Monpou, (François Louis) Hyppolite
Monpou, (François Louis) Hyppolite
Monpou, (François Louis) Hyppolite, French organist and composer; b. Paris, Jan. 12, 1804; d. Orléans, Aug. 10, 1841. He became a choirboy at Paris’s St.-Germain-rAuxerrois at age 5, then went to Notre Dame when he was 9. He entered Choron’s École Royale et Speciale de Chant at age 13. Choron sent him to the Tours Cathedral to study organ; he became its organist (1819). He soon returned to Paris, where he became master accompanist at the Académie Royale. He studied harmony with Fétis at Choron’s Academy (1822), then became a teacher of singing and maître de chapelle at the Coll. of St. Louis (1825); subsequently was made organist at St. Thomas d’Aquin, St. Nicolas des Champs, and the Sorbonne (1827). He was notably successful as a composer of some 75 songs. His opera Le Planteur (Paris, March 1, 1839) also proved a popular success. Other operas (all 1st perf. in Paris) were Les Deux Reines (Aug. 6, 1835), Le Luthier de Vienne (June 30, 1836), Le Piquillo (Oct. 31, 1837), Un Conte d’autrefois (Feb. 28, 1838), Perugina (Dec. 20, 1838), La Chaste Suzanne (Dec. 27, 1839), La Reine Jeanne (Oct. 13, 1840), Lambert Simnel (Sept. 1, 1843; completed by A. Adam), and L’Orfèvre (unfinished).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire