Michel-Jean Sedaine
Encyclopedia
Michel-Jean Sedaine was a French
dramatist, was born in Paris
.
whose kindness he eventually repaid by the help he was able to give to his benefactor's grandson, the painter David.
Meanwhile he had done his best to repair his deficiencies of education, and in 1750 he published a Recueil de pièces fugitives, which included fables, songs and pastorals. His especial talent was, however, for light opera. He produced Le diable à quatre (1756), the music being by several composers; Blaise le savetier
(1759), for the music of Danican Philidor
; On ne s'avise jamais de tout (1761) and others with Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny
; Aucassin et Nicolette
(1780), Richard Coeur-de-lion
(1784), and Amphitryon (1788) with André Grétry
.
Sedaine's vaudeville
s and operetta
s attracted the attention of Diderot, and two plays of his were accepted and performed at the Théâtre Français. The first and longest, the Philosophe sans le savoir, was acted in 1765; the second, a lively one-act piece, La gageure imprévue in 1768. These two at once took their place as stock pieces and are still ranked among the best French plays, each of its class.
Except these two pieces little or nothing of his has kept the stage or the shelves, but Sedaine may be regarded as the literary ancestor of Scribe
and Dumas
. He had the practical knowledge of the theatre, which enabled him to carry out the ideas of Diderot
and give him claims to be regarded as the real founder of the domestic drama in France.
Sedaine, who became a member of the Academy
(1786), and secretary for architecture of the fine arts division, died at Paris on the 17th of May 1797. He wrote two historical dramas, Raymond V, comte de Toulouse ou L'épreuve inutile, and Maillard, ou Paris sauvé.
His Œuvres (1826) contain a notice of his life by Ducis
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
dramatist, was born in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Biography
His father, who was an architect, died when Sedaine was quite young, leaving no fortune, and the boy began life as a mason's labourer. He was at last taken as pupil by an architectArchitect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
whose kindness he eventually repaid by the help he was able to give to his benefactor's grandson, the painter David.
Meanwhile he had done his best to repair his deficiencies of education, and in 1750 he published a Recueil de pièces fugitives, which included fables, songs and pastorals. His especial talent was, however, for light opera. He produced Le diable à quatre (1756), the music being by several composers; Blaise le savetier
Blaise le savetier
Blaise le savetier is a 1759 one-act opéra comique, by the French composer François-André Danican Philidor. The libretto was by Michel-Jean Sedaine, after a story by Jean de La Fontaine entitled Conte d'une chose arrivée à Château-Thierry.-Performance history:The first complete opéra comique by...
(1759), for the music of Danican Philidor
François-André Danican Philidor
François-André Danican Philidor , often referred to as André Danican Philidor during his lifetime, was a French composer and chess player. He contributed to the early development of the opéra comique...
; On ne s'avise jamais de tout (1761) and others with Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny
Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny
Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny was a French composer and a member of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts .He is considered alongside André Grétry and François-André Danican Philidor to have been the founder of a new musical genre, the opéra comique, laying a path for other French composers such as...
; Aucassin et Nicolette
Aucassin et Nicolette (opera)
Aucassin et Nicolette, ou Les moeurs du bon vieux tems is a French comédie mise en musique in four acts by André Grétry. The work was first performed at Versailles on 30 December 1779 and at the Comédie-Italienne...
(1780), Richard Coeur-de-lion
Richard Coeur-de-lion (opera)
Richard Coeur-de-lion is an opéra comique, described as a comédie mise en musique, by the Belgian composer André Grétry. was by Michel-Jean Sedaine. The work is generally recognised as Grétry's masterpiece and one of the most important French opéras comiques...
(1784), and Amphitryon (1788) with André Grétry
André Ernest Modeste Grétry
André Ernest Modeste Grétry was acomposer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège , who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous for his opéras comiques....
.
Sedaine's vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
s and operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
s attracted the attention of Diderot, and two plays of his were accepted and performed at the Théâtre Français. The first and longest, the Philosophe sans le savoir, was acted in 1765; the second, a lively one-act piece, La gageure imprévue in 1768. These two at once took their place as stock pieces and are still ranked among the best French plays, each of its class.
Except these two pieces little or nothing of his has kept the stage or the shelves, but Sedaine may be regarded as the literary ancestor of Scribe
Eugène Scribe
Augustin Eugène Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years.-Biography:...
and Dumas
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
. He had the practical knowledge of the theatre, which enabled him to carry out the ideas of Diderot
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
and give him claims to be regarded as the real founder of the domestic drama in France.
Sedaine, who became a member of the Academy
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
(1786), and secretary for architecture of the fine arts division, died at Paris on the 17th of May 1797. He wrote two historical dramas, Raymond V, comte de Toulouse ou L'épreuve inutile, and Maillard, ou Paris sauvé.
His Œuvres (1826) contain a notice of his life by Ducis
Jean-François Ducis
Jean-François Ducis was a French dramatist and adapter of Shakespeare.-Biography:Ducis was born at Versailles....
.