Robert Planquette
Encyclopedia
Jean Robert Planquette was a French
composer
of songs and operettas.
Several of Planquette's operettas were extraordinarily successful in Britain, including Les cloches de Corneville
(1878), the length of whose initial London run broke all records for any piece of musical theatre
up to that time, and Rip Van Winkle
(1882), which earned international fame.
and educated at the Paris Conservatoire. He did not finish his studies, lacking the funds to do so, and worked as a café pianist and composer and singing (he was a tenor
). A few romances that he composed brought less fame than did his song, "Sambre et Meuse", first sung in 1867 by Lucien Fugère
, who went on to be one of the foremost French opera singers of his day.
In 1876, the director of the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques
gave Planquette a commission to compose his first operetta, Les cloches de Corneville
. It opened in Paris in 1877, running for an extremely successful 480 performances, and then enjoyed an astonishing London run, beginning in 1878, of a record-breaking 708 performances. Planquette's music has been praised for its pathos and romantic feeling. Le Chevalier Gaston was produced in 1879 with little success. In 1880 came Les Voltigeurs du 32ieme which had a long run in London in 1887 as The Old Guard, and La Cantiniére, which was translated into English as Nectarine, though never produced.
In 1882 Rip Van Winkle
was produced in London and subsequently given in Paris as Rip, in both cases with great success. The libretto is an adaptation by H. B. Farnie of Washington Irving
's famous tale. In 1884 the phenomenon of an opera by a French composer being produced in London previously to being heard in Paris was repeated in Nell Gwynne
, which was modestly successful, but failed when produced in Paris as La Princesse Colombine. It was followed by La Crémaillere (Paris, 1885), Surcouf (Paris, 1887; London, as Paul Jones, 1889), Captain Thérése (London, 1887), La Cocarde tricolore (Paris, 1892), Le Talisman (Paris, 1892), Panurge (Paris, 1895) and Mam'zelle Quat'sous (Paris, 1897).
Another Planquette composition, the march Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse
, has achieved fame in an arrangement for brass band
; it is the tune used by the Ohio State University Marching Band
when performing their famed Script Ohio formation. The original orchestral version has been recorded by the Boston Pops Orchestra
conducted by Arthur Fiedler
and appears on the RCA
Living Stereo CD Marches in Hi-Fi. "The Song of the Cabin Boy," a barcarolle from Planquette's Les cloches de Corneville
was played on the violin by W.K.L. Dickson in the first experiment in history in synchronizing sound and motion pictures (1894). It is viewable online as Dickson Experimental Sound Film
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of songs and operettas.
Several of Planquette's operettas were extraordinarily successful in Britain, including Les cloches de Corneville
Les cloches de Corneville
Les cloches de Corneville is an operetta in three acts, composed by Robert Planquette to a French libretto by Louis Clairville and Charles Gabet based on a play by Gabet.In 1876, the director of the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques, Louis Cantin, hired Planquette to compose the operetta,...
(1878), the length of whose initial London run broke all records for any piece of musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
up to that time, and Rip Van Winkle
Rip Van Winkle (operetta)
Rip Van Winkle is an operetta in three acts by Robert Planquette. The English libretto by Henry Brougham Farnie was based on the stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving after the play by Dion Boucicault and Joseph Jefferson.-Performance history:The operetta...
(1882), which earned international fame.
Life and career
The son of a singer, Planquette was born in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and educated at the Paris Conservatoire. He did not finish his studies, lacking the funds to do so, and worked as a café pianist and composer and singing (he was a tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
). A few romances that he composed brought less fame than did his song, "Sambre et Meuse", first sung in 1867 by Lucien Fugère
Lucien Fugère
Lucien Fugère was a French baritone, particularly associated with the French repertory and Mozart roles, he enjoyed an exceptionally long career, singing into his 80s.- Life and career :...
, who went on to be one of the foremost French opera singers of his day.
In 1876, the director of the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques
Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques
The Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques was a theatre in Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries. Opened first in 1832 in the site of the old Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique on the Boulevard du Temple, under Frédérick Lemaître it became a noted venue for the genre of mélodrame.In 1862, the theatre moved to the...
gave Planquette a commission to compose his first operetta, Les cloches de Corneville
Les cloches de Corneville
Les cloches de Corneville is an operetta in three acts, composed by Robert Planquette to a French libretto by Louis Clairville and Charles Gabet based on a play by Gabet.In 1876, the director of the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques, Louis Cantin, hired Planquette to compose the operetta,...
. It opened in Paris in 1877, running for an extremely successful 480 performances, and then enjoyed an astonishing London run, beginning in 1878, of a record-breaking 708 performances. Planquette's music has been praised for its pathos and romantic feeling. Le Chevalier Gaston was produced in 1879 with little success. In 1880 came Les Voltigeurs du 32ieme which had a long run in London in 1887 as The Old Guard, and La Cantiniére, which was translated into English as Nectarine, though never produced.
In 1882 Rip Van Winkle
Rip Van Winkle (operetta)
Rip Van Winkle is an operetta in three acts by Robert Planquette. The English libretto by Henry Brougham Farnie was based on the stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving after the play by Dion Boucicault and Joseph Jefferson.-Performance history:The operetta...
was produced in London and subsequently given in Paris as Rip, in both cases with great success. The libretto is an adaptation by H. B. Farnie of Washington Irving
Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
's famous tale. In 1884 the phenomenon of an opera by a French composer being produced in London previously to being heard in Paris was repeated in Nell Gwynne
Nell Gwynne (operetta)
Nell Gwynne is a three-act comic opera composed by Robert Planquette, with a libretto by H. B. Farnie. The libretto is based on the play Rochester by William Thomas Moncrieff. The piece was a rare instance of an opera by a French composer being produced first in London...
