André Messager

André Messager was a French organist and composer who is known for his operas and ballets. He was a major influence in the Parisian music scene and was associated with <a href="spotify:artist:436sYg6CZhNefQJogaXeK0">Saint-Saëns</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2gClsBep1tt1rv1CN210SO">Fauré</a>. He was born in 1853 to a wealthy, non-musical family in central France. His father was a tax collector, and initially discouraged his son's interest in music. When he was seven, he was sent to Lyon where he attended a Catholic Marist school. There, he received a general elementary education and piano lessons. Due to some financial difficulties in the 1860s, his family could no longer afford his tuition and he had to drop out. This unfortunate situation led his father to reconsider his harsh opinion regarding a musician's career, and he realized that positions such as church organist were respectable and financially viable. In 1871, Messager was awarded a bursary to attend the Ecole Niedermeyer music school in Paris, which had a reputation for producing the best church organists. His composition professors were <a href="spotify:artist:0i4Jp0JppLu9V6IJa25eC5">Eugene Gigout</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2gClsBep1tt1rv1CN210SO">Gabriel Fauré</a>, and he studied piano with Adam Lausset and organ with Clement Loret. After leaving the Niedermeyer school, he studied composition with <a href="spotify:artist:436sYg6CZhNefQJogaXeK0">Camille Saint-Saëns</a> and became a close friend of <a href="spotify:artist:2gClsBep1tt1rv1CN210SO">Fauré</a>. His first professional appointment began in 1874 as the assistant organist at the Saint-Sulpice church, under <a href="spotify:artist:6wgviqppMkEUf4p2WJ2uVa">Charles-Marie Widor</a>. Over the next few years, he won awards for his Symphony, and his Don Juan et Haydée and Prométhée enchaîné cantatas. In 1878 he began a conducting appointment at the Folies Bergere, and he composed Fleur d'oranger and Les Vins de France. Two years later, he was invited to conduct for the Eden theater in Brussels, where he stayed until 1881. Then he moved back to Paris where he was appointed choirmaster and organist for the Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis church, which was followed by two years at the St. Marie des Batignolles church with his assistant, Claude Terrasse. 1883 proved to be another eventful year for Messager with his marriage to Edith Clouette, and he was commissioned to complete an unfinished operetta by Firmin Bernicat, who died before its completion. The finished work, Francois les bas-bleus, was hugely successful and established Messager's reputation as a composer. This led to other important commissions including the operetta La Fauvette du temple, and the ballet Les Deux Pigeons, which became his most popular composition. He also composed the comic opera La Béarnaise, which was successful not only in France, but in London and New York as well. His stage works from the late 1880s and early 1890s did not receive the same high praise as his earlier works, and consequently, he was considering retirement. In 1892, he suffered the loss of his wife which affected him deeply. He continued accepting conducting appointments and in 1896 composed the serious opera Le Chevalier d'Harmental, which was not well-received. For the next year, he took a break from composing and escaped to the English countryside with his new wife Dotie (Alice Maude) Davis. Later, in 1897 he received an unsolicited libretto in the mail that inspired him to compose again, which led to the completion of Les P'tites Michu. This operetta was very successful in London and ran for 401 performances. The following year he composed the popular comic opera Véronique, and his daughter Madeleine Hope Andree was born. From then until 1914, Messager was in demand as a conductor, with appointments at the Opéra-Comique, in Paris and at the Royal Opera House in London, which left him with very little time to devote to composing. However, he is credited with encouraging <a href="spotify:artist:1Uff91EOsvd99rtAupatMP">Debussy</a> to complete Pelleas et Melisande, which Messager premeired in 1902 at the Opéra-Comique. He also conducted premiere performances of <a href="spotify:artist:1AoIc5YFH0aSFc4mKqBEeB">Massenet</a>'s Griselidis, and <a href="spotify:artist:5OZAfzSUnJzQ5PrW4ZYCc8">Charpentier</a>'s Louise. From 1908 to 1919, he was appointed conductor for the prestigious Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire. He conducted all the major orchestral repertoire, including a complete cycle of Beethoven's symphonies. He took the orchestra on tours of Argentina, Europe, and North America, and they made several recordings in New York in 1918. He continued composing until his death in 1929 at the age of 75. ~ RJ Lambert, Rovi