Paul Armand Silvestre (18 April 1837 – 19 February 1901) was a 19th-century French poet andconteur born in Paris.
He studied at theÉcole polytechnique with the intention of entering the army, but in 1870, he entered the department of finance. Silvestre had a successful official career, was decorated with theLegion of Honour in 1886, and in 1892, was made inspector of fine arts. Armand Silvestre made his entry into literature as a poet and was reckoned among theParnassians.
Some of his poems were set to music byGabriel Fauré, under the form ofmélodies for one voice and piano (Le Secret,L'Automne...). Thirteen of his poems were set byAndré Messager.[1] Silvestre's poemJours Passés was set in music byLéo Delibes under the titleRegrets.[2]
Rimes neuves et vieilles, with a preface byGeorge Sand (1866) see on Gallica[1]
Les Renaissances (1870)
La Gloire du souvenir, poème d'amour (1872)
Poésies, 1866-1874. Les Amours. La Vie. L'Amour (1875)
La Chanson des heures, poésies nouvelles (1874-1878) (1878)
Le Pays des roses, poésies nouvelles, 1880-1882 (1882)
Le Chemin des étoiles : les Adorations, la Chanson des jours, Musiques d'amour, Dernières tendresses, Poèmes dialogués, 1882-1885 (1885)
Le Dessus du panier : Impressions et souvenirs, Soleils toulousains, Propos de saison, Au pays des rêves (1885)
Poésies, 1872-1878. La Chanson des heures (1887)
Les Ailes d'or, poésies nouvelles (1890)
Roses d'octobre, poésies, 1884-1889 (1890)
Poésies, 1866-1872. Rimes neuves et vieilles. Les Renaissances. La Gloire du souvenir (1892)
L'Or des couchants, poésies nouvelles, 1889-1892 (1892): )
Trente Sonnets pour Mademoiselle Bartet (1896)
Les Aurores lointaines, poésies nouvelles, 1892-1895 (1896)
Les Tendresses, poésies nouvelles, 1895-1898 (1898)
Les Fleurs d'hiver, poésies nouvelles, 1898-1900 (1900)
His volumes of verse include:
Rimes neuves et vieilles (1866), to whichGeorge Sand wrote a preface
Les Renaissances (1870)
La Chanson des heures (1878)
Le Chemin des étoiles (1885), etc.
The poet was also a contributor toGil Blas and other Parisian journals, distinguishing himself by the licence he permitted himself. To these "absences" from poetry, asHenri Chantavoine calls them, belong the seven volumes ofLa Vie pour rire (1881–1883),Contes pantagruéliques et galants (1884),Le Livre des joyeusetés (1884),Gauloiseries nouvelles (1888), &c.
1886:Le Mari d'un jour, three-act opéra comique, withAdolphe d'Ennery, music byArthur Coquard, Opéra-Comique, 4 February
1887:La Tesi, four-act drama, with Georges Maillard, Bruxelles, Théâtre Molière, 29 October; directed by Paul Alhaiza (source: journal le globe illustré)
1888:Jocelyn, four-act opera, after the poem byLamartine, with Victor Capoul, music byBenjamin Godard, Bruxelles, Théâtre de la Monnaie, February
1888:Chassé-croisé d'amour, one-actopéra-bouffe, with Édouard Cavailhon, music by Villebichot
1888:La Femme bookmaker, obne-actopérette, with Édouard Cavailhon, music by Germain Laurens
1889:Sapho, February
1890:Le Pilote, opera in 3 acts and 4 tableaux, with A. Gandrey, music by J. Urich, Monte-Carlo, Casino, 29 March
1893:Les Drames sacrés, poème dramatique in 1 prologue and 10 tableaux, in verse, religious pictures after 14th- and 15th-century Italian painters, with music byGounod with Eugène Morand,Théâtre du Vaudeville, 15 March
1894:La Fée du rocher, ballet-pantomime en 2 actes et 6 tableaux, avecFrancis Thomé etJules Chéret, 1894
1895:Salomé, pantomime lyrique, with Meltzer, music by Gabriel Pierné,Théâtre de l'Athénée, 4 March
1897:Tristan de Léonois, drama in 3 acts and 7 tableaux, including 1 prologue, in verse, Comédie-Française, 28 October
1897:Chemin de croix, twelve religious poems after Armand Silvestre, set in music byAlexandre Georges
1899:Messaline, drame lyrique in 4 acts and 5 tableaux, with Eugène Morand, music byIsidore de Lara
1901:Charlotte Corday, drame musical in 3 acts, Opéra Populaire, February
1901:Grisélidis, conte lyrique in 3 acts and 1 prologue, with Eugène Morand, after the le mystery presented at the Comédie-Française, music byJules Massenet, Opéra-Comique, 13 November
Le Chevalier aux fleurs, ballet-pantomime in 12 tableaux, music byAndré Messager andRaoul Pugno (s. d.)
An account of his varied and somewhat incongruous production is hardly complete without mention of his art criticism.Le Nu au Salon (1888–1892), in five volumes, with numerous illustrations, was followed by other volumes of the same type. He died atToulouse, February 19, 1901.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Silvestre, Paul Armand".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 119.
