Nicolas-Marie d'Alayrac (; bapt. 13 June 175326 November 1809), nicknamed the Musician poet, more commonly Nicolas Dalayrac, was a French composer of the Classical period. Intended for a military career, he made the acquaintance of many musicians in the Parisian salons, which convinced him of his true vocation. Among his most popular works, '' Nina, or The Woman Crazed with Love'' (1786), which tackles the theme of madness and arouses real enthusiasm during its creation, premiered on 23 November at the

Stroganov Palace The Stroganov Palace (Russian: Строгановский дворец) is a Late Baroque palace at the intersection of the Moika River and Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg, Russia. The palace was built to Bartolomeo Rastrelli's designs for B ...

. '' The Two Little Savoyards'' (1789), which deals with the rapprochement of social classes, a theme bearing the ideals of the French Revolution, Camille ou le Souterrain (1791), judged as his best production or even Léon ou le Château de Monténéro (1798) who by his

leitmotif A leitmotif or () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is a partial angliciz ...

s announces a new genre. If he forges an international reputation, he remains nevertheless less known in the lyrical field than

André Grétry André Ernest Modeste Grétry (; baptised 11 February 1741; died 24 September 1813) was a composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (present-day Belgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous ...

. His first compositions were violin duos, string trios and quartets. He published them under a pseudonym with Italian consonance. The quartets were very successful, and the true identity of their author was eventually discovered. According to René-Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt, he was initiated into

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and was a member of the

Masonic lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

of « The Nine Sisters». In 1778 he composed the music for the reception of

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 ...

, and of the party in honor of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

at the home of Anne-Catherine de Ligniville Helvétius. Dalayrac actively participated in the development of

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Biography

Childhood and youth

Nicolas-Marie d'Alayrac was born in

Muret Muret (; in Gascon Occitan ''Murèth'') is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Muretains''. It is an outer suburb of the ci ...

on 8 April 1753, into a

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

family of Sir Jean d'Alayrac, adviser to the king in the election of

Comminges The Comminges (; Occitan language, Occitan/Gascon language, Gascon: ''Comenge'') is an ancient region of southern France in the foothills of the Pyrenees, corresponding approximately to the arrondissement of Saint-Gaudens in the departments of Fran ...

and his wife Marie Cluzel. Baptized five days later, Nicolas Alayrac is the oldest of five children. He was the first of four children, including two sisters who died at a young age, he was sent to the bar, and went to study in Toulouse. Although trained as a lawyer, he was encouraged by his father to abandon his career and follow his passion for music. He married the actress Gilberte Pétronille Sallarde. After the French Revolution he changed his name from the aristocratic d'Alayrac to Dalayrac. In 1804, he received the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. He died in

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, aged 56.

Opéras-comiques

1780–1789

* ''Le chevalier à la mode'' (1781) * ''Le petit souper'' (1781) * ''L'éclipse totale'' (1782) * '' L'amant statue'' (1785) * ''La dot'' (1785) * '' Nina, ou La folle par amour'' (1786) * ''Azémia'' (2 parties, 1786) * ''Renaud d'Ast'' (1787) * ''Sargines'' (1788) * ''Fanchette'' (1788) * '' Les deux petits Savoyards'' (1789), libretto by Benoît-Joseph Marsollier des Vivetières, first performance by Les Comédiens ordinaires du Roi, 14 January 1789. * ''Raoul, sire de Créqui'' (1789)

1790–1799

* ''La soirée orageuse'' (1790) * ''Le chêne patriotique'' (1790) * ''Vert-Vert'' (1790) * ''Camille ou Le souterrain'' (1791) * ''Agnès et Olivier'' (1791) * ''Philippe et Georgette'' (1791) * ''Tout pour l'amour'' (1792) * ''Ambroise'' (1793) * ''Asgill'' (2 parties, 1793) * ''La prise de Toulon'' (1794) * '' Le congrès des rois'' (1794) * ''L'enfance de

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...

'' (1794) * ''Les détenus'' (1794) * ''Adèle et Dorsan'' (1795) * ''Marianne'' (1796) * ''La maison isolée'' (1797) * ''La leçon'' (1797) * ''Gulnare'' (1797) * ''Alexis'' (1798) * ''Léon'' (1798) * ''Primerose'' (1798) * ''Adolphe et Clara, ou Les deux prisonniers'' (1799)

1800–1809

* ''Aire de Maison à vendre'' (1800) * ''Léhéman'' (1801) * ''L'antichambre'' (1802) * ''La boucle de cheveux'' (1803) * ''La jeune prude'' (1804) * ''Une heure de mariage'' (1804)
''Le Pavillon du Calife, ou Almanzor et Zobéïde''
opera in two acts and in free verse, in collaboration with Jean-Baptiste-Denis Despré and Étienne Morel de Chédeville (1805) * ''Le pavillon des fleurs'' (1805) * ''Gulistan ou Le hulla de Samarcande'' (1805) * ''Deux mots'' (1806) * ''Koulouf ou Les chinois'' (1806) * ''Lina'' (1807) * ''Élise-Hortense'' (1808) * ''Les trois sultanes'' (1809) * ''Le poète et le musicien'' (1809, op. post., f.p. 1811)

References

Notes

;Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * . *

External links

Azémia, ou Les Sauvages, opéra comique, 3 acts
by Nicolas-Marie Dalayrac, digitized by BYU on

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

List of works
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalayrac, Nicolas 1753 births 1809 deaths French opera composers French male opera composers People from Muret Knights of the Legion of Honour French Freemasons