REYER, Ernest, whose real name is Rey, was born at Marseilles, Dec. 1, 1823. As a child he learned solfeggio at the free school of music founded by Barsotti (born in Florence 1786, died at Marseilles 1868), and became a good reader, though he did not carry his musical education far. At 16 he went to Algiers as a government official, but continued his pianoforte practice, and began to compose without having properly learned harmony and counterpoint. He was soon able to write romances which became popular, and composed a mass which was solemnly performed before the Duke and Duchess d'Aumale. Had he remained in Algiers he would probably never have been anything beyond a mere amateur, but the Revolution of 1848 depriving him of the support of the Governor-General, he returned to Paris, and placed himself in the hands of his aunt Mme. Louise Farrenc, who completed his musical education, and before long he found an opportunity of coming before the public. From his friend Theophile Gautier he procured the libretto of 'Le Selam,' an oriental 'Symphony' in 4 parts, on the model of David's 'Le Désert.' It was produced with success April 5, 1850, and then Méry furnished him with 'Maître Wolfram,' a 1-act opera, which was also successful, at the Théâtre Lyrique, May 20, 1854. His next work was 'Sacountala' (July 20, 1858), one of the charming ballets of Théophile Gautier; but his full strength was first put forth in 'La Statue,' a 3-act opera produced at the Théâtre Lyrique, April 11, 1861, and containing music which is both melodious and full of colour. 'Erostrate' (2 acts) was performed at Baden in 1862, and reproduced at the Académie, Oct. 16, 1871, for two nights only. The revival of 'La Statue' at the Opéra in 1878 was also a failure, and M. Reyer may find it difficult to secure the performance of 'Sigurd,' of which the overture and some of the more important numbers have been heard. To complete the list of his compositions we may mention 'Victoire,' a cantata (the Opéra, June 27, 1859); a 'Recueil de 10 Mélodies' for voice and PF.; songs for a single voice; and some pieces of sacred music.
Besides being reckoned among the most poetical of French musicians, M. Reyer is an accomplished feuilletoniste. After writing successively for the 'Presse,' the 'Revue de Paris,' and the 'Courrier de Paris,' he became musical critic to the 'Journal des Débats' after the death of Berlioz. His articles are not only pleasant reading, but evince both intellect and culture. He is librarian to the Opéra, and succeeded his first model, David, at the Institut in 1876.
Add the following to the article in vol. iii. p. 122:—The revival of 'Maître Wolfram' and 'La Statue' at the Opéra Comique, Dec. 12, 1873, and April 20, 1878, respectively, showed how little the composer had been influenced by injudicious advice given him on the production of the former work, and the transformation of 'La Statue' into a grand opera made evident the fact that his artistic tendencies and convictions had become stronger instead of weaker. After numerous attempts on Reyer's part to secure an unmutilated performance of 'Sigurd' at the Paris Opera, he produced it at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels, Jan. 7, 1884, with considerable and lasting success. On July 15 of the same year it was produced at Covent Garden. The first performance of the work in France was at Lyons, on Jan. 15, 1885, when it was received with marked success. On June 12, 1885, 'Sigurd' was performed at the Grand Opéra in Paris, but, at the general rehearsal the directors thought fit to make curtailments in the score, and the composer retired, protesting against the proceeding, and yet unwilling to withdraw a work, on which so much trouble and expense had been bestowed, on the eve of its production. He threatened never to set foot in the opera-house until his score should have been restored to its original integrity, and in this he has kept his word. The public, less exacting than the composer, received the opera, which in many passages must have considerably surprised them, with increasing sympathy, and its success was all the more remarkable as it was entirely unassisted either by the composer, who appeared to take no interest in its fate, or by the directors, who would not have been sorry had it failed. The qualities which are most prominent in 'Sigurd' are the individual charm of its musical ideas, the exact agreement between the words and the music, vain repetitions and conventional formulas being generally absent; and lastly, the richness and colouring of the instrumentation, the style of which was greatly influenced by Reyer's favourite masters, Weber and Berlioz, and in places by Wagner. No charge of plagiarism from the last-named composer is intended to be suggested, nor could such a charge be substantiated. It is true that the subjects of 'Sigurd' and the 'King des Nibelungen' are identical, but this is a mere coincidence. The plot of the libretto, which was written by Du Locle and A. Blau, is taken from the Nibelungen Nôt, the source that inspired Wagner, who, however, went further back and took his subject direct from the Eddas, moulding it after his own conception. In 1868 the libretto of Wagner's trilogy had been published for 15 years, but it was completely unknown in France, and when the trilogy was produced in 1876, Reyer's score was nearly finished and ready for production. Reyer was decorated with the Legion d'Honneur in August 1862, after the successful performance of 'La Statue' at the Lyrique, and was raised to the rank of an officer in Jan. 1886, after that of 'Sigurd,' the success of which has had the important result of deciding him to write a new grand opera on Flaubert's 'Salammbô.' He is now editor of the musical portion of the 'Journal des Débats,' having succeeded d'Ortigue, who followed Berlioz. (The sentence in lines 1–5 from bottom of page 122 a, is thus to be corrected.) He has collected his most important articles and published them under the title of 'Notes de Musique' (Paris, Charpentier, 1875). In both literature and composition he is the disciple and admirer of Berlioz. It is curious that M. Reyer, having succeeded F. David at the Institut (1876), who himself succeeded Berlioz in 1869, should thus occupy the positions, both in music and literature, of the master whose legitimate successor he may well claim to be.
