Joncières, Victorin de (real name, Felix Ludger Rossignol)
Joncières, Victorin de (real name, Felix Ludger Rossignol)
Joncières, Victorin de (real name, Felix Ludger Rossignol), French composer; b. Paris, April 12, 1839; d. there, Oct. 26, 1903. He was first a student of painting; music was his avocation. At the age of 20 he produced a light opera for a student performance. Encouraged by its success with the critics, he began to study music seriously, first with Elwart, then with Leborne at the Paris Cons. He was a great admirer of Wagner, and when Leborne expressed his opposition to Wagner, Joncières impulsively left his class.
Works
dramatic:Opera (all 1st perf. in Paris): Sardanapale (Feb. 8, 1867); Le Dernier Jour de Pompei (Sept. 21, 1869); Dimitri (May 5, 1876; his most successful work); La Reine Berthe (Dec. 27, 1878); Le Chevalier Jean (March 11, 1885; successful in Germany under the title Johann von Lothringen); Lancelot du lac (Feb. 7, 1900). Other: Music to Hamlet (Nantes, Sept. 21, 1867).ORCH.: Symphonie romantique (Paris, March 9, 1873); Violin Concerto (Paris, Dec. 12, 1869); symphonic ode, La Mer; etc.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire