Daniel-François-Esprit Auber 1782 – 1871
Auber was the son of a hunter that became quite wealthy by going into the business of dealing art in Paris. Auber was actually born in Normandy. This was on account of his parents once making a trip from Paris to Caen, the capital of lower Normandy.
Showing a great deal of talent on the piano at an early age, by the time he was a teenager, he had already written concert arias(-elaborate songs for solo voice), a piano sonata(-composition containing 3 or 4 contrasting movements), and a string quartet(-instrumental containing 2 violins, a viola and cello). Nevertheless, his father was quite determined to make his son a businessman like himself.
It was in 1802, that France signed a treaty with England, known as the Treaty of Amiens. Auber’s father seized the chance to send his son to England to study commerce. Yet, seeing that the treaty was breached after only one year and war broke out, Auber was forced to return home, giving him the opportunity to concentrate on his music.
Auber had written a pasticcio named L’Erreur d’un Moment (-an opera whose music derives from various composers or a single composer’s various works). This opera was performed in Paris in 1805 and seen by the famous Italian composer Cherubini, who, having recognised his talents, wished to give him further instruction. He began writing a great abundance of works in various forms. With Cherubini’s guidance, he had composed his first successful operas, namely La Bergére châtelaine in 1820 and Emma in 1821.
Having written these great works, eventually led to meeting and making friends with Eugéne Scribe, an important and well-known librettist(-a person responsible for writing the texts for an opera to be set to music). Meeting Eugéne Scribe was very significant in Auber’s life. Over the next 40 years, of the 45 operas by Auber performed in Paris, 37 had been the result of teaming up with Scribe.
The great composer Rossini was also a great influence upon Auber’s music. In light of the fact that Rossini’s operas had received a great deal of recognition and success in Paris, it is no wonder that Auber had admired his work so much. Auber had since used a great deal of Rossini’s ideas in his own music, thereby enriching his own style.
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber was one of the most significant 19th century composers, most known for his works revolving around the opéra comique (-comic opera, an opera performed with regular spoken text instead of the ‘sing-song recitative’ which usually has a happy ending. The word comic refers more to satire than comedy, seeing that many of these types of operas are not funny at all in nature and at times can be quite tragic.)
In 1825, Auber was bequeathed the Légion d’Honneur by Charles X. In 1842, following Cherubini, he became the director of the Paris Conservatoire. Ten years later, in addition to directing the latter, one of the most significant music conservatories in the history(a position he kept up until a year before his death in 1871), Napoleon III made him the music director of his Imperial Chapel. He was not only a great composer, yet was given a great deal of well-deserved honour throughout his lifetime.
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