, which was modestly successful, but failed when produced in Paris as La Princesse Colombine. It was followed by La Crémaillere (Paris, 1885), Surcouf (Paris, 1887; London, as Paul Jones, 1889), Captain Thérése (London, 1887), La Cocarde tricolore (Paris, 1892), Le Talisman (Paris, 1892), Panurge (Paris, 1895) and Mam'zelle Quat'sous (Paris, 1897).
Another Planquette composition, the march Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse
Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse
Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse is a song and military march by Robert Planquette and Paul Cezano.The original poem was written in 1870 by Paul Cezano, in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War and the first days of the French Third Republic...
, has achieved fame in an arrangement for brass band
Brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
; it is the tune used by the Ohio State University Marching Band
The Ohio State University Marching Band
The Ohio State University Marching Band performs at Ohio State football games and other events during the fall quarter...
when performing their famed Script Ohio formation. The original orchestral version has been recorded by the Boston Pops Orchestra
Boston Pops Orchestra
The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, that specializes in playing light classical and popular music....
conducted by Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler was a long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
and appears on the RCA
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
Living Stereo CD Marches in Hi-Fi. "The Song of the Cabin Boy," a barcarolle from Planquette's Les cloches de Corneville
Les cloches de Corneville
Les cloches de Corneville is an operetta in three acts, composed by Robert Planquette to a French libretto by Louis Clairville and Charles Gabet based on a play by Gabet.In 1876, the director of the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques, Louis Cantin, hired Planquette to compose the operetta,...
was played on the violin by W.K.L. Dickson in the first experiment in history in synchronizing sound and motion pictures (1894). It is viewable online as Dickson Experimental Sound Film
Dickson Experimental Sound Film
The Dickson Experimental Sound Film is a film made by William Dickson in late 1894 or early 1895. It is the first known film with live-recorded sound and appears to be the first motion picture made for the Kinetophone, the proto-sound-film system developed by Dickson and Thomas Edison...
.
Works
All operettas and all premieres in Paris, unless otherwise noted.- Méfie-toi de Pharaon, one act, 1872, Eldorado
- Le serment de Mme Grégoire, 1874, Eldorado
- Paille d'avoine, one act, 12 March 1874, Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques
- Le valet de coeur, saynète, one act, 1875, Alcazar d'Eté
- Le péage, c 1876, Eldorado
- Les cloches de CornevilleLes cloches de CornevilleLes cloches de Corneville is an operetta in three acts, composed by Robert Planquette to a French libretto by Louis Clairville and Charles Gabet based on a play by Gabet.In 1876, the director of the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques, Louis Cantin, hired Planquette to compose the operetta,...
, opéra comiqueOpéra comiqueOpéra comique is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged out of the popular opéra comiques en vaudevilles of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent , which combined existing popular tunes with spoken sections...
, four acts, 19 April 1877, Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques - Le chevalier Gaston, one act, 8 February 1879, Opéra, Monte CarloMonte CarloMonte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
- Les voltigeurs de la 32ème, three acts, 7 January 1880, Renaissance
- La cantinière, three acts, 26 October 1880, Théâtre de Nouveautés
- Rip van WinkleRip Van Winkle (operetta)Rip Van Winkle is an operetta in three acts by Robert Planquette. The English libretto by Henry Brougham Farnie was based on the stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving after the play by Dion Boucicault and Joseph Jefferson.-Performance history:The operetta...
(Rip-Rip), three acts, 14 October 1882, Comedy Theatre, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... - Les chevaux-légers, one act, 1882
- Nell GwynneNell Gwynne (operetta)Nell Gwynne is a three-act comic opera composed by Robert Planquette, with a libretto by H. B. Farnie. The libretto is based on the play Rochester by William Thomas Moncrieff. The piece was a rare instance of an opera by a French composer being produced first in London...
(La princesse Colombine), three acts, 7 February 1884, Avenue Theatre, London - La crémaillere, three acts, 28 November 1885, Nouveautés
- Surcouf, three acts, 6 October 1887, Folies-Dramatiques
- Captain Thérése, 1887, three acts, 25 August 1890, Prince of Wales TheatrePrince of Wales TheatreThe Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre on Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in the City of Westminster. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner...
, London - La cocarde tricolore, three acts, 12 February 1892, Folies-Dramatiques
- Le talisman, three acts, 20 January 1893, Théâtre de la GaîtéThéâtre de la Gaîté (rue Papin)In 1862 during Haussmann's modernization of Paris the Théâtre de la Gaîté of the boulevard du Temple was relocated to the rue Papin across from the Square des Arts et Métiers....
- Les vingt-huit jours de Champignolette, 17 September 1895, République
- Panurge, 1895, three acts, 22 November 1895, Gaîté
- Mam'zelle Quat'sous, four acts, 19 April 1897 Gaîté
- Le fiancé de Margot, one act, 1900
- Le paradis de Mahomet, three acts, completed by L Ganne, 15 May 1906, Variétés
Sources
- Sadie, S. (ed.) (1980) The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, [vol. # 14].
- Obituary: Robert Planquette in The Musical Times, Vol. 44, No. 721 (Mar. 1, 1903), p. 177
External links
- Information about Planquette and Les Cloches de Corneville
- Dickson Experimental Sound Film brief discussion of film's recovery and restoration, with downloadable version of the film; part of the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...