Charles Gounod

Charles-François Gounod (UK: GOO-noh, US: goo-NOH, French: [ʃaʁl fʁɑ̃swa ɡuno]; 17 June 1818 – 18 October 1893) was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been Faust (1859); his Roméo et Juliette (1867) also remains in the international repertoire. He composed a large amount of church music, many songs, and popular short pieces including his "Ave Maria" (an elaboration of a Bach piece) and "Funeral March of a Marionette". Born in Paris into an artistic and musical family, Gounod was a student at the Conservatoire de Paris and won France's most prestigious musical prize, the Prix de Rome. His studies took him to Italy, Austria and then Prussia, where he met Felix Mendelssohn, whose advocacy of the music of Bach was an early influence on him. He was deeply religious, and after his return to Paris, he briefly considered becoming a priest. He composed prolifically, writing church music, songs, orchestral music and operas. Gounod's career was disrupted by the Franco-Prussian War. He moved to England with his family for refuge from the Prussian advance on Paris in 1870. After peace was restored in 1871 his family returned to Paris but he remained in London, living in the house of an amateur singer, Georgina Weldon, who became the controlling figure in his life. After nearly three years he broke away from her and returned to his family in France. His absence, and the appearance of younger French composers, meant that he was no longer at the forefront of French musical life; although he remained a respected figure he was regarded as old-fashioned during his later years, and operatic success eluded him. He died at his house in Saint-Cloud, near Paris, at the age of 75. Few of Gounod's works remain in the regular international repertoire, but his influence on later French composers was considerable. In his music there is a strand of romantic sentiment that is continued in the operas of Jules Massenet and others; there is also a strand of classical restraint and elegance that influenced Gabriel Fauré. Claude Debussy wrote that Gounod represented the essential French sensibility of his time.

Operas in the OperaPedia Catalogue

The following 5 operas by Charles Gounod are catalogued in OperaPedia, listed in chronological order of premiere. Click any title for the full editorial entry, including synopsis, premiere details, language, and notable arias.

• n/a Cinq-Mars French
• 1852 La nonne sanglante, 1852 French
• 1859 Faust, 1859 Théâtre Lyrique on the Boulevard du Temple in Par French
• 1860 La colombe, 1860 Theater der Stadt French
• 1862 La reine de Saba, 1862 Salle Le Peletier by the Paris Opera French

Stylistic Position & Reception

Charles Gounod's position within the operatic canon has been shaped by performance tradition as much as by scholarly judgment. The works that survive in the active repertory of the major houses tend to be those that combine memorable vocal writing with dramatically effective situations · qualities that audiences continue to respond to from one generation to the next. Other works in the catalogue, less frequently performed, often reward closer study by singers, conductors, and dramaturges seeking to broaden the standard repertoire.

Modern scholarship on Charles Gounod has been substantially enriched by the publication of critical editions of the major scores, by the rediscovery of forgotten works and revisions, and by the steady documentation of performance history through recordings, theatre archives, and contemporary criticism. The biographical sketch above and the catalogue of works are compiled from public-domain reference sources, including the structured Wikidata layer and the corresponding English Wikipedia article.

Editorial Note

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