Élégie

Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. He also composed oratorios, ballets, orchestral works, incidental music, piano pieces, songs and other music.

He composed only a few organ works, but since many students at the Conservatoire went on to substantial careers as church organists. With that in mind Massenet enrolled for organ classes, but they were not a success and he quickly abandoned the instrument.

Like many prominent French composers of the period, Massenet became a professor at the Conservatoire. He taught composition there from 1878 until 1896, when he resigned after the death of the director, Ambroise Thomas. Among his students were Gustave Charpentier, Ernest Chausson, Reynaldo Hahn and Gabriel Pierné.

By the time of his death, Massenet was regarded by many critics as old-fashioned and unadventurous although his two best-known operas remained popular in France and abroad. After a few decades of neglect, his works began to be favourably reassessed during the mid-20th century, and many of them have since been staged and recorded. Although critics do not rank him among the handful of outstanding operatic geniuses such as Mozart, Verdi and Wagner, his operas are now widely accepted as well-crafted and intelligent products of the Belle Époque.

"Élégie" first appeared as "Mélodie" in 1866, being the fifth in a series of 10 piano works,
"Dix pièces de genre." It was soon "converted" into an elegy when a text was added for a baritone solo version.

This transcription was done by Homer Hopkins. I have no dates for him, nor do I have any other information, but I do have two other editions by him, and I'll plan to add these to the ongoing "Summertime Dream Series".

The score is attached below, as well as photos of Jules Massenet.

TOMORROW: Alfred Silver's fine transcription of the famous "Meditation de Thaïs" from Massenet's opera.