Alphonse Varney (; 1 December 1811 – 7 February 1879) was a French conductor, mainly of opera. His son was the composer Louis Varney who studied music with his father.

Education

He studied at the Paris Conservatoire including counterpoint with Reicha.

Career

Varney conducted the Théâtre de

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

in 1835, followed by the Théâtre Historique, the

Théâtre Lyrique The Théâtre Lyrique () was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century (the other three being the Paris Opera, Opéra, the Opéra-Comique, and the Théâtre-Italien (1801–1878), Théâtre-Italien). ...

(which he left in 1852 to spend more time composing, and conducting in Ghent), the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens from 1857 (from 1862 to 1864 he was also director and staged works by Offenbach), the

Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation) ...

from 1865 to 1878, and the Société Sainte-Cecile in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. He was also invited to conduct the 'French Opera Season' in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

in 1844.

Compositions

Varney composed the well-known '' Chant des Girondins'', written for the play '' Le Chevalier de Maison-Rouge'' by

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

. He also composed the music for a drame-lyrique by Alexandre Dumas, fils in 1848 entitled ''Atala''. His

opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular ''opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Théâtre de la foire, Fair Theatres of St Germain and S ...

''La ferme de Kilmoor'' (first performance 27 October 1852 at the Théâtre-Lyrique) was savaged by the critics.Walsh TJ, op cit. Other stage works by Varney include ''Le moulin joli'' (1849), ''L'opéra au camp'' (1854), ''La polka des sabots'' (1859) and ''Un leçon d'amour'' (1868). He retired in 1878.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varney, Alphonse 1811 births 1879 deaths French male conductors (music) 19th-century French conductors (music) Conservatoire de Paris alumni