Philippe Gille
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Philippe Emile François Gille (10 December 1831 – 19 March 1901) was a French dramatist and opera
librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...
, who was born and died in Paris. He co-wrote wrote more than twenty librettos between 1857 and 1893, the most famous of which are Massenet's ''
Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was f ...
'' and Delibes' '' Lakmé''. Gille studied law and was a clerk for a time at the Préfecture de la Seine, before becoming secretary of the
Théâtre Lyrique The Théâtre Lyrique () was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century (the other three being the Paris Opera, Opéra, the Opéra-Comique, and the Théâtre-Italien (1801–1878), Théâtre-Italien). ...
and, from 1869, an art and music critic for ''
Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...
''. Gille was elected to the
Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...
in 1899 and was appointed as an officer 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 ...
.


Life and career

Gille was born in Paris on 18 December 1830, the son of Louis François Gille and his wife, Marie Adelaide Benjamine, Bidaut. He was educated at the
Lycée Charlemagne The Lycée Charlemagne () is located in the Marais quarter of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, the capital city of France. Constructed many centuries before it became a lycée, the building originally served as the home of the Order of the Je ...
, after which he studied law for a time and then took up sculpture, before working as a clerk in the office of the . After next working as secretary of the
Théâtre Lyrique The Théâtre Lyrique () was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century (the other three being the Paris Opera, Opéra, the Opéra-Comique, and the Théâtre-Italien (1801–1878), Théâtre-Italien). ...
he embarked on a parallel career as a playwright and
librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...
on the one hand and as a journalist on the other. In 1857 Gille provided the composer
Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...
with a libretto for a one-act comic opera, ("Evening Wind, or The Horrible Feast") produced at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens. Over the next twelve years he worked as sole or co-author on fourteen comedies, some of them spoken and some operatic. His literary collaborators included
Ludovic Halévy Ludovic Halévy (1 January 1834 – 7 May 1908) was a French people, French author and playwright, known for his collaborations with Henri Meilhac on the libretto, libretti for Georges Bizet's ''Carmen'' and comic operas by Jacques Offenbach, inc ...
, Eugène Grangé and Hector Crémieux, and he worked with
Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and French opera, operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and ''Sylvia (b ...
on four comic operas.Martin, pp. 245–246 As a journalist, Gille wrote for papers including '' Le Petit Journal'' and ''
Le Soleil Le Soleil ("The Sun") is the name of several newspapers: * ''Le Soleil'' (Quebec), a French-language daily newspaper in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, founded in 1896 * ''Le Soleil'' (French newspaper), a defunct daily newspaper based in Paris fro ...
'' before joining the staff of ''
Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...
'' in 1869. There, he wrote about the arts. A section of the front page was reserved for his "Echoes" column, in which, a colleague said, "the spirit of Paris smiled every morning". The same colleague recalled: In August 1871 Gille married Zoé Jeanne Marie Massé, daughter of the composer Victor Massé.Smith, Christopher
"Gille, Philippe"
''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press, 2002
. They had one son. During the 1870s Gille collaborated with, among other dramatists and librettists, Eugène Labiche,
Victorien Sardou Victorien Sardou ( , ; 5 September 1831 – 8 November 1908) was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play. He also wrote several plays that were made into popular 19th-c ...
, Arnold Mortier, Edmond Gondinet and Henri Meilhac. Composers with whom he worked included Offenbach,
Charles Lecocq Alexandre Charles Lecocq (; 3 June 183224 October 1918) was a French composer, known for his opérettes and opéra comique, opéras comiques. He became the most prominent successor to Jacques Offenbach in this sphere, and enjoyed considerable su ...
and Olivier Métra. In his last years in the theatre Gille was co-author of two serious operas that entered the international repertoire: for Delibes, '' Lakmé'' (1883) with Gondinet and for
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 ...
, ''
Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was f ...
'' (1884) with Meilhac. Gille was elected a member of the
Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...
and was appointed to 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 ...
. He died in Paris on 19 March 1901, aged 69, and was buried in the Cimetière du Nord, Montmartre.Cardane, Jules
"Les Obséques de Philippe Gille"
''Le Figaro'', 23 March, p. 2


Stage works

:Source: ''Nos auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques'' and ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians''.


References


Sources

*


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gille, Philippe 1831 births 1901 deaths 19th-century French male writers French opera librettists 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights French male dramatists and playwrights