To search presse groups, associations, sponsor, businessmen for the site ” News-art-culture.com”.Talent? Absolutely. Can’t give up at a quality and characteristic with that to birth and to continue in time. It’s difficult to choose a way in the life; Gounod enters in artistic creation leaving the philosophy of ecclesiastical life; at the end the religion remains only in compositions of sacred music. 

Charles Gounod is birth to Paris on the 17th  of June 1818 and is dead to Saint Cloud in 18 October 1893, is been a French composer. 

GOUNOD AND ARTISTIC LIFE

He is birth into artists family, being the second son of painter François Louis Gounod and of pianist Victoire Lemachois the daughter of famous avocat from Normandy Parliament. At the age of 5 years in 1823 Gounod knows the big economic and financier crises from death of his father, after which the mother Victoire leaves constraint to teach the lessons for to offer the support at his sons. A sad period, but he goes forward. 

With the year 1829 Gounod enters to Hight School Saint Louis where finishes the studies, in time he starts  to study the music with Antonin Reicha  the friend of Beethoven continuing the study at Conservatory from Paris under the observation by masters  Halevy Paer and Lesueur. 

The plaisir of music leaves with the family’s nostalgia; the talent is hereditary …. among the years he will hear.  In the year 1831 he participates with the mother at a representation from Othello by Rossini, followed in 1832 with Don Giovanni by Mozart. 

A start in art!

The work’s grandness convinces him to become the composer. In the year 1839 he travels to Rome, being hosted at Villa Medici where deepen the study of religious music. Roma offers him the three years of study by sacred music of centuries XVI-XVII at that manifests a big religious tendance. In same time he wins the prize “Prix of Rome” and from 1840- 1843 he transfers to Viena, and later at Lipsia he conducts the own Requiem where meet him Felix Mendelssohn for that he has a big respect. To come back in France with the big interior crises, come backing find him into deep sacerdotal meditation that don’t make to enters in sacerdotal life for continue the religious vocation. 

It’s his refuge; sigh quotidian life makes him to enter ahead in the religious meditation. The music…. philosophy …meditation. At Paris becomes the organist and master of chapel at parochial Mission étrangères . A new mystic crise makes him to enter in theological study subscribe him at seminar for two years; the period of desperation is dominated with the help of the singer P. Viardot that propose him to compose for theatre. In this way he starts to compose the music for the theatrical representations. He leaves for a period of time the theatre for find him the artistic vocation  like this in deep meditation  Gounod writes until the death more sacred works among which is noted the famous” Ave Maria”, an initial composition written  in paraphrase for the pianoforte and violin, a prime prelude of clavicembalo good temperate by Bach, in time he composes for the homophone and orchestra choir, but don’t is destinated at liturgic executions. The religious crises, nervous crises to accentuated that determines him to enter for a short period of time into house of mental illness for medical cure.  After He comes back to public life in the year 1874 dedicating more and more at the compositions of sacred music. For musical harmony express in the compositions in the year 1871 the composition “March for one marionette” was chosen as musical theme for a Tv series ( Alfred Hitchock Presents, Alfred Hitchcock Hour).

GOUNOD’ STYLE, WHAT HE SEARCH IN MUSIC?

The first is a deep and refinement composer of harmonic rules of contra point where search the refinement, notes sensibility into deep harmony. In music he to meet with the French sensible style of the year 1800 that associate him at the French elements from the year 1700 and integrated with Mozartian theatre. He is an eclectic musician being influenced by Italian sacred music from centuries XVI-XVII, and in same time is a composer of comic-opera with aspirations of Bach and Mozart purity having the accent on the romance of salon from 1800. He realizes an oscillating language among those two pols (mysticism and sensualism), at those sentimental melodic effusions live together a clear and form elegant of refinement of harmonic writings. The music presents the coloristic accents in orchestra and the lyric style enter into news important of French opera taking a single person with his emotions at center of opera between the music and prefigurate elements of scene. He dies at Saint Cloud on 18 October 1893, is buried in Cemetery of Auteuil. 

GOUNOD’S WORKS

 Lyric works: Sapho, La nonne sanglante, Le Médecin malgré lui, Faust , Le Colombe, La Reine de Saba, Mireille, Romeo et Juliette, Cinq-Mars, Le tribut de Zamora…

Sacred music: Ave Maria, Mors et Vita, Inno e Marcia Pontificia, Ave verum, Missa ad Honoreum Sanctae Ceciliae, Missa Brevis….

Gounod enters in music with reservation, having the aspirations for the sacerdotal life at that don’t never arrive between his meditation. He remains a composer of opera associating the compositions at sacred music, in same harmony, elegance and refinement. A mystic with enter from Faust at Ave Maria which is noted of lyric sensualism between melodic, clear and elegant orchestration. He accentuates the emotions the personage is centered for to express his artistic quality in varies representations of works without to lose the lyrism in romantic sensibility. The music is riche of harmony of elements between contra point and coloristic orchestral accents into clear and elegant line. He searches the refinement, elegance of interpretation, natural sentimentalism and meditated among the notes that find him into composing and human sensibility from where he remains devoted at sacred music.