BOIELDIETJ, FRANcOIS-ADRIEN ( 1775-1834). An eminent composer of French om'ra coin i lle was born December 15, 1775. in Rouen, son of an archbishop's 'secretary. He ran away from his teacher, the organist Broche, to Paris (17S7 ). whence he was ignominiously brought back; and Brodie's lessons seem to have been all the formal instruction that Boieldieu re ceived. The local success of his operas La fine eonimble (1793) and Rosalie et .11yr;:a (1795) induced him to go again to Paris, where he had to earn a living by tuning pianos for the I fere he made the acquaintance of SlAul. Cheru bini. and the tenor Ciirat, who made Boieldieu famous by singing his songs in public. Les deux lettres (1790) and La famine suissc (1707) had an enormous success at the OpC.ra Comique. Ile published various instrumental pieces and then triumphed again with Le Calif(' (1.• Bagdad (1S00i. Some caustic remarks of Chernbini about "unde served success" made 13oieldien apply himself to serious study of counterpoint. the result, of which were noticeable in Ma tante A urore About this time his home life became so unbear able that he removed to Saint 1'11er-1)111'g, (1803) 10 become maitre de chapfqle to the In the eight years of his sojourn there he produced no work of merit. though bound by contract to write three operas annually in addition to other speei tied ditties. Lung trouble hastened his return to Paris, win-re dean de Paris (1S12) was hailed with delight. Ile succeeded SIMml (q.v.) as pro
fessor of composition in 1817; f., chaperon ronyc was given in 1818, and after a seven-year silence, le dame blanche, generally conceded to be his masterpiece. created a veritable sensation. The next work, Les dens nails (1829). had only a suers freRtitne, and Boieldieu did not try his hand again. Ile retired from the Conservatory on a pension, but this was revoked by the t :overn mem, in Boieldieu died near (;•osbois, Ifeto 8, 1834, Of laryngeal plithisis, his suffer ings somewhat relieved by the care and love of his second wile. II is operas—of which La ',amt• blanche. dean de Paris. alul Le i'alife de Bagdad still hold the stage—are the finest ex amples of oin'ra comigur in its earlier stage of development. Genuine comedy, intermingled with romantieism, seduetive melody, orchestra tion that fairly glows with color yet never ob scures the voice, grace, delicacy, and unflagging are the characteristics of Bole'. dien's music. The list of works written in collab oration with Cherubini, Isouard, Berton, Kreutzer, and others runs into dozens. Among his pupils, the most famous were Adam, Fftis, Zimmermann, and Labarre. Consult: A. Pougin, Boicldicu, sa tic et ses trurreR (Paris, 1875) ; and G. T. Ferris, Great -Musical Composers (New York. 1SS7).