André Ernest Modeste Grétry (French:[gʁɛtʁi]; baptised 11 February 1741;[1] died 24 September 1813) was a composer from thePrince-Bishopric of Liège (present-dayBelgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous for hisopéras comiques. His music influencedMozart andBeethoven both of whom wrote variations on his works.
He was born atLiège, his father being a poor musician. He was a choirboy at thechurch of St. Denis (Liège). In 1753 he became a pupil ofJean-Pantaléon Leclerc and later of the organist at St-Pierre de Liège,Nicolas Rennekin, for keyboard and composition and of Henri Moreau, music master at the collegiate church of St. Paul. But of greater importance was the practical tuition he received by attending the performance of an Italian opera company. Here he heard the operas ofBaldassarre Galuppi,Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, and other masters; and the desire of completing his own studies in Italy was the immediate result. To find the necessary means he composed in 1759 amass which he dedicated to thecanons of theLiège Cathedral, and it was at the expense of Canon Hurley that he went to Italy in March 1759. In Rome he went to theCollège de Liège. Here Grétry resided for five years, studiously employed in completing his musical education underGiovanni Battista Casali. His proficiency in harmony and counterpoint was, however, according to his own confession, at all times very moderate.[2]
His first great success was achieved byLa vendemmiatrice, an Italian intermezzo oroperetta, composed for theAliberti theatre in Rome and received with universal applause. It is said that the study of the score of one ofPierre-Alexandre Monsigny's operas, lent to him by a secretary of the French embassy in Rome, decided Grétry to devote himself to French comic opera. On New Year's Day 1767 he accordingly left Rome, and after a short stay atGeneva (where he made the acquaintance ofVoltaire, and produced another operetta) went to Paris.[2]
There for two years he had to contend with the difficulties attendant on poverty and obscurity. He was, however, not without friends, and by the intercession of CountGustaf Philip Creutz, the Swedish ambassador, Grétry obtained alibretto fromJean-François Marmontel, which he set to music in less than six weeks, and which, on its performance in August 1768, met with unparalleled success. The name of the opera wasLe Huron. Two others,Lucile andLe tableau parlant, soon followed, and thenceforth Grétry's position as the leading composer of comic opera was safely established.[2]
Altogether he composed some fifty operas. His masterpieces areZémire et Azor andRichard Coeur-de-lion—the first produced in 1771, the second in 1784. The latter in an indirect way became connected with a great historic event. In it occurs the celebrated romance,O Richard, O mon Roi, l'univers t'abandonne, which was sung at the banquet – "fatal as that ofThyestes," remarksCarlyle – given by the bodyguard to the officers of the Versailles garrison on 3 October 1789.La Marseillaise not long afterwards became the reply of the people to the expression of loyalty borrowed from Grétry's opera.[2]Richard Cœur de Lion was translated and adapted for the English stage byJohn Burgoyne.[citation needed]
Grétry was the first to write for the "tuba curva", an instrument that existed from Roman times as thecornu. He used the tuba curva in music that he composed for the funeral ofVoltaire.[3] His opera-balletLa caravane du Caire, with modestturquerie exoticism in harp and triangle accompaniment, is a rescue adventure along the lines ofDie Entführung aus dem Serail; premiered atFontainebleau in 1783, it remained in the French repertory for fifty years.[citation needed]
Grétry also made use of the mandolin in his compositions.Philip J. Bone speculated that Grétry was exposed to the instrument while in Italy, and said "he makes use of it upon various occasions, in this instance with a telling and marked impression."This instance was the serenadeWhile all are sleeping from Grétry's operaL'amant jaloux. Bone called the serenade "a delicate accompaniment for two mandolins".[4]
The composer himself was influenced by the great events he witnessed, and the titles of some of his operas, such asLa rosière républicaine andLa fête de la raison, sufficiently indicate the epoch to which they belong; but they are merepièces de circonstance, and the republican enthusiasm displayed is not genuine. Little more successful was Grétry in his dealings with classical subjects. His genuine power lay in the delineation of character and in the expression of tender and typically French sentiment. The structure of his concerted pieces on the other hand is frequently flimsy, and his instrumentation so feeble that the orchestral parts of some of his works had to be rewritten by other composers, in order to make them acceptable to modern audiences. During theRevolution Grétry lost much of his property, but the successive governments of France vied in favouring the composer, regardless of political differences. From the old court he received distinctions and rewards of all kinds; the republic made him an inspector of the conservatoire;Napoleon granted him the cross of thelegion of honour and a pension.[citation needed]
Grétry took students in opera composition, including his daughterLucile andCaroline Wuiet. He died at the Hermitage inMontmorency, formerly the house ofRousseau. Fifteen years after his death Grétry's heart was transferred to his birthplace, permission having been obtained after a protracted lawsuit. In 1842 a large bronze statue of the composer was set up at Liège.[citation needed] His heart remains in it, while his body is buried in Paris at thePère Lachaise Cemetery.
During his life, a commemorative statue was made of him byJean-Baptiste Stouf. It was commissioned in 1804 by Hippolyte, comte de Livry, and placed in theOpéra Comique in 1809. It is now in theMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York.[5][6]
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Grétry was married to the painterJeanne-Marie Grandon.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Grétry, André Ernest Modeste".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 583–584. Endnotes:
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