Nicolas-François Guillard
Encyclopedia
Nicolas-François Guillard (16 January 1752 – 26 December 1814) was a French librettist
. He was born in Chartres
and died in Paris, the recipient of a government pension in recognition of his work writing librettos. He was also on Comité de Lecture of the Paris Opéra. One of the foremost of the French librettist of his generation, he wrote libretti for many noted composers of the day, including Salieri (Les Horaces
) and in particular Sacchini
(Oedipe à Colone
, amongst many others). His most famous work is Iphigénie en Tauride
, his first libretto, set by Gluck after the composer had initially rejected it. Gluck collaborated with Guillard to heavily recast the libretto, not only to suit Gluck's artistic preferences, but also to accommodate pre-existing music that Gluck borrowed, both from himself and from other composers, when composing the opera.
Guillard's librettos were often adaptations of previously-written works, rather than the products of original invention. He used a wide range of subjects as a starting point, basing his libretto for Sacchini's final opera on an English play and also using the works of Pierre Corneille
on two occasions. In the 1790s he altered his style to fit the revolutionary atmosphere of the time, one of his last works being the epic La mort d'Adam
, where he turned to biblical themes.
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
. He was born in Chartres
Chartres
Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is located southwest of Paris.-Geography:Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by its famous cathedral, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country...
and died in Paris, the recipient of a government pension in recognition of his work writing librettos. He was also on Comité de Lecture of the Paris Opéra. One of the foremost of the French librettist of his generation, he wrote libretti for many noted composers of the day, including Salieri (Les Horaces
Les Horaces
Les Horaces is an operatic tragédie lyrique by Antonio Salieri. The text was by Nicolas-François Guillard after Pierre Corneille's Horace....
) and in particular Sacchini
Antonio Sacchini
Antonio Maria Gasparo Sacchini was an Italian opera composer.Sacchini was born in Florence, but was raised in Naples, where he received his musical education at the San Onofrio conservatory. He wrote his first operas in Naples, thereafter moving to Venice, then London and eventually Paris, where...
(Oedipe à Colone
Oedipe à Colone
Œdipe à Colone is an operatic 'tragédie lyrique' by Antonio Sacchini first performed at Versailles on January 4, 1786 in the presence of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The libretto, by Nicolas-François Guillard, is based on the play Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles...
, amongst many others). His most famous work is Iphigénie en Tauride
Iphigénie en Tauride
Iphigénie en Tauride is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck in four acts. It was his fifth opera for the French stage. The libretto was written by Nicolas-François Guillard....
, his first libretto, set by Gluck after the composer had initially rejected it. Gluck collaborated with Guillard to heavily recast the libretto, not only to suit Gluck's artistic preferences, but also to accommodate pre-existing music that Gluck borrowed, both from himself and from other composers, when composing the opera.
Guillard's librettos were often adaptations of previously-written works, rather than the products of original invention. He used a wide range of subjects as a starting point, basing his libretto for Sacchini's final opera on an English play and also using the works of Pierre Corneille
Pierre Corneille
Pierre Corneille was a French tragedian who was one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine...
on two occasions. In the 1790s he altered his style to fit the revolutionary atmosphere of the time, one of his last works being the epic La mort d'Adam
La mort d'Adam
La mort d'Adam et son apothéose is a Biblical opera in 3 acts by composer Jean-François Le Sueur with a French libretto by Nicolas-François Guillard. Le Sueur wrote the opera while working as an instructor at the Conservatoire de Musique in Paris. The opera was initially scheduled to be performed...
, where he turned to biblical themes.
Further reading
- F. Pillet: ‘Guillard (Nicolas-François)’, Biographie universelle, ed. L.G. Michaud (Paris, 1843–65)
- E. Desnues: ‘Guillard (Nicolas-François)’, Nouvelle biographie générale, ed. J.C.F. Hoefer (Paris, 1852–66)
- P. Howard: Gluck and the Birth of Modern Opera (London, 1963)
- P. Smith: The Tenth Muse: a Historical Study of the Opera Libretto (London, 1971)
- J. Rushton: “‘Iphigénie en Tauride”: the Operas of Gluck and Piccinni’, ML, liii (1972), 411–30