while Strauss's '' Salomé'' was on 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 c ...
Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...
,
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
, Mariotte's ''Salomé'' was seen at the Opéra on 1 July 1919 with Lucienne Bréval. In November 2005 the Opera National de Montpellier juxtaposed the Strauss and Mariotte operas. Mariotte's ''Salomé'' was produced by
Wexford Festival Opera
Wexford Festival Opera () is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in south-eastern Ireland during the months of October and November.
The festival began in 1951 under Tom Walsh and a group of opera lovers who quickly gene ...
in October 2014.
During the war, Mariotte was sent to
Salonica
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
where he contracted
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
. After the end of the war, in 1920 he became director of the Conservatoire d'Orléans where he taught
René Berthelot
René Berthelot (? – 28 October 1664), also known by his stage names Du Parc and Gros René, was a French actor and member of Molière's theatre troupe from 1647 to 1664.
Life
René Berthelot was born in Nantes, the son of a bourgeois, Pi ...
, who succeeded him. He led the direction of the Opéra-Comique from 1936 to 1939.
He died in Izieux, (
Loire
The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...
) in 1944, aged 68.
Compositions
Mariotte's works use a wide range of operatic effects with particularly striking choral writing.Langham Smith R. Antoine Mariotte. In: ''New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. He displayed a robust temperament in both tragedy and lighter music.Landormy P. ''La Musique Française après Debussy.'' Gallimard, Paris, 1943.
On 28 February 1913 he presented in Lyon a
tragédie lyrique
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 c ...
, ''Le Vieux Roi'' on a libretto by Rémy de Gourmont, which, despite a successful launch, failed after its third performance.
His three-act comédie musicale ''Léontine soeurs'' premiered at the Théâtre Trianon Lyrique on 25 May 1924 and was published later that year.
''Esther, princesse d'Israêl'', a three-act tragédie lyrique after André Dumas and Sébastien-Charles Leconte was created at the Opéra on 28 April 1925, ''Gargantua'' ('scenes rabelaisiennes' in 4 acts) was seen at the Opéra-Comique on 15 February 1935 and revived in 1938, and ''Nele Dooryn'' a three-act 'conte lyrique' (libretto by Camille Mauclair) was given five performances at the Opéra-Comique in 1940.
In 1930 he wrote a ''Cantate pour le centenaire de la Conquête de l'Algérie'', played with enthusiasm in Algiers.
In 1934 came the symphonic version of ''Impressions urbaines'', five pieces for piano (''Usines, Faubourgs, Guingettes, Decombres, Gares'') premiered by
Édouard Risler
Joseph-Édouard Risler (23 February 1873 – 22 July 1929) was a French pianist.
Biography
Risler was born in Baden-Baden (Germany) of a German mother and an Alsatian father. He studied under Louis Diémer, Théodore Dubois and Émile Decomb ...
in 1921, which depict the hard human and physical nature of Paris in expressive and sometimes violent means. There was also a ''Paysage maritime'' — a "sketch for harp and orchestra", part of an unfinished sea symphony, a sonata for piano and some songs.
Bibliography
*A. Payre, ''Antoine Mariotte'', Saint-Étienne, Les Amitiés, April 1935
*
Gustave Samazeuilh
__NOTOC__Gustave Marie Victor Fernand Samazeuilh (2 June 1877 in Bordeaux – 4 August 1967 in Paris) was a French composer and writer on music.
He studied music with Ernest Chausson until the latter's death in 1899, and then attended the Schol ...
, ''Musique et Radio'', June 1951
*A. Thomazi, ''Trois marins compositeurs, Roussel, Mariotte, Jean Cras'', Paris, Imprimerie Bellemand, 1948