DANIEL FRANÇOIS ESPRIT AUBER was born at Caen, Normandy, January 29,
1784. He was destined by his parents for a mercantile career, and was
articled to a French firm in London to perfect himself in commercial
training. As a child he showed his passion and genius for music, a
fact so noticeable in the lives of most of the great musicians. He
composed ballads and romances at the age of eleven, and during his
London life was much sought after as a musical prodigy alike in
composition and execution. In consequence of the breach of the treaty
of Amiens in 1804, he was obliged to return to Paris, and we hear no
more of the counting-room as a part of his life. His resetting of an
old libretto in 1811 attracted the attention of Cherubini, who
impressed himself so powerfully on French music and musicians, and the
master offered to superintend his further studies, a chance eagerly
seized by Auber. To the instruction of Cherubini Auber owed his
mastery over the technical difficulties of his art. Among the pieces
written at this time was a mass for the Prince of Chimay, of which the
prayer was afterwards transferred to "Masaniello." The comic opera "Le
Séjour Militaire," produced in 1813, when Auber was thirty, was really
his début as a composer. It was coldly received, and it was not till
the loss of private fortune set a sharp spur to his creative activity
that he set himself to serious work. "La Bergère Châtelaine," produced
in 1820, was his first genuine success, and equal fortune attended
"Emma" in the following season.
The duration and climax of Auber's musical career were founded on his
friendship and artistic alliance with Scribe, one of the most fertile
librettists and playwrights of modern times. To this union, which
lasted till Scribe's death, a great number of operas, comic and
serious, owe their existence: not all of equal value, but all evincing
the apparently inexhaustible productive genius of the joint authors.
The works on which Auber's claims to musical greatness rest are as
follows:--"Leicester," 1822; "Le Maçon," 1825, the composer's
_chef-d'oeuvre_ in comic opera; "La Muette de Portici," otherwise
"Masaniello," 1828; "Fra Diavolo," 1830; "Lestocq," 1835; "Le Cheval
de Bronze," 1835; "L'Ambassadrice," 1836; "Le Domino Noir," 1837; "Les
Diamants de la Couronne," 1841; "Carlo Braschi," 1842; "Haydée," 1847;
"L'Enfant Prodigue," 1850; "Zerline," 1851, written for Madame Alboni;
"Manon Lescaut," 1856; "La Fiancée du Roi de Garbe," 1867; "Le
Premier Jour de Bonheur," 1868; and "Le Rêve d'Amour," 1869. The last
two works were composed after Auber had passed his eightieth year.
The indifference of this Anacreon of music to renown is worthy of
remark. He never attended the performance of his own pieces, and
disdained applause. The highest and most valued distinctions were
showered on him; orders, jewelled swords, diamond snuff-boxes, were
poured in from all the courts of Europe. Innumerable invitations urged
him to visit other capitals, and receive honour from imperial hands.
But Auber was a true Parisian, and could not be induced to leave his
beloved city. He was a Member of the Institute, Commander of the
Legion of Honour, and Cherubini's successor as Director of the
Conservatory. He enjoyed perfect health up to the day of his death in
1871. Assiduous in his duties at the Conservatory, and active in his
social relations, which took him into the most brilliant circles of an
extended period, covering the reigns of Napoleon I., Charles X., Louis
Philippe, and Napoleon III., he yet always found time to devote
several hours a day to composition. Auber was a small, delicate man,
yet distinguished in appearance, and noted for wit. His _bons mots_
were celebrated. While directing a musical _soirée_ when over eighty,
a gentleman having taken a white hair from his shoulder, he said,
laughingly, "This hair must belong to some old fellow who passed near
me."
A good anecdote is told _à propos_ of an interview of Auber with
Charles X. in 1830. "Masaniello," a bold and revolutionary work, had
just been produced, and stirred up a powerful popular ferment. "Ah, M.
Auber," said the King, "you have no idea of the good your work has
done me." "How, sire?" "All revolutions resemble each other. To sing
one is to provoke one. What can I do to please you?" "Ah, sire! I am
not ambitious." "I am disposed to name you director of the court
concerts. Be sure that I shall remember you. But," added he, taking
the artist's arm with a cordial and confidential air, "from this day
forth you understand me well, M. Auber, I expect you to bring out the
'Muette' but _very seldom_." It is well known that the Brussels riots
of 1830, which resulted in driving the Dutch out of the country,
occurred immediately after a performance of this opera, which thus
acted the part of "Lillibulero" in English political annals. It is a
striking coincidence that the death of the author of this
revolutionary inspiration, May 13, 1871, was partly caused by the
terrors of the Paris Commune.