Gabriel Marie
Gabriel Marie was born in Paris, France, on January 8, 1852. After completing his music study at the Paris Conservatory he served for six years as chorusmaster of the Lamoureux Orchestra. Between 1887 and 1894 he conducted the concerts of the Société nationale de musique. He later led the orchestral performances in Bordeaux and Marseilles, and during the summers at the Vichy Casino. He was traveling in Spain when he died there suddenly on August 29, 1928.
Marie was a successful composer of light music for orchestra. The one composition which has survived is La Cinquantaine, a sentimental piece for orchestra which is also famous in adaptations for violin and piano, or cello and piano. Marie described this work as an “air in the old style.” It is in three-part song form. The first and third parts consist of a light, delicate little air; the middle section is in a slower and statelier style.
Martini il Tedesco
Jean Paul Égide Martini—sometimes called “Il Tedesco” or “The German” to distinguish him from Padre Martini the famous 18th century Italian composer and theorist—was born in Freistadt, in the Palatinate, on September 1, 1741. His real name is Schwarzendorf. After completing the study of the organ and serving for a while as church organist, he won a prize for a military march for the Swiss Guard. For many years he was an officer of a Hussar regiment. During this military service he completed an opera, L’Amoureux de quinze ans (successfully introduced in Paris in 1771) and a considerable amount of band music. After leaving the army, he served as music director for the Prince of Condé and the Comte d’Artois; as conductor at the Théâtre Feydeau in Paris; and as Inspector and teacher of composition at the Paris Conservatory. He died in Paris on February 10, 1816.
The composer of twelve operas, some church music and many songs, Martini is today remembered for a single song—the eloquent and tender love melody, “Plaisir d’amour,” written originally for voice and harp, and arranged by Berlioz for voice and orchestra. Since Berlioz’ time it has enjoyed numerous instrumental adaptations. Effective use of the song, as recurring theme music, was made in the American motion picture starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer, Love Affair (1939).
Pietro Mascagni
Pietro Mascagni was born in Leghorn, Italy, on December 7, 1863. He studied music with private teachers in Leghorn, then for several years attended the Milan Conservatory. In 1884 he was appointed conductor of the municipal band in Cerignola. Meanwhile in 1880 he had completed his first opera, Pinotta. Success as composer came later in 1890 with the world première of the opera, Cavalleria Rusticana in Rome. A sensation when first introduced, Cavalleria Rusticana made the rounds of the world capitals to enjoy a triumph experienced by few operas before or since. Mascagni wrote many operas after that. Though he enjoyed varying degrees of success with L’Amico Fritz in 1891 and Iris in 1898, he never again duplicated the acclaim given Cavalleria Rusticana; and it is still the only one of his operas performed in the world’s foremost opera houses. As he himself once said sadly: “It is a pity I wrote Cavalleria first. I was crowned before I became king.” Mascagni made many tours as a conductor. He visited the United States in 1902 in performances of several of his operas, and South America in 1911. In 1929 he succeeded Toscanini as musical director of La Scala in Milan. Identifying himself closely with the Fascist regime—even to the point of writing an opera, Nerone, glorifying Mussolini—Mascagni was subjected to considerable abuse and attack after World War II. He was deprived of his property and other assets. The last year of his life was lived in poverty and disrepute in a small hotel room in Rome, where he died on August 2, 1945.
Cavalleria Rusticana is a one-act opera, libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci based on a short story by Giovanni Verga. The setting is Sicily in the latter part of the 19th century. Turiddu, a soldier, is in love with Lola, wife of Alfio, a teamster. But he has also conducted an illicit affair with Santuzza. When Turiddu rudely rejects Santuzza, she finds revenge by revealing to Alfio the love intrigue existing between Lola and Turiddu. In the duel that follows Alfio kills Turiddu.
The most celebrated single excerpt from the opera is the melodious Intermezzo for orchestra which accompanies the departing townspeople as they leave church after the Easter services. This music is radiant with the holiness and serenity of the Easter holiday.