ETU:NSF: NICHOLAS (i763 1817). .1 French operatic composer. born at Givet. At the age of ten he Was organist his native village; in 1778 lie went to Paris. where he gained the interest of Gluck. After several un• successful efforts hi eomposition his Euphrosinc ct filially achieved fame (1790). and other compositions previously written were then brought to light. .Vrotonice appeared in 1792; and this was followed by patriotic national hymns for the Army of the Republic, entitled "Le chant du depart," chant de victoizcy• "Le chant du return•," which won him high popularity. Other works appeared in rapid succession; in 1806 Utho/; previously. rue folic, cut Ics dc Tolcde (1802) ; arid in 1807 Joseph, his most esteemed composition. In 1795 he was elected a member of the Academy, and also appointed an inspector of the Conservatory, whic•lh had but recently been established. Ilis works eomprise every form of music, but it is wholly by his operas that he is known to fame. They are
marked by dramatic truth, nolde melodies, and, though his work constantly shows a lack of thorough training• he was one of the first French composers adequately to express the meaning of the words in music. Consult Pougin, Bioyraphie (Paris, 1889).
MEI, ma, LEN' (or MAY, LYOFF) ALEXANDRO \ITCH ( 1822-62). A Russian poet. lie was born in Moscow and was educated at the Institute of Tzarskoi Selo. He attracted a great deal of attention by his drama Tmarskya Nercstu (The Bride of the Czar) (1849), which was followed by the dramas Serrilio and Pskoritianku (The Woman of Pskov). Besides publishing several minor poems on classical and biblical subjeets, he also considerably enriched Russian literature by his translations from Milton. Byron, Seidller (Wullensteins Lager and Dciactrius), Goethe, and Victor