Ouverture - Music

Luigi Cherubini 1760–1842 Was An Italian Composer Who Spent Most Of His Working Life In France. Although His Music Is Not Well Known Today It Was Greatly Admired In His Time. Beethoven Regarded Him As The Greatest Of His Contemporaries. Cherubini Was Born Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini On 14th September 1760 In Florence. His Instruction In Music Began At The Age Of Six With His Father Himself A Musician. By The Age Of Thirteen He Had Composed Several Religious Works. From 1778 To 1780 He Studied Music In Bologna And Milan. Cherubini's Early Operas Settings Of Italian Libretti By Metastasio Adhered Closely To The Conventions Of Opera Seria. In 1788 Cherubini Made A Brief Visit To London Where He Started Work On A Setting Of A French Libretto By Jean-François Marmontel Démophon. Cherubini's Music Began To Show More Originality And Daring. Later The Same Year He Settled In Paris. His First Major Success Here Was Lodoïska/i 1791 Which Was Admired For Its Realistic Heroism. This Was Followed By Eliza 1794 Set In The Swiss Alps And Médée 1797 Which Is Cherubini's Best-Known Work. Les Deux Journées 1800 In Which Cherubini Simplified His Style Somewhat Was A Popular Success. These And Other Operas Were Premiered At The Théâtre Feydeau. Cherubini's Popularity Declined Markedly After Les Deux Journées With Parisian Audiences Turning To Younger Composers Such As Boieldieu. His Opera-Ballet Anacréon Was An Outright Failure. In 1805 Cherubini Received An Invitation From Vienna To Write An Opera And To Direct It In Person. Faniska Was Produced The Following Year And Was Enthusiastically Received In Particular By Haydn And Beethoven. Les Abencérages 1813 An Heroic Drama Set In Spain During The Last Days Of The Moorish Kingdom Of Granada Was Cherubini's Attempt To Compete With Spontini's La Vestale. It Brought The Composer Critical Praise But Was Given Few Performances. Disappointed With His Lack Of Success In The Theater Cherubini Turned Increasingly To Church Music Writing Seven Masses Two Requiems And Many Shorter Pieces. During This Period He Was Also Appointed Surintendant De La Musique Du Roi Under The Restored Monarchy His Relations With Napoleon Had Been Decidedly Cool . In 1815 The London Philharmonic Society Commissioned Him To Write A Symphony An Overture And A Composition For Chorus And Orchestra The Performance Of Which He Went Especially To London To Conduct And This Increased His International Fame. Cherubini's Requiem In C Minor 1816 Commemorating The Anniversary Of The Execution Of King Louis XVI Of France Was A Huge Success. The Work Was Greatly Admired By Beethoven Schumann And Brahms. In 1836 Cherubini Wrote A Requiem In D Minor To Be Performed At His Own Funeral. It Is For Male Choir Only As The Religious Authorities Had Criticised His Use Of Female Voices In The Earlier Work. Although Chamber Music Does Not Make Up A Large Portion Of His Output What He Did Write Was Important. Wilhelm Altmann Writing In His Handbuch Für Streichquartettspielers Handbook For String Quartet Players About Cherubini's Six String Quartets States That They Are First Rate And Regarded Numbers 1 And 3 As Masterworks. His String Quintet For Two Violins Viola And Two Cellos Is Also Considered A First-Rate Work. In 1822 Cherubini Became Director Of The Conservatoire And Completed His Textbook Cours De Contrepoint Et De Fugue In 1835. His Role At The Conservatoire Would Bring Him Into Conflict With The Young Hector Berlioz Who Went On To Portray The Old Composer As A Crotchety Pedant In His Memoirs. Some Critics Such As Basil Deane Maintain That Berlioz's Depiction Has Distorted Cherubini's Image With Posterity And It Must Be Remembered That Berlioz Himself Was A Great Admirer Of Much Of Cherubini's Music. There Are Many Allusions To Cherubini's Personal Irritibality Among His Contemporaries Adolphe Adam Wrote "some Maintain His Temper Was Very Even Because He Was Always Angry". Nevertheless Cherubini Had Many Friends Including Rossini Chopin And Above All The Artist Ingres. The Two Had Mutual Interests Cherubini Was A Keen Amateur Painter And Ingres Enjoyed Practising The Violin. In 1841 Ingres Produced The Most Celebrated Portrait Of The Old Composer. Cherubini Died In Paris On 15th March 1842 At The Age Of Eighty-One And Was Buried In Père Lachaise Cemetery. read less