Gustave Doret (20 September 1866 – 19 April 1943) was a Swiss composer and conductor.

Career

Doret was born in 1866 in

Aigle Aigle ( French for "eagle", ; ) is a historic town and a municipality and the capital of the district of Aigle in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The official language of Aigle is Swiss French. Geography Aigle lies at an elevation of a ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He studied at the Berlin Academy of Music with

Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian Violin, violinist, Conducting, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely ...

, and then 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 ...

with

Théodore Dubois Clément François Théodore Dubois (; 24 August 1837 – 11 June 1924) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, organist, and music teacher. After study at the Paris Conservatoire, Dubois won France's premier musical prize, the Prix de Ro ...

and

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...

. His career as a conductor began in 1894 in Paris, where he led the first performance of

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

's ''

Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune ''Prélude à l'Après-midi d'un faune'' ( L. 86), known in English as ''Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun'', is a symphonic poem for orchestra by Claude Debussy, approximately 10 minutes in duration. It was composed in 1894 and first performed ...

''. He was second conductor of the Concerts d'Harcourt from 1893 to 1895 and director of 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 ...

in the 1890s and 1900s. He was also the founder of the

Théâtre du Jorat The Théâtre du Jorat, inaugurated 9 May 1908, is a theater hall located in the Vaud commune of Mézières, Vaud, Mézières, Switzerland, about 20 km from Lausanne, in the Jorat region. Description The Théâtre du Jorat was established ...

, in Mézières. His two serious operas, heavily indebted to Massenet, were performed in Paris; his

light opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

and other stage works were far more popular across French-speaking Europe. In 1914, Doret returned to Switzerland and began studying local

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

traditions. He also wrote for Swiss newspapers and wrote a memoir, ''Temps et contretemps'', published in 1942. Most of his output was vocal, and included operas,

music theatre Music theatre is a performance genre that emerged over the course of the 20th century, in opposition to more conventional genres like opera and musical theatre. The term came to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s to describe an avant-garde approach ...

pieces, one

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

, choral music, and more than 300 songs. His only instrumental works were two orchestral pieces, a

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

, and a

piano quintet In classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly (since 1842) a string quartet (i.e., two violins, viola, and cello). The term also refers to the group of musicians that ...

. His work was part of the music event in the art competition at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

. Doret died in 1943 in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

Awards

Doret was made a Knight of the

Legion of Honour 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 ...

(decree: 17 February 1915).

Works

* ''Les Sept paroles du Christ'' (1895), oratorio * ''Les Armaillis'' (1900), opera * ''Fête des Vignerons'' (1905) * ''Aliénor'' (1910), stage music * ''La Nuit des Quatre Temps'' (1910), stage music * ''Tell'' (1914), stage music * ''Fête des Vignerons'' (1927) * ''La Servante d'Evolène'' (1937)

References

External links

Swiss National Sound Archives - Gustave Doret - 78 rpm discs

Patrinum (Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire de Lausanne): database of personalities of Vaud - Gustave Doret
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doret, Gustave 1866 births 1943 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century male musicians 20th-century Swiss classical composers 20th-century Swiss conductors (music) 20th-century Swiss male musicians Swiss male conductors (music) Officers of the Legion of Honour Art competitors at the 1912 Summer Olympics Romantic composers Swiss male classical composers

Career

Awards

Works

References

Further reading

External links