Name Adolphe Adam Role Composer | Parents Louis Adam Education Conservatoire de Paris | |
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Died May 3, 1856, Paris, France Music director Sweet Bunch, The Love of a Woman Compositions Giselle, Giselle, O Holy Night, O Holy Night, Le Corsaire, Le Corsaire, Le postillon de Lonjumeau, Le postillon de Lonjumeau, Si j'etais roi, Si j'etais roi, Le toreador, Le toreador, O Holy Night / The Christmas Song / Cantique de Noel, O Holy Night / The Christmas Song / Cantique de Noel, Le chalet, Le chalet, La poupee de Nuremberg, La poupee de Nuremberg, Si j'etais roi: Overture, Si j'etais roi: Overture, Le farfadet, Le farfadet, Giselle: Act II: Intermezzo, Giselle: Act II: Intermezzo, La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 2 (Ysaure's Chamber): Entr'acte, La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 2 (Ysaure's Chamber): Entr'acte, La Filleule des fees: Act II - Tableau 1 (A Wooded Park): No 4e (No 9) Mlle Carlotta Grisi (Ysaure), La Filleule des fees: Act II - Tableau 1 (A Wooded Park): No 4e (No 9) Mlle Carlotta Grisi (Ysaure), Le Corsaire: Act II Entrance of Gulnare, Le Corsaire: Act II Entrance of Gulnare, La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 1 (The Countryside): No 3, La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 1 (The Countryside): No 3, Giselle: Act I Introduction, Giselle: Act I Introduction, La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 1 (The Countryside): No 5, La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 1 (The Countryside): No 5, Le Toreador: Act II "Dans une symphonie" (Tracolin), Le Toreador: Act II "Dans une symphonie" (Tracolin), La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 1 (The Countryside): No 7, La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 1 (The Countryside): No 7, Le Corsaire: Act I Pas des eventails, Le Corsaire: Act I Pas des eventails, Le diable a quatre, Le diable a quatre, La Filleule des fees: Act II - Tableaux 3 & 4 (The Fairies' Judgement and Paradise): No 4 Scene derniere et Divertissement final, La Filleule des fees: Act II - Tableaux 3 & 4 (The Fairies' Judgement and Paradise): No 4 Scene derniere et Divertissement final, Giselle: Act II: Andante, Giselle: Act II: Andante, La Filleule des fees: Act II - Tableau 1 (A Wooded Park): No 5, La Filleule des fees: Act II - Tableau 1 (A Wooded Park): No 5, Le Corsaire: Act III Valse de Naila (for Mlle Grantzow), Le Corsaire: Act III Valse de Naila (for Mlle Grantzow), Le Toreador: Act I "Donc - je lui disais" (Tracolin), Le Toreador: Act I "Donc - je lui disais" (Tracolin), Le Toreador: Act I "Elle est partie!" (Belflor), Le Toreador: Act I "Elle est partie!" (Belflor), Le Corsaire: Act I Coda, Le Corsaire: Act I Coda, Le Corsaire: Act I - Scene II Action, Le Corsaire: Act I - Scene II Action, La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 1 (The Countryside): No 9d (No 13), La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 1 (The Countryside): No 9d (No 13), La Filleule des fees: Prologue (Guillaume's Farm-House): No 7, La Filleule des fees: Prologue (Guillaume's Farm-House): No 7, Le Corsaire: Act II Gulnares dance, Le Corsaire: Act II Gulnares dance, Giselle: Act II Apparition et scene de Myrthe, Giselle: Act II Apparition et scene de Myrthe, La Filleule des fees: Prologue (Guillaume's Farm-House): No 8, La Filleule des fees: Prologue (Guillaume's Farm-House): No 8, Le Corsaire: Act I Overture and opening of Scene I, Le Corsaire: Act I Overture and opening of Scene I, Giselle: Act I Retour de la vendange, Giselle: Act I Retour de la vendange, La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 1 (The Countryside): No 1, La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 1 (The Countryside): No 1, Le Corsaire: Act I Action, Le Corsaire: Act I Action, Giselle: Act I Variation de Giselle, Giselle: Act I Variation de Giselle, La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 1 (The Countryside): No 10 (No 14) Apres le divertissement, La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 1 (The Countryside): No 10 (No 14) Apres le divertissement, La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 2 (Ysaure's Chamber): No 3 (No 5), La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 2 (Ysaure's Chamber): No 3 (No 5), Le Toreador: Act I "Oui - la vie" (Belflor), Le Toreador: Act I "Oui - la vie" (Belflor), La Filleule des fees: Act II - Tableau 1 (A Wooded Park): No 4c (No 7) Mme Taglioni (The Pink Fairy), La Filleule des fees: Act II - Tableau 1 (A Wooded Park): No 4c (No 7) Mme Taglioni (The Pink Fairy), Le