Charles-Simon Catel (; 10 June 1773 – 29 November 1830) was a French composer and educator born at

L'Aigle L'Aigle is a commune in the Orne department in Normandy in northwestern France. Before 1961, the commune was known as ''Laigle''. According to Orderic Vitalis, the nest of an eagle (''aigle'' in French) was discovered during the construction ...

Orne Orne (; or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.François-Joseph Gossec François-Joseph Gossec (; 17 January 1734 – 16 February 1829) was a French composer of operas, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works. Life and work The son of a small farmer, Gossec was born at the village of Vergnies, then a French ...

and by the age of 16 became his chief assistant at the orchestra of the National Guard in 1790. A member of the Institute, he jointly composed pieces of military music for official state ceremonies, including ''L'Hymne à la Victoire'' (Victory Hymn), with words by Ponce-Denis Écouchard-Lebrun. He was appointed inaugural professor of harmony at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or 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 Jean Ja ...

, but was relieved of his duties in 1814. Amongst his students were the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

winning composers Joseph Daussoigne-Méhul and Victor Dourlen, the Belgian composer Martin-Joseph Mengal, and the famous, if eccentric, harpist

Nicolas-Charles Bochsa Robert-Nicolas-Charles Bochsa (; 9 August 1789 – 6 January 1856) was a French harpist and composer. His relationship with Anna Bishop was popularly thought to have inspired that of Svengali and Trilby in George du Maurier's 1894 novel ''Tril ...

. Catel died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. His works include a ''Treatise on Harmony'' (1802), which was used by the young

Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

, several concert band works, several dramatic compositions at the

Opéra National de Paris The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

: '' Sémiramis'', ''

Les bayadères LES or Les may refer to: People * Les (given name) * Les (surname) * L.E.S. (producer), hip hop producer Space flight * Launch Entry Suit, worn by Space Shuttle crews * Launch escape system, for spacecraft emergencies * Lincoln Experimental S ...

''; 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 ...

: ''Artistes par occasion'', ''L'Auberge de Bagnères'' (1807); ''Wallace'' (1817); symphonies, quartets etc.

Works

Lyrical works

* '' Sémiramis'', lyric tragedy in three acts, libretto by Philippe Desriaux based on

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

, performed by the Opéra de Paris on 4 May 1802. * ''Les artistes par occasion'', farcical opera in one act, libretto by Alexandre Duval, performed at the

in 1807. * ''L'auberge de Bagnères'', farcical opera in 3 acts, libretto by C. Jalabert, performed by the Opéra-Comique in 1807. * ''

'', opera in 3 acts, libretto by Victor-Joseph-Étienne de Jouy based on

, performed at Opéra de Paris on 8 August 1810. * ''Les aubergistes de qualité'', comedy in 3 acts, libretto by Victor-Joseph-Étienne de Jouy, performed at Opéra-Comique on 17 June 1812 * ''Bayard à Mézières'', comedy in one act, libretto by Alisvan de Chazet and Louis Emmanuel Mercier Dupaty, performed at Opéra-Comique in 1814. * ''Le premier en date'', comedy in one act, libretto by Marc-Antoine Désaugiers and Pessey, performed at Opéra-Comique in 1814. * ''Wallace ou Le ménestrel écossais'', epic opera in 3 acts, libretto by L. Ch. J. Fontanes de Saint-Marcellin, performed at Opéra-Comique in 1817. * ''Zirphile et fleur de myrte ou cent ans en un jour'', "opéra-féerie" in 2 acts, libretto by Victor-Joseph-Étienne de Jouy and Nicolas Lefebvre, performed at Opéra de Paris in 1818. * ''L'officier enlevé'', comedy in one act, libretto by Alexandre Duval, performed at Opéra-Comique in 1819.

Vocal and choral works

* ''Chant triomphal'', 1807. * ''Ode sur le Vaisseau Le Vengeur'', words by Ponce-Denis Écouchard-Lebrun, for euphonium and orchestra. * ''Hymne sur la reconquête de Toulon'', for male choir and orchestra.

References

*Marie-Nicolas Bouillet's ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie'' (1842) 1773 births 1830 deaths People from L'Aigle French opera composers French male non-fiction writers French music theorists French male opera composers Military music composers Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery {{music-theory-stub