T43
Gounod, Temple ouvre-toi
lost
Original work:
Charles Gounod (1818–93), incidental music for Les
Deux Reines, drama in four acts by Ernest
Legouvé (1807–1903). The
music was composed in 1865.
Gounod engaged Bizet to help
with the production, but when the censorship held up the play's performance
at the Théâtre-Lyrique, the music was privately
performed with Gounod singing the men's solos and
Bizet and Saint-Saëns as
accompanists. The play was eventually staged at the Théâtre
-Ventadour in 1872 and the vocal
score published by Choudens (A.C.
2529).
Transcription:
Bizet may have been responsible for the vocal score. He
seems also to have transcribed the chorus 'Temple ouvre-toi', perhaps for
solo piano. This chorus appeared as a solo song in
Gounod's fourth collection of Vingt
Mélodies, published by Choudens in 1877.
Letter:
late 1872, to Choudens:
[Il fait d'abord la liste de dix pièces qu'il
envoie, des transcriptions de La Nonne sanglante et
de chœurs (Temple ouvre-toi) de Gounod, et les
premières épreuves de ses deux recueils.]
Vente Piasa, 27-3-2003
Bibliography:
- Dean 101
- J.-G. Prod'homme and A. Dandelot, Gounod (1818-1893) (Paris: Delagrave, 1911), vol. 2, p. 69.
- Steven Huebner, The Operas of Charles Gounod (Oxford University Press, 1990), p. 74-75.