Front:
JULES MASSENET
REWARD CARD.
Scene from "Thai's
32
T. PRESSER CO., Phila.
Back:
Born May 12, 1842.
Died August 13, 1912.
Jules Massenet
NOTHER distinguished product of the Paris
A Conservatoire, and born at Montaud, Massenet
won the Prix de Rome in 1863 with his opera, David
Rizzio. It has been said, truly, that "the theme of
Love pervades all his works." He bowed to the appeal
of the "eternal feminine." Rejected at first by Bazin
as lacking talent, he progressed steadily from a player
in small cafes to become one of the foremost figures in
French music. His first lessons were from his mother,
but he profited much from his studies with Ambroise
Thomas (famous operatic composer). After his father's
death, he played the "kettle-drums" in the Théatre
Lyrique (Paris) for fifty cents a night, but found time
to score a "Mass" by Adam for military band.
His first songs were published in 1868, when attacks by
the French critic, Albert Wolff, did him more good than
harm; moreover, he gained the admiration of Tschai-
kowsky. His first grand opera, Hérodiade, was produced
in Brussels; it is the very antithesis of Oscar Wilde's
Salome. Thais (1894) still holds the stage: a poetic and
beautiful work, famous for its Meditation (violin solo,
with harp and strings). Massenet was fortunate in his
prima donnas: Sybil Sanderson, Emma Calvé, Mary
Garden, and others. Modest, he never attended "first
performances." As a Professor of Composition he
was ideal.
HE7
DIGIT
14
From "Elegie"
Elique
Massenet
Published by THEODORE PRESSER CO., Philadelphia, Pa.
