Editing Benjamin Godard

{{short description|French violinist and composer}}
[[File:Benjamin Godard.jpg|thumb|upright|Benjamin Godard, c. 1880, Bibliothèque nationale de France]]
'''Benjamin Louis Paul Godard''' (18 August 1849{{spaced ndash}}10 January 1895) was a French [[violin]]ist and [[Romanticism|Romantic-era]] composer of Jewish extraction,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/search.asp?pg%3D1%26cat%3Dts1%26stext%3DGodard%26stype%3Dexact |title=Search |access-date=2015-02-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217142139/http://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/search.asp?pg=1&cat=ts1&stext=Godard&stype=exact |archive-date=2015-02-17 }}</ref> best known for his opera ''[[Jocelyn (opera)|Jocelyn]]''. Godard composed eight operas, five symphonies, two piano and two violin concertos, string quartets, sonatas for violin and piano, piano pieces and etudes, and more than a hundred songs. He died at the age of 45 in [[Cannes]] ([[Alpes-Maritimes]]) of [[tuberculosis]] and was buried in the family tomb in [[Taverny]] in the French department of [[Val-d'Oise]].

==Life and career==
[[File:Benjamin Godard bust by Diosi.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Plaster bust of Benjamin Godard by Ernest-Charles Diosi]]
Godard was born in Paris in 1849. He entered the [[Conservatoire de Paris]] in 1863 where he studied under [[Henri Vieuxtemps]] (violin) and [[Napoléon Henri Reber]] ([[harmony]]) and accompanied Vieuxtemps twice to Germany.

In 1876, his ''Concerto romantique'' was performed at the Concerts Populaires, and other of his large works were also performed at these concerts. In 1878, Godard was the co-winner of the Prix de la Ville de Paris. His winning composition, a dramatic symphony entitled ''Le Tasso'', remains one of his most admired works.

From that time until his death Godard wrote a large number of compositions. These include eight [[opera]]s, among them: ''[[Jocelyn (opera)|Jocelyn]]'' (the "Berceuse" from which remains Godard's best-known composition), performed in Paris in 1888; ''Dante'', played at the [[Opéra-Comique]] two years later; and ''La Vivandière'', left unfinished and completed by [[Paul Vidal]] (1863–1931). The last of these was heard at the Opéra-Comique in 1895, and was played in England by the [[Carl Rosa Opera Company]].

He became a professor at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1887, and was made a Chevalier (Knight) of the [[Légion d'honneur]] in 1889.

==Works==
Godard's long list of works includes five [[symphonies]]: ''Symphonie gothique'' (1883), ''Symphonie orientale'' (1884), and ''Symphonie légendaire'' (1886); ''Concerto romantique'' for violin and orchestra (1876), two [[piano concerto]]s, three [[string quartet]]s, four [[sonata]]s for violin and piano, a sonata for cello and piano, two piano trios, and various other orchestral works. Among his piano pieces may be mentioned Mazurka No. 2, Valse No. 2, ''Au Matin'', ''Postillon'', ''En Courant'', ''En Train'', and ''Les Hirondelles''. ''Florian's Song'' is also very popular and has been arranged for many instruments. Godard's fourth sonata for violin and piano contains a [[scherzo]] written in the unusual time signature of [[Quintuple meter|{{music|time|5|4}}]]. He wrote more than 100 songs.

According to the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition]], "Godard's compositions are unequal, if only because his productivity was enormous. He was at his best in works of smaller dimensions. Among his more ambitious works, the ''Symphonie légendaire'' may be singled out as being one of the most distinctive."<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Godard, Benjamin Louis Paul|volume=12|page=170}}</ref>

Godard was opposed to the music of [[Richard Wagner]] and also highly critical of Wagner's [[antisemitism]]. Godard's musical style was more in tune with those of [[Felix Mendelssohn]] and [[Robert Schumann]].

