Charpentier, Gustave

▪ French composer

born June 25, 1860, Dieuze, Fr.

died Feb. 18, 1956, Paris

      French composer best known for his opera Louise.

      Charpentier studied at the Lille Conservatory and later under Massenet (Massenet, Jules) at the Paris Conservatoire, where he won the Prix de Rome in 1887. In 1902 he founded the Conservatoire Populaire de Mimi Pinson, which became a free school of music and classical dance for working people. His opera Louise (1900), performed more than 1,000 times since its premiere, maintains its popularity because of the sentimental realism of the plot, the picturesque setting (Montmartre), and the evocation of the city of Paris. The fine vocal writing is in the Massenet tradition, and the scoring is mildly Wagnerian. Julien (1913), a sequel to Louise, was less successful. Earlier works included Les Impressions fausses for voice and orchestra (1895) and Chant d'Apothéose (1902), written for the Victor Hugo centenary.

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