DELIBES, CLEMENT PHILIBERT LEO (18361891)

This article appears in Volume V07, Page 962 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: DAH-DEM

DELIBES, CLEMENT PHILIBERT LEO (18361891) , French composer, was born at Saint Germain du Val on the 21st of February 1836. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire under Adolphe Charles

Adam

, through whose influence he became accompanist at the Theatre Lyrique. His first essay in dramatic composition was his Deux sous de charbon (1853), and during several years he produced a number of operettas. His cantata

Alger

ALGER, RUSSELL ALEXANDER (1836-1907)

was heard at the Paris opera in 1865. Having become second chorus master at the Grand Opera, he wrote the music of a ballet entitled La Source for this theatre, in collaboration with Minkous, a Polish composer. La Source was produced with

great

GREAT

success in 1866. The composer returned to the operetta style with Malbrouk s'en va-t-en guerre,written in collaboration with Georges Bizet, Emile Jonas and Legouix, and given at the Theatre de 1'Athenee in 1867. Two years later came L'Ecossais de Chatou, a one-act piece, and La Cour du roi Petaud, a three-act opera-bouffe. The ballet Coppelia was produced at the Grand Opera on the 25th of May 187o with enormous success.

Delibes

DELIBES, CLEMENT PHILIBERT LEO (1836–1891)

gave up his post as second chorus master at the Grand Opera in 1872 when he married the daughter of Mademoiselle Denain, formerly an actress at the Comedie Francaise. In this year he published a collection of graceful melodies including Myrto, Les Filles de Cadiz, Bonjour, Suzan and others. His first important dramatic

work

WORK

was Le Roi l'a dit, a charming comic opera, produced on the 24th of May 1873 at' the Opera Comique. Three years later, on the 14th of June 1876, Sylvia, a ballet in three acts,

DELILLE

DELILLE, JACQUES (1738–1813)

one of the composer's most delightful works, was produced at the Grand Opera. This was followed by La Mort d'Orphee, a grand scena produced at the Trocadero concerts in 1878 ; by Jean de Nivelle, a three-act opera brought out at the Opera Comique on the 8th of

March

188o; and by Lakme, an opera in three acts produced at the same theatre on the 14th of April 1883. Lakme has remained his most popular opera. The composer died in Paris on the 16th of January 1891, leaving Kassya, a four-act opera, in an unfinished state. This

work

WORK

was completed by E. Guiraud, and produced at the Opera Comique on the 21st of

March

1893. In 1877

Delibes

DELIBES, CLEMENT PHILIBERT LEO (1836–1891)

became a chevalier of the Legion of Honour; in 1881 he became a professor of advanced composition at the Conservatoire; in 1884 he took the place of

Victor

VICTOR
VICTOR, GAIUS
JULIUS
- JULIUS
(4th cent. A.D.)
VICTOR, SEXTUS AURELIUS

Masse at the Institut de France.
Leo Delibes was a typically French composer. His music is light, graceful and refined. He excelled in ballet music, and Sylvia may well be considered a masterpiece. His operas are constructed on a conventional pattern. The harmonic texture, however, is modern, and the melodic invention abundant, while the orchestral treatment is invariably excellent.

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