==Operas==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%; text-align: center"
!Op.!!Title!!Genre!!Sub&shy;divisions!!Libretto!!Première date!!Place, theatre!!|Notes
|-
| ||{{Hs|Guelfes}}''[[Les Guelfes]]'' || [[grand opéra]] || 5 acts ||{{hs|Gallet}}[[Louis Gallet]] ||{{Hs|1902-01-17}}17 January 1902 || Rouen, [[Théâtre des Arts (Rouen)|Théâtre des Arts]] || composed 1880–82
|-
| ||''[[Pedro de Zalamea]]'' || opéra || 4 acts ||{{hs|Detroyat}}[[Léonce Détroyat]] & [[Paul Armand Silvestre]]||{{Hs|1884-01-31}}31 January 1884 || Antwerp, Théâtre Royal || after [[Pedro Calderón de la Barca|Calderón]]'s ''[[The Mayor of Zalamea]]''
|-
| 100 ||''[[Jocelyn (opera)|Jocelyn]]'' || opéra ||4 acts ||{{Hs|Silvestre}}Paul Armand Silvestre and [[Victor Capoul]], after a poem by [[Alphonse de Lamartine]] ||{{Hs|1888-02-25}}25 February 1888 || Brussels, [[La Monnaie|Théâtre de la Monnaie]] ||
|-
| 111 ||''[[Dante et Béatrice]]'' || [[drame lyrique]] || 4 acts ||{{hs|Blau}}[[Édouard Blau]]||{{Hs|1890-05-13}}13 May 1890 || Paris, [[Opéra-Comique]] (Favart) ||
|-
| 125 ||''Jeanne d'Arc'' || drame historique ||5 acts ||{{hs|Fabre}}{{Interlanguage link multi|Joseph Fabre (writer)|fr|3=Joseph Fabre (homme politique, 1842-1916)|lt=Joseph Fabre}}||{{Hs|1891-01-13}}13 January 1891 || Paris, [[Théâtre du Châtelet]] ||
|-
| ||''Ruy Blas'' || || || ||{{Hs|1891-99-00}} || || after [[Victor Hugo]]'s ''[[Ruy Blas]]''; composed in 1891; unperformed
|-
| ||{{Hs|Vivandiere}}''La Vivandière'' || [[opéra comique]] || 3 acts ||{{hs|Cain}}[[Henri Caïn]] ||{{Hs|1893-03-21}} ''incomplete score'': 21 March 1893 || Brussels, Théâtre de la Monnaie || with orchestration completed by [[Paul Vidal|P. A. Vidal]], 1 April 1895, Paris, Salle Favart
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{cite book|last=Sadie|first=Stanley (Ed.)|author-link=Stanley Sadie|year=1994|orig-year=1992|title=The New Grove Dictionary of Opera|others=vol. 2, E-Lom, chpt: "Godard, Benjamin (Louis Paul)" by John Trevitt and [[Robert Orledge]]|title-link=The New Grove Dictionary of Opera|publisher=MacMillan|location=New York|isbn=0-935859-92-6}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Benjamin Godard}}
* {{IMSLP|id=Godard%2C_Benjamin_Louis_Paul|cname=Benjamin Godard}}
* [http://www.editionsilvertrust.com/godard-piano-trio-1-op32.htm Benjamin Godard Piano Trio No.1 in g minor, Op.32]—sound-bites and a discussion of the work
*[http://hdl.handle.net/1802/4853 Piano trio no. 1, op. 32 (1872)], from the Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection
*[http://hdl.handle.net/1802/5483 Piano trio no. 2, op. 72, F major (1880)], from the Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection
*[http://hdl.handle.net/1802/4322 Symphonie gothique pour orchestre, op. 23 (1890)], from the Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection
*[http://hdl.handle.net/1802/4128 Troisième sonate pour piano & violon, op. 9 (1880)], from the Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection
*[http://hdl.handle.net/1802/4565 Fantasie persane : pour piano et orchestre ou 2 pianos, op. 152 (1900)], from the Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection
*[http://theartsongproject.com/benjamin-godard/ Songs by Benjamin Godard on The Art Song Project]

{{Portal bar|Classical music|Opera}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godard, Benjamin}}
[[Category:1849 births]]
[[Category:1895 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century French classical composers]]
[[Category:19th-century French violinists]]
[[Category:19th-century French male musicians]]
[[Category:French male classical violinists]]
[[Category:19th-century deaths from tuberculosis]]
[[Category:Knights of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Conservatoire de Paris alumni]]
[[Category:19th-century French Jews]]
[[Category:French opera composers]]
[[Category:French Romantic composers]]
[[Category:Jewish classical composers]]
[[Category:French male opera composers]]
[[Category:Musicians from Paris]]
[[Category:Tuberculosis deaths in France]]
[[Category:Composers awarded knighthoods]]