Louis Ganne
Encyclopedia
French Opera
French opera is one of Europe's most important operatic traditions, containing works by composers of the stature of Rameau, Berlioz, Bizet, Debussy, Poulenc and Olivier Messiaen...
s, operettas, ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
s, and marches
March (music)
A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John...
.
Biography
Ganne was born in the AuvergneAuvergne (région)
Auvergne is one of the 27 administrative regions of France. It comprises the 4 departments of Allier, Puy de Dome, Cantal and Haute Loire.The current administrative region of Auvergne is larger than the historical province of Auvergne, and includes provinces and areas that historically were not...
region of France and grew-up in Issy-les-Moulineaux
Issy-les-Moulineaux
Issy-les-Moulineaux is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. On 1 January 2003, Issy-les-Moulineaux became part of the Communauté d'agglomération Arc de Seine along with the other communes of Chaville, Meudon, Vanves and Ville-d'Avray...
, in the suburbs of Paris. He studied under César Franck
César Franck
César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
and Jules Massenet
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
at the Conservatoire de Paris
Conservatoire de Paris
The Conservatoire de Paris is a college of music and dance founded in 1795, now situated in the avenue Jean Jaurès in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France...
. He conducted at the Nouveau Théâtre de la Rue Blanche and at the Folies-Bergère, and later led a concert series at the Monte Carlo Casino.
Ganne is most recognized today for his popular patriotic marches, Le père la victoire and La marche Lorraine. He also composed for the ballet, including the 1902 ballet "In Japan". He is less well-known outside his native France, and his many operettas are now rarely performed. His most successful light opera is the circus musical Les saltimbanques
Les saltimbanques
Les saltimbanques is an opéra-comique in three acts, libretto by Maurice Ordonneau, music by Louis Ganne, first performed at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, Paris, on December 30, 1899...
(The Acrobats), from 1899.
Selected operas & operettas
- Ophélia (1887)
- Tout Paris (1891)
- L'Heureuse rencontre (1892)
- Rabelais, opera in 4 acts (1892)
- Les colles des femmes (1893)
- Le Réveil d'une parisienne (1894)
- La Puce (1894)
- Raseur (1895)
- Qui veut de l'amour? (1899)
- Les saltimbanquesLes saltimbanquesLes saltimbanques is an opéra-comique in three acts, libretto by Maurice Ordonneau, music by Louis Ganne, first performed at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, Paris, on December 30, 1899...
, opera in 3 acts (1899) - Miss Bouton d'Or, opera in 2 acts (1902)
- Les Plaques de l'année, (1906)
- Hans, le joueur de flûte, opera in 3 acts (1906)
- Les Ailes (1910)
- Rhodope, opera in 3 acts (1910)
- Cocorico, opera in 3 acts (1913)
- L'Archiduc des Folies-Bergère, opera in 2 acts (1916)
- La Belle de Paris, opera in 2 acts (1922)
Source
Ganne, Louis by Kurt Gäzl, in 'The New Grove Dictionary of OperaNew Grove Dictionary of Opera
The New Grove Dictionary of Opera is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes....
', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7