Théophile Gautier and his composers

Of all French romantic poets, Théophile Gautier (1811-1872) was much the most interesting for musicians. By the end of the 19th century not far short of 500 pieces of music had been inspired by Gautier’s writing - most of them songs, of course, but ballets too, beginning with Giselle in 1841. He was married to the singer Ernesta Grisi, sister of the first Giselle, Carlotta Grisi, and was an influential (if technically challenged) music critic. As a poet, he experimented with musical forms and enjoyed collaborating directly with composers.

Gautier’s earliest collaboration was with the now forgotten Allyre Bureau for whom he wrote Où voulez-vous aller? in 1834. Gounod set the same words five years later, presumably having came across the poem when it was published in La comédie de la mort in 1838. If his cheerful barcarole treatment seems superficial in comparison with Berlioz’s slightly later setting (under the title L’île inconnue in Les Nuits d’été) it is scarcely surprising, since it is the earliest of all Gounod’s songs. Also written to be set to music, Gautier’s Lamento duly attracted the attention not only of Berlioz (Sur les lagunes in Les nuits d’été) and Gounod but also Fauré, whose declamatory Chanson du pêcheur is one of the most impressive and deeply felt of his early mélodies.