Nicolas Brazier (17 February 1783,

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 ...

– 18 February 1838) was a French

chansonnier A chansonnier (, , Galician and , or ''canzoniéro'', ) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally " song-books"; however, some manuscripts are call ...

and vaudevillist.

Life

Although his father was a boarding school master and the author of multiple school manuals, Brazier's education was however strongly neglected due to the French Revolution. At first a jeweller's apprentice, then employed in the "Droits réunis" (the French

indirect tax An indirect tax (such as a sales tax, per unit tax, value-added tax (VAT), excise tax, consumption tax, or tariff) is a tax that is levied upon goods and services before they reach the customer who ultimately pays the indirect tax as a part of ...

es administration of the time), he showed a talent for verse and was encouraged and guided by

Armand Gouffé Armand Gouffé (22 March 1775 – 19 October 1845) was a 19th-century French poet, Chansonnier (singer), chansonnier, Goguette, goguettier and Vaudeville, vaudevillist. Career Hired as an employee in the Finance Ministry, he became chief depu ...

. Following his first success at the Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques, in 1803, he left his job to devote himself to chansons and to the theatre, following courses at school to fill in the gaps in his education. His witty, spirited and lively

chanson A (, ; , ) is generally any Lyrics, lyric-driven French song. The term is most commonly used in English to refer either to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval music, medieval and Renaissance music or to a specific style of ...

s often proved popular, though the vulgarity of his style has led to them being forgotten. The Société du Caveau keeps their memory alive. Brazier collaborated on over 200 witty vaudeville pieces, above all on the couplets. His collaborators included Dumersan, Désaugiers,

Merle Merle may refer to: People and fictional characters *Merle (given name), a list of men, women and fictional characters *Merle (surname), a list of people Others *Merle (dog coat), a pattern in dogs’ coats *Merle (grape), another name for the w ...

, Mélesville, Théaulon, Carmouche, etc. The best known of his pieces are : ''le Soldat laboureur'' ; ''les Cuisinières'' ; ''les Bonnes d’enfants'' ; ''le Ci-devant jeune homme'' ; ''Le Coin de rue'' ; ''Les Cuisinières'' ; ''Préville et Taconnet'' ; ''la Carte à payer'' ; ''La Laitière de Montfermeil'' ; ''le Savetier et le Financier'' ; ''Je fais mes farces'' ; ''le Philtre champenois'' ; etc. Brazier also wrote a ''Histoire des petits théâtres de Paris'' (Paris, 1838, 2 vol. in-8), a light, amusing, useful and curious chronicle, despite its errors. Besides a chanson collection in honour of the

Bourbons The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. A branch descended from ...

, under the title ''Souvenirs de dix ans'' (Paris, 1824), two editions of his other couplets survive (Paris, 1835, 1836). He wrote, in the Vert-Vert, a series of articles on ''les Abbés chansonniers'', etc.

References

Sources

Gustave Vapereau Louis Gustave Vapereau (4 April 1819 – 18 April 1906) was a French writer and lexicographer famous primarily for his dictionaries, the ''Dictionnaire universel des contemporains'' and the ''Dictionnaire universel des littérateurs''. Biography ...

, ''Dictionnaire universel des littératures'', Paris, Hachette, 1876, p. 322

External links

Nicolas Brazier
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CÉSAR
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brazier, Nicolas 1783 births 1838 deaths Writers from Paris 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights French chansonniers