Jean Robert Planquette (French pronunciation:[ʒɑ̃ʁɔbɛʁplɑ̃kɛt]; 31 July 1848 – 28 January 1903) was a Frenchcomposer of songs and operettas.
Several of Planquette's operettas were extraordinarily successful in Britain, especiallyLes cloches de Corneville (1878), the length of whose initial London run broke all records for any piece ofmusical theatre up to that time.Rip Van Winkle (1882) also earned international fame.
The son of a singer, Planquette was born inParis and educated at the Paris Conservatoire. He did not finish his studies, lacking the funds to do so, and worked as a café pianist and composer and singing (he was atenor). A few romances that he composed brought less fame than did his song, "Sambre et Meuse", first sung in 1867 byLucien Fugère, who went on to be one of the foremost French opera singers of his day.
In 1876, the director of theThéâtre des Folies-Dramatiques gave Planquette a commission to compose his first operetta,Les cloches de Corneville. It opened in Paris in 1877, running for an extremely successful 480 performances, and then enjoyed an astonishing London run, beginning in 1878, of a record-breaking 708 performances. Planquette's music has been praised for its pathos and romantic feeling.Le Chevalier Gaston was produced in 1879 with little success. In 1880 cameLes Voltigeurs du 32ieme which had a long run in London in 1887 asThe Old Guard, andLa Cantiniére, which was translated into English asNectarine, though never produced.
In 1882Rip Van Winkle was produced in London and subsequently given in Paris asRip, in both cases with great success. The libretto is an adaptation byH. B. Farnie ofWashington Irving's famous tale. In 1884 the phenomenon of an opera by a French composer being produced in London before being heard in Paris was repeated inNell Gwynne, which was modestly successful, but failed when produced in Paris asLa Princesse Colombine. It was followed byLa Crémaillere (Paris, 1885),Surcouf (Paris, 1887; London, asPaul Jones, 1889),Captain Thérése (London, 1887),La Cocarde tricolore (Paris, 1892),Le Talisman (Paris, 1892),Panurge (Paris, 1895) andMam'zelle Quat'sous (Paris, 1897).
Another Planquette composition, the marchLe Régiment de Sambre et Meuse, has achieved fame in an arrangement forbrass band; it is the tune used bythe Ohio State University Marching Band when performing their famedScript Ohio formation. The original orchestral version has been recorded by theBoston Pops Orchestra conducted byArthur Fiedler and appears on theRCA Living Stereo CDMarches in Hi-Fi. "The Song of the Cabin Boy," a barcarolle from Planquette'sLes cloches de Corneville was played on the violin by W.K.L. Dickson in the first experiment in history in synchronizing sound and motion pictures (1894). It is viewable online asThe Dickson Experimental Sound Film.
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All operettas and all premieres in Paris, unless otherwise noted.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Planquette, Robert".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.| International | |
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