AUGER, DANIEL FRANcOIS ESPRIT, a composer of operas, was b. at Caen in Normandy, Jan. 29, 1784. His father was a printseller in Paris, and being desirous that his son should devote himself to business, he sent him to London to acquire a knowledge of the trade. But his irresistible passion for music obtained the upper hand, and after a short stay lie returned to Paris. Among his earliest compositions may be noticed the concertos for the violoncello, ascribed to Lamare the violoncellist; the concerto for the violin. played by Mazas with great applause at the conservatory of music, Paris; and the comic opera, Julie, with a modest accompaniment for two violins, two altos, and a bass. These works were very successful; but A., aspiring to greater things, now devoted himself to a deeper study of music under Cherubini, and wrote a mass for four voices. His next work, the opera La ,S )our Militaire (1413), was so cohly received that A. grew disheartened, and resolved to abandon the idea of reaching eminence as a musical composer. However, the death of his father compelled him to be dependent on his own resources; and in 1819 .appeared Le Testament et les Billets-doux, which was also unsuccessful; but InLa Bergere CZaite:aine he laid the foundation of his subsequent fame. In all these early essays, as well
as in the opera of Emma (1S91), he displayed an original style; but afterwards lie became an imitator of Rossini, and disfigured his melodies with false decorations and strivings for effect. All his later works, excepting La Muette de Portici (Masaniello), produced in 1828, are written with an assumed mannerism, but in alight and flowing style, with many piquant melodies which have made the tour of Europe. The operas Leicester (1822), La AlTeige (1823), Le Concert a ht Coar, and Leocadie (1824), Le Macon (1S25), Fiorella (1826), La Fiancee (1829), Fra, Diavolo (1830), were followed by a series of lighter works: L'Elixir d' Amour, Le Dieu et la Bajadere, Les Faux Mannayeurs, etc.; the later operas, Gustave ou le Bal Masque, Le Lac des Fees, Le Cheval de Bronze, Les Diamants de in Couronne, La Part du Diable, La Sirene, and Haydee, exhibiting the same popular qualities as their predeces sors; but their interest is evanescent, as they are deficient in depth of thought and feel ing. His later works are Jenny Bell (1855) and Anton Lescaut 0856). In A. was appointed director of the conservatory of music, Paris, He d. May 14, 1871.