Félicien David

about

Félicien-César David (13 April 1810 – 29 August 1876) was a French composer. Félicien David was born in Cadenet (Vaucluse), France, and began to study music at five under his father, whose death however, when the boy was six, left him an impoverished orphan. His good voice enabled him to study as a choirboy at the Church of Saint-Sauveur in Aix-en-Provence, which he left at the age of 15 with a sound knowledge of music, and a scholarship which enabled him to study literature at a Jesuit college. However, after three years, he abandoned these studies to pursue a musical career. He first obtained a position in the orchestra of the theatre at Aix. In 1829, he became maître de chapelle at Saint-Sauveur, but realised that to complete his musical education he needed to study at Paris. An allowance of 50 francs per month from a rich uncle made this possible. In Paris in 1830 he convinced Luigi Cherubini, the director of the Conservatoire, to enrol him as a pupil: despite his reservations, Cherubini recognised the talent shown by David's choral setting of Beatus vir. Despite the sudden withdrawal of his uncle's subsidy, David's studies, with Fétis and others, continued successfully. On leaving the Conservatoire, David was caught up in the Saint-Simonian movement, for which he became a great enthusiast. The Saint-Simonians held music to be an important art, and David wrote much music for them, including a number of hymns. After the suppression of the movement in 1832, David joined

top songs

albums

David: Le Désert

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DAVID: Piano Trios Nos. 2 and 3

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DAVID: Brises d'Orient (Les) / Les Minarets

David: Herculanum

David: Lalla Roukh

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David, F.: Desert (Le)

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The Glory ??? Of The Human Voice

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Breezes From the Orient, Vol. 1

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Félicien David: Mélodies

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David: Christophe Colomb & Musique de chambre, symphonique et sacrée (Portraits, Vol. 4)

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David: Les Brises D'orient / Les Minarets

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