Corsaire: Act I Variation for Mlle Grantzow (1867), Le Corsaire: Act I Variation for Mlle Grantzow (1867), Le Toreador: Act I "Tandis que tout sommeille" (Coraline), Le Toreador: Act I "Tandis que tout sommeille" (Coraline), La bouquetiere, La bouquetiere, La Filleule des fees: Act II - Tableau 2 (A Deep Cavern): No 1 Mouvement de Valse, La Filleule des fees: Act II - Tableau 2 (A Deep Cavern): No 1 Mouvement de Valse, La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 1 (The Countryside): No 8, La Filleule des fees: Act I - Tableau 1 (The Countryside): No 8, Le Toreador: Act I "Une galante affaire m'amene ici" (Tracolin), Le Toreador: Act I "Une galante affaire m'amene ici" (Tracolin), Le Corsaire: Act I Introduction, Le Corsaire: Act I Introduction Similar People Placide Cappeau, Leo Delibes, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Charles Gounod, Richard Bonynge | ||
King s college cambridge 2005 5 o holy night adolphe adam
Adolphe Charles Adam ([adolf adɑ̃]; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle (1841) and Le corsaire (1856, his last work), his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau (1836), Le toréador (1849) and Si j'étais roi (1852) and his Christmas carol Minuit, chrétiens! (1844), later set to different English lyrics and widely sung as "O Holy Night" (1847). Adam was a noted teacher, who taught Delibes and other influential composers.
Contents
- King s college cambridge 2005 5 o holy night adolphe adam
- O holy night adolphe adam violin piano harp choir
- Life and career
- Works
- References
O holy night adolphe adam violin piano harp choir
Life and career
Adolphe Adam was born in Paris, to Jean-Louis Adam (1758–1848), who was a prominent Alsatian composer, as well a professor at the Paris Conservatoire. His mother was the daughter of a physician. As a child, Adolphe Adam preferred to improvise music on his own rather than study music seriously and occasionally truanted with writer Eugène Sue who was also something of a dunce in early years. Jean-Louis Adam was a pianist and teacher but was firmly set against the idea of his son following in his footsteps. Adam was determined, however, and studied and composed secretly under the tutelage of his older friend Ferdinand Hérold, a popular composer of the day. When Adam was 17, his father relented, and he was permitted to study at the Paris Conservatoire—but only after he promised that he would learn music only as an amusement, not as a career. He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1821, where he studied organ and harmonium under the celebrated opera composer François-Adrien Boieldieu. Adam also played the timpani in the orchestra of the Conservatoire; however, he did not win the Prix de Rome and his father did not encourage him to pursue a music career, as he won second prize.
By age 20, he was writing songs for Paris vaudeville houses and playing in the orchestra at the Gymnasie Dramatique, where he later became chorus master. Like many other French composers, he made a living largely by playing the organ. In 1825, he helped Boieldieu prepare parts for his opera La dame blanche and made a piano reduction of the score. Adam was able to travel through Europe with the money he made, and he met Eugène Scribe, with whom he later collaborated, in Geneva. By 1830, he had completed twenty-eight works for the theatre.
Adam is probably best remembered for the ballet Giselle (1841). He wrote several other ballets and 39 operas, including Le postillon de Lonjumeau (1836) and Si j'étais roi (1852).
After quarreling with the director of the Opéra, Adam invested his money and borrowed heavily to open a fourth opera house in Paris: the Théâtre National (Opéra-National). It opened in 1847, but closed because of the Revolution of 1848, leaving Adam with massive debts (Théâtre National later was resurrected under the name of Théâtre Lyrique at the Boulevard du Temple). His efforts to extricate himself from these debts include a brief turn to journalism. From 1849 to his death in Paris, he taught composition at the Paris Conservatoire.
His Christmas carol "Cantique de Noël", translated to English as "O Holy Night", is an international favorite, and is said to have been the second piece of music to be broadcast on radio. "Cantique de Noel" is based on a poem written by M. Cappeau de Roquemaure. Adam subsequently crafted a melody for the tune that was translated into English by John Sullivan Dwight (1813 - 1893), a Boston music teacher and music journalist, as well as co-founder of The Harvard Music Society.
Adam is buried in Montmartre Cemetery in Paris.