A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Thomas, Ambroise

by Gustave Chouquet

THOMAS, Charles Ambroise, eminent French composer, born at Metz, Aug. 5, 1811. The son of a musician, he learnt his notes with his alphabet, and while still a child played the piano and violin. Having entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1828, he carried off the first prize for piano in 1829, for harmony in 1830, and the Grand Prix in 1832. He also studied the piano with Kalkbrenner, harmony with Barbereau, and composition with the venerable Lesueur, who used to call him his 'note sensible' (leading-note), because he was extremely sensitive, and the seventh of his pupils who had gained the Prix de Rome. His cantata 'Hermann und Ketty' was engraved, as were also the works composed during his stay in Italy, immediately after his return. The latter comprise a string-quartet and quintet; a trio for PF., violin, and cello; a fantasia for PF. and orchestra; PF. pieces for 2 and 4 hands; 6 Italian songs; 3 motets with organ; and a 'Messe de Requiem' with orchestra.

Early works of this calibre gave promise of a musician who would work hard, produce much, and by no means rest content with academical honours. He soon gained access to the Opéra Comique, and produced there with success 'La double Echelle,' 1 act (Aug. 23, 1837); 'Le Perruquier de la Régence,' 3 acts (March 30, 1838); and 'Le Panier fleuri,' 1 act (May 6, 1839). Ambition however prompted him to attempt the Académie, and there he produced 'La Gipsy' (Jan. 28, 1839), a ballet in 3 acts, of which the 2nd only was his; 'Le Comte de Carmagnola' (April 19, 1841); 'Le Guerillero' (June 2, 1842), both in 2 acts; and 'Betty' (July 10, 1846), ballet in 2 acts: but it was hard for so young a composer to hold his own with Auber, Halévy, Meyerbeer, and Donizetti, so Thomas returned to the Opéra Comique. There he composed successively 'Carline,' 3 acts (Feb. 24, 1840); 'Angélique et Médor,' 1 act (May 10, 1843); 'Mina,' 3 acts (Oct. 10, 1843); 'Le Caïd,' 2 acts (Jan. 3, 1849); 'Le Songe d'une nuit d'été,' 3 acts (April 20, 1850); 'Raymond,' 3 acts (June 5, 1851); 'La Tonelli,' 2 acts (March 30, 1853); 'La Cour de Célimène,' 2 acts (April 11, 1855); 'Psyché,' 3 acts (Jan. 26, 1857, revived with additions May 21, 1878); 'Le Carnaval de Venise,' 3 acts (Dec. 9, 1853); 'Le Roman d'Elvire,' 3 acts (Feb. 3, 1860); 'Mignon,' 3 acts (Nov. 17, 1866); and 'Gille et Gillotin,' 1 act, composed in 1861, but not produced till April 22, 1874. To these must be added two cantatas composed for the inauguration of a statue to Lesueur at Abbeville (Aug, 10, 1852), and for the Boieldieu centenary at Rouen (June 13, 1875); a 'Messe Solennelle' (Nov. 22, 1857), a 'Marche Religieuse' (Nov. 22, 1865) composed for the Association des Artistes Musiciens; and a quantity of part-songs and choral scenas, such as 'France,' 'Le Tyrol,' 'L'Atlantique,' 'Le Carnaval de Rome,' 'Les Traineaux,' 'La Nuit du Sabbat,' etc. The life and dramatic movement of his unaccompanied part-songs for men's voices showed the essentially dramatic nature of M. Thomas's genius, which after enlarging the limits of opéra comique, found a congenial though formidable subject in 'Hamlet,' 5 acts (March 9, 1868). The Prince of Denmark was originally cast for a tenor, but there being at that time no tenor at the Opéra capable of creating such a part, Thomas altered the music to suit a baritone, and entrusted it to Faure. The success of this great work following immediately on that secured by 'Mignon,' pointed out its composer as the right man to succeed Auber as director of the Conservatoire^[1] (July 6, 1871). The work he has done there—daily increasing in importance—has been already described. [See Conservatoire, vol. i. 393.] A post of this nature leaves scant leisure for other employment, and during the last twelve years M. Thomas has composed nothing beyond the solfeggios and exercises for the examinations, except one opera 'Françoise de Rimini' (April 14, 1882), the prologue and fourth act of which are entitled to rank with his 'Hamlet.'

The musical career of Ambroise Thomas may be divided into three distinct periods. The first period extended to 1848, and, taking 'Mina' and 'Betty' as specimens, its main characteristics were elegance and grace. The second began with the opéra bouffe 'Le Cald,' the refined wit of which was a protest against the hackneyed phrases and forced declamation of the Italian school, and continuing with 'Le Songe d'une Nuit d'été,' 'Raymond,' and 'Psyché,' all works novel in form, and poetic in idea, ended in 1861. The last 20 years include 'Mignon,' 'Hamlet,' and 'Françoise de Rimini,' all full of earnest thought, and showing continuous progress.

Carrying forward the work begun by Hérold, he brings to his task an inborn instinct for the stage, and a remarkable gift of interpreting dramatic situations of the most varied and opposite kinds. His skill in handling the orchestra is consummate, both in grouping instruments of different timbre, and obtaining new effects of sound; but though carrying orchestral colouring to the utmost pitch of perfection, he never allows it to overpower the voices. With a little more boldness and individuality of melody this accomplished writer, artist, and poet—master of all moods and passing in turn from melancholy musings to the liveliest banter—would rank with the leaders of the modern school of composers; as it is, the purity and diversity of his style make him a first-rate dramatic composer.

Ambroise Thomas is one of the few survivors of a society of eminent artists—Gatteaux, Baltard, Hippolyte Flandrin, Alexandre Hesse, and many others—who gathered round Ingres as their head. Intimate from his youth with the family of Horace Vernet, he was much in good society, though it would be unfair to call him devoted to it. Tall, slender, and fond of physical exertion, he enjoys country life, but he is also known as a connoisseur of old furniture and bric-a-brac, and an assiduous frequenter of the Hotel Drouot. Indeed his rooms at the Conservatoire, his villa at Argenteuil, and his island retreat at Zilliec in Brittany, may almost be called museums. M. Thomas was made a Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour in 1880. [App. p.799 "Correct the statement in l. 5–6 from end of article, by a reference to Gounod in Appendix."]

There is a fine oil-painting of him by Hippolyte Flandrin, a terra-cotta bust by Doublemard, and a marble bust and medallion, the last a striking likeness, by Oudiné.

[ G. C. ]

1. He had been Professor of Composition since 1862, and a member of the Institute from 1861.