Charles Gounod was born in Paris on June 17th,
1818. His father, François-Louis
Gounod, was an artist and winner of the Prix de Rome in painting in 1783. His
mother was a pianist and gave him his first lessons in music. Gounod's talent
for music manifested itself early and it was only natural that he would later
attend the Paris Conservatoire. He studied under Pierre Zimmerman whose
students also included Georges Bizet, César Franck and Charles-Valentin Alkan.
Following in his father's footsteps, Gounod won the Prix de Rome in 1839 for
his cantata Fernand.
As a requirement of winning the Prix de Rome, Gounod
travelled to Italy to study. During his stay in Italy, he was introduced to the
music of Palestrina, as well as other sacred works of the 16th century. Palestrina's music made a strong and last impression on the young
composer, so much so that he even strongly considered joining the priesthood.
However, Gounod never went through with it and ultimately chose to further
pursue music and composition.
A devout Catholic, much of Gounod's music is sacred
composition. In 1854, he completed his Messe
Solennelle, which won him noteworthy recognition as a composer. The work,
in its entirety, was first performed at the church of Saint Eustache in Paris
on Saint Cecilia's Day (November 22) in 1855. He also composed an Ave Maria based on the C major prelude
of Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered
Clavier Book I. Fanny Mendelssohn had introduced Gounod to the keyboard
works of the Leipzig master. Gounod was so fascinated by them he referred to The Well-Tempered Clavier as "the law to
pianoforte study" and "the unquestioned textbook of musical composition." So
inspired was he by the Bach's music, he wrote a melody to be played over the
arpeggiated harmonies of the first C major prelude. In 1859, after both Fanny
and her brother Felix had passed away, he took the melody he had written and
adapted the words of the Ave Maria to
it.
Gounod also composed several operas, though today many are
seldom, if ever, heard. His first opera, Sapho,
premiered in 1851 and was a commercial failure. Two others followed until he
struck gold in 1859 with Faust. Though
not an immediate success, Faust became Gounod's most well-known work and one of the most oft-performed operas
in music history. Next to Faust, the
only other opera Gounod composed that enjoyed any relative popularity was Roméo et Juliette, written in 1867.
Between 1870 and 1874, Gounod lived in England, working as
the first conductor of what would later become the Royal Choral Society. Consequently,
much of Gounod's music from this time is vocal music. In his later years, he
turned once again to sacred composition. Among the compositions of this time,
his Pontifical Anthem, composed in
1869, became the official national anthem of Vatican City in 1949. In 1893,
shortly after completing a requiem mass, he died of a stroke in Saint-Cloud,
France.
Charles Gounod
Biography
Charles Gounod was born in Paris on June 17th, 1818. His father, François-Louis Gounod, was an artist and winner of the Prix de Rome in painting in 1783. His mother was a pianist and gave him his first lessons in music. Gounod's talent for music manifested itself early and it was only natural that he would later attend the Paris Conservatoire. He studied under Pierre Zimmerman whose students also included Georges Bizet, César Franck and Charles-Valentin Alkan. Following in his father's footsteps, Gounod won the Prix de Rome in 1839 for his cantata Fernand.
As a requirement of winning the Prix de Rome, Gounod travelled to Italy to study. During his stay in Italy, he was introduced to the music of Palestrina, as well as other sacred works of the 16th century. Palestrina's music made a strong and last impression on the young composer, so much so that he even strongly considered joining the priesthood. However, Gounod never went through with it and ultimately chose to further pursue music and composition.
A devout Catholic, much of Gounod's music is sacred composition. In 1854, he completed his Messe Solennelle, which won him noteworthy recognition as a composer. The work, in its entirety, was first performed at the church of Saint Eustache in Paris on Saint Cecilia's Day (November 22) in 1855. He also composed an Ave Maria based on the C major prelude of Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Book I. Fanny Mendelssohn had introduced Gounod to the keyboard works of the Leipzig master. Gounod was so fascinated by them he referred to The Well-Tempered Clavier as "the law to pianoforte study" and "the unquestioned textbook of musical composition." So inspired was he by the Bach's music, he wrote a melody to be played over the arpeggiated harmonies of the first C major prelude. In 1859, after both Fanny and her brother Felix had passed away, he took the melody he had written and adapted the words of the Ave Maria to it.
Gounod also composed several operas, though today many are seldom, if ever, heard. His first opera, Sapho, premiered in 1851 and was a commercial failure. Two others followed until he struck gold in 1859 with Faust. Though not an immediate success, Faust became Gounod's most well-known work and one of the most oft-performed operas in music history. Next to Faust, the only other opera Gounod composed that enjoyed any relative popularity was Roméo et Juliette, written in 1867.
Between 1870 and 1874, Gounod lived in England, working as the first conductor of what would later become the Royal Choral Society. Consequently, much of Gounod's music from this time is vocal music. In his later years, he turned once again to sacred composition. Among the compositions of this time, his Pontifical Anthem, composed in 1869, became the official national anthem of Vatican City in 1949. In 1893, shortly after completing a requiem mass, he died of a stroke in Saint-Cloud, France.