Floquet, Étienne Joseph

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Floquet, Étienne Joseph

Floquet, Étienne Joseph, French composer; b. Aix-en-Provence, Nov. 23, 1748; d. Paris, May 10, 1785. After studying in his native town, he went to Paris, where he wrote the opèra-ballet L’Union de I’amour et des arts, which was produced with great success at the Acadèmie Royale de Musique (Sept. 7, 1773). His second opera, Azolan, ou Le Serment indiscret (Nov. 22, 1774, also at the Acadèmic), was a fiasco. Floquet then went to Italy, where he perfected his knowledge by studying with Sala in Naples and with Martini in Bologna. Returning to Paris, he had 2 operas performed at the Académic: Hellé (Jan. 5, 1779) and Le Seigneur bien-faisant (Dec. 14, 1780). He also wrote a comic opera, La Nouvelle Omphale (Comédie-Italienne, Nov. 22, 1782). In an attempt to challenge Gluck’s superiority, Floquet wrote the opera Alceste on the same subject as Gluck’s famous work, but it was never produced.

Bibliography

A. Pougin, É-J. F. (Paris, 1863); F. Huot, Etude biographique sur É.-J. F. (Aix, 1903).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire