GOUNOD, CHARLES ( b. Paris, France, 17 June 1818; d. Saint-Cloud, 18 Oct 1893. )
Gounod's early and later operas have been overshadowed by his masterpiece, Faust, written in 1895. It was an immediate success and gave him the status of the foremost composer of his day.
The opera was based on a text by Barbier and Carré, after Goethe's poem, Faust. This, in turn, was based on an ancient legend which had inspired many other creative artists. These included the Elizabethan English playwright, Marlowe, whose play, The Tragicall History of Dr. Faustus is still performed.
The theme of a man who sold his soul to the devil lent itself to a grand manner not typical of Gounod's earlier compositions. Sapho ( 1851), Le Medecin malgré lui (1858) and Philemon et Baucis (1860) were charming, witty and indicated a lightness of touch not subsequently developed. La Nonne sanglante, (1854) an attempt at melodrama, was less successful.
Three operas written between 1862 and 1867 did not live up to the remarkable success of Faust. For the next nine years Gounod turned to religious music, returning to opera in 1878.
He wrote three more operas before his death. None of them recaptured either the grandiose eloquence of his masterpiece or the freshness and certainty of his first works.
