Charles Gounod the European

Translation: Sue Rose

France

Charles Gounod, born in Paris (Place Saint-André-des-Arcs) on 17 June 1818, was the son of the painter, François Gounod, and the grandson of the King’s last furbisher. Since craftsmen were given accommodation in the Galerie du Louvre along with artists working for the crown, their children would play together, which is how the Gounod family naturally became part of the most prominent artistic circle in Paris.

A pupil at the Collège Saint-Louis, Charles Gounod sang solo parts in the choir conducted by Hippolyte Monpou, a former student of Choron, who introduced him to the old masters. Gounod’s vocation as a composer can be traced back to the performances he saw of Rossini’s Otello with La Malibran in 1831, then Don Giovanni, in 1833, at the Théâtre-Italien. At the Concerts du Conservatoire, in 1832, he heard Mendelssohn performing Beethoven’s fourth piano concerto before discovering his symphonies, which were a complete revelation for him; throughout his life, Gounod was a frequent visitor to this pantheon of the repertoire, which only belatedly gave his works pride of place. He was also able to attend Berlioz’s rehearsals, particularly of Roméo et Juliette, in the same auditorium.

From autumn 1843 to February 1848, Gounod was in charge of the very small choir at the Missions Étrangères church (Rue Vanneau). The violence committed during the Revolution had put paid to his religious vocation. Pauline Viardot opened doors for him at the Académie Nationale de Musique by obtaining him a commission to write an opera in which she was to star as heroine. Sapho (1851) was praised by the critics, while La Nonne sanglante (1854) attracted interest more for its curiosity value than anything else; La Reine de Saba (1862) was deemed too Wagnerian, while Polyeucte (1878) and Le Tribut de Zamora (1881) were considered not Wagnerian enough! Paradoxically, the only operas to succeed on the foremost opera stage in Paris were Faust and Roméo, which had received premieres elsewhere.

The marriage of Gounod (unemployed in 1852) to Anna Zimmerman, the daughter of a prominent figure in the world of music, was a union of convenience rather than a love match, and resulted in his rapid appointment to the post of director of the Orphéon, a huge educational choral society for working men. This was his only official position, because he did not teach at the Paris Conservatoire and stopped applying for the post of director in 1871.

It was the Théâtre-Lyrique, an independent theatre directed by Léon Carvalho, that gave Gounod the chance to prove himself with Le Médecin malgré lui (1858), Faust (1859), Philémon et Baucis (1860), Mireille (1864), and Roméo et Juliette (1867). The Opéra-Comique, which was less adventurous, only staged revivals (La Colombe, Roméo, Mireille and Le Médecin) until Cinq-Mars (1877), which entered its repertoire somewhat under the radar.

Gounod found it easier to gain access to the churches: he played the organ of Saint Sulpice for his brother’s wedding and the organ of Notre Dame, incognito, to entertain friends; in 1838, the Agnus Dei of a mass in memory of Lesueur was performed at Saint-Roch and a Messe solennelle of similar inspiration (1839) at Saint-Eustache, as well as the messes solennelles en l’honneur de sainte Cécile (1855), du Sacré Cœur (1876) and de Pâques, which were all soon performed again at Notre Dame, where the mass angeli custodes (1875) also received its premiere.

Gounod’s career in France was not restricted to Paris: the premiere of Tobie (1854) took place in Lyons, the first performance of Faust with recitatives (1860) was in Strasbourg, the premiere of a Cantate en l’honneur du vénérable J. B. de la Salle (1875) was held in Rouen, Reims premiered the masses for Jeanne d’Arc (1887), Saint Jean and Clovis as well as the Te Deum in C major. Bordeaux staged the French première of Mors et Vita (1887), and Angers premiered the Suite pour piano-pédalier (1888). Gounod made a special visit to Nancy in 1878 for the wedding of Oscar Commettant’s son: they were met by the orchestra in the cafeteria of the railway station and his music served as an accompaniment to the ceremony in the cathedral; Gounod sang all afternoon in the Mangeot’s living room and generously applauded a performance of Mireille at the Grand Théâtre: he had seen worse when, passing through Toulon, he had ventured to hear Faust performed there.

Last but not least, there were his working holidays in Provence (“the Italy of France”): in Saint-Rémy de Provence, then in Saint Raphaël to compose Mireille and Roméo and, every summer, at the Château de Morainville (Eure) with the Beaucourt family. There were also his vacations with his friends, the Rhônés, in Arcachon, his stays at the house of the painter Hébert in La Tronche, his chats with Jules Simon in his Normandy home in Villers-sur-mer and the course of treatment he underwent for a sprain at Mont-Dore.

Switzerland

His first trip out of France: a guided sightseeing tour of Switzerland during the summer of 1838. This was at his mother’s suggestion, probably in the hope of collecting some typical melodies in case the next Prix de Rome competition favoured touches of local colour, as in La Vendetta. However, all they heard there were arias from Norma, and the Domino noirParis veut entrer partout". Gounod was thrilled to discover the organ in Freiburg: “This is a magnificent instrument which, at certain times, imitates the human voice. The illusion created by this register is such that, particularly in the case of the tenors, you can completely hear the articulation of the words beneath a melody. […] It seems to me that the post of organist here with an instrument like this would be the most fortunate thing that could happen to me”, he wrote.

Italy

After winning the Premier Grand Prix de Rome in 1839, Gounod left Paris in December, sailed to Avignon, via Chalon and Lyons, and visited Orange, Nîmes, Arles, Beaucaire and Marseille. He took the corniche road to Genoa, travelled to Milan via Alessandria and Pavia, continuing on to Venice, then travelled back through Florence, Ferrara and Bologna.

He was left feeling disappointed by his arrival in Rome at the end of January 1840 after all the places he had just visited: “A real provincial town, vulgar, colourless and dirty almost everywhere”. His affection for the eternal city grew with the passing months but, in the meantime, the quality of the opera performances was greatly inferior to that of the Théâtre-Italien in Paris