Pierre Gaveaux (6 October 1760 – 5 February 1825) was a French

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

tic

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, notable for creating the role of Jason in Cherubini's ''Médée'' and for composing ''

Léonore, ou L'amour conjugal ''Léonore, ou L'Amour conjugal'' (Leonore, or marital love) is an opéra comique in two acts by Pierre Gaveaux after a libretto by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly. It was premiered on 19 February 1798 at the Théâtre Feydeau in Paris. Orchestra The or ...

'', the first operatic version of the story that later found fame as ''

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Opus number, Op. 72, is the sole opera by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of ...

''.

Early life

Gaveaux was born in

Béziers Béziers (; ) is a city in southern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. Every August Béziers ho ...

and sang in the

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choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

there from the age of seven. Although intending to enter the priesthood, he also took lessons in composition. He next became first tenor at the Basilica of Saint-Seurin in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, studying with

Franz Ignaz Beck Franz Ignaz Beck (20 February 1734 – 31 December 1809) was a German violinist, composer, Conducting, conductor and music teacher. He spent the greater part of his life in France, where he became director of the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux. Po ...

, and subsequently decided to follow a career in music, becoming a conductor at the

Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation) ...

as well as continuing to sing.

Career as a singer

After a period in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, he moved to

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 ...

where, on 26 January 1789, he took part in a performance of Giacomo Tritto's ''Le Avventure Amorose'', which marked the inauguration of the Théâtre de Monsieur company in the

Salle des Machines Salle is the French word for 'hall', 'room' or 'auditorium', as in: *Salle des Concerts Herz, a former Paris concert hall *Salle Favart, theatre of the Paris Opéra-Comique *Salle Le Peletier, former home of the Paris Opéra *Salle Pleyel, a Paris ...

at the

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. He subsequently performed with the company in operas such as Paisiello's ''L’Infante de Zamora'' (in 1789), and on 18 July 1791 he sang the role of Floresky in the première of Cherubini's '' Lodoïska''. When the company moved to the

Théâtre Feydeau The Théâtre Feydeau (), a former Parisian theatre company, was founded in 1789 with the patronage of Monsieur, Comte de Provence (later to become Louis XVIII), and was therefore initially named the Théâtre de Monsieur. It began performing in ...

, he was involved in a "folly in verse" called ''Le club des bonnes gens'' which was banned by the censor for being unpatriotic. He was active during the revolutionary period, composing in 1792 a hymn to the

Supreme Being {{broad-concept article A supreme deity, supreme god or supreme being is the conception of the sole deity of monotheistic religions or, in polytheistic or henotheistic religions, the paramount deity or supernatural entity which is above all other ...

. On 19 January 1795, his famous anti-

Jacobin The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential political cl ...

song ''Le Réveil du peuple'' (''The Awakening of the People''), to words by Jean-Marie Souriguière de Saint-Marc, was first performed. Notwithstanding the banning of the song on 8 January 1796 by the

Directoire The Directory (also called Directorate; ) was the system of government established by the French Constitution of 1795. It takes its name from the committee of 5 men vested with executive power. The Directory governed the French First Republ ...

, he continued his career in opera, appearing in François Devienne's ''Les visitandines'', and creating the role of Jason in Cherubini's ''

Médée ''Médée'' is a dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; ; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great 17th-century Fr ...

'' on 13 March 1797.

Operas

Gaveaux's first opera, ''L'amour filial'' (1792), was a success in Paris and was performed throughout Europe:

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and

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in 1795,

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and

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in 1809,

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and

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(in a German translation) in 1796. His most famous opera, ''Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal'', premièred in 1798, with Gaveaux himself in the role of Florestan and Julie-Angélique Scio as Léonore. It is best known today because the

libretto 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 theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

(by

Jean-Nicolas Bouilly Jean-Nicolas Bouilly (24 January 1763 – 14 April 1842) was a French playwright, Libretto, librettist, Children's literature, children's writer, and politician of the French Revolution. He is best known for writing a libretto, supposedly based ...

) served as the basis for

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's only opera, ''

''. It was revived by Opera Lafayette (Season 2016-2017).A DVD was made of the performance : https://operalafayette.org/gaveaux Other operas by Gaveaux that were popular in their day include ''Sophie et Moncars'', ''Le bouffe et le tailleur'' and ''Monsieur Des Chalumeaux'', and in 1808 he composed ''L'échelle de soie'' to a translation of the libretto which Giuseppe Maria Foppa had written for

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...

's '' La scala di seta''.

Chronological list of operas

*''L'amour filial'', 1792 *''Le paria ou La chaumière indienne'', 1792 *''Les deux ermites'', 1793 *''La partie carrée'', 1793 *''La famille indigente'', 1794 *''Sophronime ou La reconnaissance'', 1795 *''Delmon et Nadine'', 1795 *''La gasconnade'', 1795 *''Le petit matelot ou Le mariage impromptu'', 1796 *''Lise et Colin ou La surveillance inutile'', 1796 *''Tout par hasard'', 1796 *''Céliane'', 1796 *''Le mannequin vivant ou Le mari de bois'', 1796 *''Le traité nul'', 1797 *''Sophie et Moncars ou L'intrigue portugaise'', 1797 *''

'', 1798 *''Le diable couleur de rose ou Le bonhomme misère'', 1798 *''Les noms supposés'' ou ''Les deux jockeys'', 1798 *''Le locataire'', 1800 *'' Le trompeur trompé'', 1800 *''Ovinska ou Les exilés de Sibérie'', 1801 *''Le retour inattendu'', 1802 *''Un quart d'heure de silence'', 1804 *''Le bouffe et le tailleur'', 1804 *''Avis aux femmes ou Le mari colère'', 1804 *''Trop tôt ou Le projet manqué'', 1804 *''Le mariage inattendu'', 1804 *''Le diable en vacances ou La suite du diable couleur de rose'', 1805 *''L'amour à Cythère'', 1805 *''Monsieur Des Chalumeaux'', 1806 *''L'échelle de soie'', 1808 *''La rose blanche et la rose rouge'', 1809 *''L'enfant prodigue'', 1811 *''Pygmalion'', 1816 *''Une nuit au bois ou Le muet de circonstance'', 1818

Later life

Gaveaux continued to sing until 1812, although after the company of the Théâtre Feydeau merged with that of the Théâtre Favart in 1801, his voice was in decline and he only performed secondary roles. In 1819 he entered the asylum at Charenton on the outskirts of Paris, where he died. His wife, Émilie Gavaudan (also a singer), died in 1840.

References

* Fétis, François-Joseph (1862). ''Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique'', 2nd edition, vol. 3, pp. 428–429. Paris: Didot
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at

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. * Letailleur, Paulette (1992). "Gaveaux avaux, Gaveau Pierre" in Sadie 1992, vol. 2, pp. 362–363. * Sadie, Stanley, editor (1992). ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes. The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...

'' (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaveaux, Pierre 1760 births 1825 deaths People from Béziers French opera composers category:18th-century French composers French male opera composers French operatic tenors Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 18th-century French male opera singers 19th-century French male opera singers