AUBE, a department of north-eastern France, bounded N. by the department of Marne, N.W. by Seine-et-Marne, W. by Yonne, S. by Yonne and Cote-d’Or, and E. by Haute-Marne; it was formed in 1790 from Basse-Champagne, and a small portion of Burgundy. Area, 2326 sq. m. Pop. (1906) 243,670. The department belongs to the Seine basin, and is watered chiefly by the Seine and the Aube. These rivers follow the general slope of the department, which is from south-east, where the Bois du Mont (1200 ft.), the highest point, is situated, to north-west. The southern and eastern districts are fertile and well wooded. The remainder of the department, with the exception of a more broken and picturesque district in the extreme north-west, forms part of the sterile and monotonous plain known as Champagne Pouilleuse. The climate is mild but damp. The annual rainfall over the greater part varies from 24 to 28 in.; but in the extreme south-east it at times reaches a height of 36 in. Aube is an agricultural department; more than one third of its surface consists of arable land of which the chief products are wheat and oats, and next to them rye, barley and potatoes; vegetables are extensively cultivated in the valleys of the Seine and the Aube. The vine flourishes chiefly on the hills of the south-east; the wines of Les Riceys, Bar-sur-Aube, Bouilly and Laines-aux-Bois are most esteemed. The river valleys abound in natural pasture, and sainfoin, lucerne and other forage crops are largely grown; cattle-raising is an important source of wealth, and the cheeses of Troyes are well known. There are excellent nurseries and orchards in the neighbourhood of Troyes, Bar-sur-Seine, Méry-sur-Seine and Brienne. Chalk, from which blanc de Troyes is manufactured, and clay are abundant; and there are peat workings and quarries of building-stone and limestone. The spinning and weaving of cotton and the manufacture of hosiery, of both of which Troyes is the centre, are the main industries of the department; there are also a large number of distilleries, tanneries, oil works, tile and brick works, flour-mills, saw-mills and dye-works. The Eastern railway has works at Romilly, and there are iron works at Clairvaux and wire-drawing works at Plaines; but owing to the absence of coal and iron mines, metal working is of small importance. The exports of Aube consist of timber, cereals, agricultural products, hosiery, wine, dressed pork, &c.; its imports include wool and raw cotton, coal and machinery, especially looms. The department is served by the Eastern railway, of which the main line to Belfort crosses it. The river Aube is navigable for 28 m. (from Arcis-sur-Aube to its confluence with the Seine); the Canal de la Haute-Seine extends beside the Seine from Bar-sur-Seine to Marcilly (just outside the department) a distance of 46 m.; below Marcilly the Seine is canalized.
Aube is divided into 5 arrondissements with 26 cantons and 446 communes. It falls within the educational circumscription (académie) of Dijon and the military circumscription of the XX. army corps; its court of appeal is in Paris. It constitutes the diocese of Troyes and part of the archiepiscopal province of Sens. The capital of the department is Troyes; of the arrondissements the capitals are Troyes, Bar-sur-Aube, Arcis-sur-Aube, Bar-sur-Seine and Nogent-sur-Seine. The architecture of the department is chiefly displayed in its churches, many of which possess stained glass of the 16th century. Besides the cathedral and other churches of Troyes, those of Mussy-sur-Seine (13th century), Chaource (16th century) and Nogent-sur-Seine (15th and 16th centuries), are of note. The abbey buildings of Clairvaux are the type of the Cistercian abbey.
AUBENAS, a town of south-eastern France, in the department of Ardèche, 19 m. S.W. of Privas by road. Pop. (1906) 3976 (town), 7064 (commune). Aubenas is beautifully situated on the slope of a hill, on the right bank of the Ardèche, but its streets generally are crooked and narrow. It has a castle of the 13th and 16th centuries, now occupied by several of the public institutions of the town. These include a tribunal and chamber of commerce, and a conditioning-house for silk. Iron and coal mines are worked in the vicinity. As the centre of the silk trade of southern France Aubenas is a place of considerable traffic. It has also a large silk spinning and weaving industry, and carries on tanning and various minor industries together with trade in silk. The district is rich in plantations of mulberries and olives.
AUBER, DANIEL FRANÇOIS ESPRIT (1782-1871), French musical composer, the son of a Paris printseller, was born at Caen in Normandy on the 29th of January 1782. Destined by his father to the pursuits of trade, he was allowed, nevertheless, to indulge his fondness for music, and learnt to play at an early age on several instruments, his first teacher being the Tirolean composer, I.A. Ladurner. Sent at the age of twenty to London to complete his business training, he was obliged to leave England in consequence of the breach of the treaty of Amiens (1804). He had already attempted musical composition, and at this period produced several concertos pour basse, in the manner of the violoncellist, Lamarre, in whose name they were published. The praise given to his concerto for the violin, which was played at the Conservatoire by Mazas, encouraged him to undertake the resetting of the old comic opera, Julie (1811). Conscious by this time of the need of regular study of his chosen art, he placed himself under the severe training of Cherubini, by which the special qualities of the young composer were admirably developed. In 1813 he made his début in an opera in one act, the Séjour militaire, the unfavourable reception of which put an end for some years to his attempts as composer. But the failure in business and death of his father, in 1819, compelled him once more to turn to music, and to make that which had been his pastime the serious employment of his life. He produced another opera, the Testament et les billets-deux (1819), which was no better received than the former. But he persevered, and the next year was rewarded by the complete success of his Bergère châtelaine, an opera in three acts. This was the first in a long series of brilliant successes. In 1822 began his long association with A.E. Scribe, who shared with him, as librettist, the success and growing popularity of his compositions. The opera of Leicester, in which they first worked together (1823), is remarkable also as showing evidences of the influence of Rossini. But his own style was an individual one, marked by lightness and facility, sparkling vivacity, grace and elegance, clear and piquant melody—characteristically French. In La Muette de Portici, familiarly known as Masaniello, Auber achieved his greatest musical triumph. Produced at Paris in 1828, it rapidly became a European favourite, and its overture, songs and choruses were everywhere heard. The duet, “Amour sacré de la patrie,” was welcomed like a new Marseillaise; sung by Nourrit at Brussels in 1830, it became the signal for the revolution which broke out there. Of Auber’s remaining operas (about 50 in all) the more important are: Le Maçon (1825), La Fiancée (1829), Fra Diavolo (1830), Lestocq (1834), Le Cheval de bronze (1835), L’Ambassadrice (1836), Le Domino noir (1837), Le Lac des fées (1839), Les Diamants de la couronne (1841), Haydée (1847), Marco Spada (1853), Manon Lescaut (1856), and La Fiancée du roi des Garbes (1864). Official and other dignities testified the public appreciation of Auber’s works. In 1829 he was elected member of the Institute, in 1830 he was named director of the court concerts, and in 1842, at the wish of Louis Philippe, he succeeded Cherubini as director of the Conservatoire. He was also a member of the Legion of Honour from 1825, and attained the rank of commander in 1847. Napoleon III. made Auber his Imperial Maître de Chapelle in 1857.
One of Auber’s latest compositions was a march, written for the opening of the International Exhibition in London in 1862. His fascinating manners, his witty sayings, and his ever-ready kindness and beneficence won for him a secure place in the respect and love of his fellow-citizens. He remained in his old home during the German siege of Paris, 1870-71, but the miseries of the Communist war which followed sickened his heart, and he died in Paris on the 13th of May 1871.
See Adolph Kohut, “Auber,” vol. xvii. of Musiker Biographien (Leipzig, 1895).