Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, or Lemoyne, (; 3 April 1751 – 30 December 1796) was a French composer, chiefly of operas. Born in Eymet,

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; ) is a large rural departments of France, department in south west France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and ...

, he first worked as a musician in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, where in 1775 he produced his first opera, ''Le bouquet de Colette'', starring his pupil Antoinette de Saint-Huberty (''née'' Clavel). He returned to France and wrote the tragic opera '' Électre'', which received its premiere in 1782. Lemoyne claimed his music was following the example of

Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of th ...

, then the greatest influence on French opera, but when ''Électre'' failed, Gluck rejected any association with the younger composer. Lemoyne turned to Gluck's rivals,

Niccolò Piccinni Niccolò Piccinni (; 16 January 1728 – 7 May 1800) was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the ...

and

Antonio Sacchini Antonio Maria Gasparo Gioacchino Sacchini (14 June 1730 – 6 October 1786) was an Italian classical period (music), classical era composer, best known for his operas. Sacchini was born in Florence, but raised in Naples, where he received his m ...

, as musical models for his next two tragedies, ''

Phèdre ''Phèdre'' (; originally ''Phèdre et Hippolyte'') is a French dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Jean Racine, first performed in 1677 at the theatre of the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris. Composition and premiere With ...

'' (1786) and the Egyptian-set ''

Nephté ''Nephté'' is an opera by the French composer Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opéra) on 15 December 1789. It takes the form of a ''tragédie lyrique'' in three acts. The libretto, by Franço ...

'' (1789), which had more success. His later operas are less important. He died in Paris.

Operas

* ''Le bouquet de Colette'', premiered 1775 in Warsaw * '' Électre'',

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 co ...

in three acts, libretto by Nicolas-François Guillard, premiered 2 July 1782 at the Académie Royale de Musique (

Paris opera 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 ...

) * ''

'', a ''tragédie mise en musique'' in three acts, libretto by François-Benoît Hoffman, premiered 26 October 1786 at

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

* ''Nadir, ou Le dormeur éveillé'', 1787, unstaged "for purely financial reasons" * ''Les prétendus'', comédie lyrique in two acts in verse, libretto by , premiered 2 June 1789 at the Académie Royale de Musique (Paris Opera) * ''

'', tragédie lyrique in three acts, libretto by François-Benoît Hoffman, premiered 15 December 1789 at the Académie Royale de Musique (Paris Opera) * ''Les pommiers et le moulin'', comédie lyrique, premiered 22 January 1790 at the Académie Royale de Musique (Paris Opera) * ''Louis IX en Égypte'', opéra, libretto by Guillard and Andrieux, premiered 15 June 1790 * ''Elfrida'', libretto by Guillard, premiered 17 December 1791 at the Théâtre des Italiens (the Opéra-Comique) * ''Miltiade à Marathon'', opéra, libretto by Guillard, premiered 5 November 1793 at the Paris Opera * ''Toute la Grèce, ou Ce que peut la liberté'', tableau patriotique, libretto by Beffroy de Reigny, premiered 5 January 1794 at the Paris Opera * ''Le compère Luc, ou Les dangers de l'ivrognerie'', opera in two acts, premiered 19 February 1794 at the Théâtre FeydeauDate from * ''Les vrais sans-culottes, ou L'hospitalité républicaine'', tableau patriotique avec chants, libretto by Rézicourt, premiered 12 May 1794 * ''Le mensonge officieux'', comédie in one act, libretto by Nicolas-Julien Forgeot, premiered 13 March 1795 at the Cirque National

References

Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemoyne, Jean-Baptiste French opera composers French male opera composers French Classical-period composers 1751 births 1796 deaths People from Dordogne 18th-century French classical composers 18th-century French male musicians