Charles Simon Catel

Charles Simon Catel
Charles-Simon Catel, 1817, Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Charles Simon Catel (10 July 1773 – 29 November 1830) was a French composer and educator born at L'Aigle, Orne.

Contents

Biography

Catel studied at the Royal School of Singing in Paris. He was the chief assistant to François-Joseph Gossec at the orchestra of the National Guard in 1790. A member of the Institute, he jointly composed pieces of military music for official state ceremonies, including L'Hymne à la Victoire (Victory Hymn), with words by Ponce-Denis Écouchard-Lebrun). He was appointed inaugural professor of harmony at the Conservatoire de Paris, but was destitute in 1814. Amongst his students was the Prix de Rome winning composer Joseph Daussoigne-Méhul, the Belgian composer Martin-Joseph Mengal, and the famous, if eccentric, harpist Nicolas Bochsa. Catel died in Paris.

His works include a "Treatise on Harmony" (1802), several dramatic compositions at the National Opera of Paris: Sémiramis, the Bayadères ; at the Opéra-Comique: Artistes par occasion, l'Auberge de Bagnères (1807) ; Wallace (1817); symphonies, quartets etc.

Works

Lyrical works

  • Sémiramis, lyric tragedy in three acts, libretto by Philippe Desriaux based on Voltaire, performed by the Opéra de Paris on 4 May 1802.
  • Les artistes par occasion, farcical opera in one act, libretto by Alexandre Duval, performed at the Opéra-Comique in 1807.
  • L'auberge de Bagnères, farcical opera in 3 acts, libretto by C. Jalabert, performed by the Opéra-Comique in 1807.
  • Les bayadères, opera in 3 acts, libretto by Victor-Joseph-Étienne de Jouy based on Voltaire, performed at Opéra de Paris on 8 August 1810.
  • Les aubergistes de qualité, comedy in 3 acts, libretto by Victor-Joseph-Étienne de Jouy, performed at Opéra-Comique on 17 June 1812
  • Bayard à Mézières, comedy in one act, libretto by Alisvan de Chazet and Louis Emmanuel Mercier Dupaty, performed at Opéra-Comique in 1814.
  • Le premier en date, comedy in one act, libretto by Marc-Antoine Désaugiers and Pessey, performed at Opéra-Comique in 1814.
  • Wallace ou Le ménestrel écossais, epic opera in 3 acts, libretto by L. Ch. J. Fontanes de Saint-Marcellin, performed at Opéra-Comique in 1817.
  • Zirphile et fleur de myrte ou cent ans en un jour, "opéra-féerie" in 2 acts, libretto by Victor-Joseph-Étienne de Jouy and Nicolas Lefebvre, performed at Opéra de Paris in 1818.
  • L'officier enlevé, comedy in one act, libretto by Alexandre Duval, performed at Opéra-Comique in 1819.

Vocal and choral works

  • Chant triomphal, 1807.
  • Ode sur le Vaisseau Le Vengeur, words by Ponce-Denis Écouchard-Lebrun, for euphonium and orchestra.
  • Hymne sur la reconquête de Toulon, for male choir and orchestra.

Sources

  • Bouillet's Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie (1842),
This article incorporates information from the revision as of 4 Oct 2007 of the equivalent article on the French Wikipedia.


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