1 Item Set or Lot of "FLOWER SONG" from the Opera "Faust", by Charles Gounod; Sheet Music. Includes:
ITEM 1.) Charles Gounod; FLOWER SONG; Sheet Music; Piano / Voice; Complete Sheet Music; Century Music #1565;
From the "Songs From Grand Opera For Piano Solo or Vocal" Series;
Small Format;
English throughout;
Front Cover Artwork featuring text;
Key of C;
Preprinted Cover Price of $ ?.??;
Inside Front Cover is first page of music;
No Title Page or Table of Contents;
Flower Song; From the Opera "Faust"; Words and Music by Charles Gounod;
Treble and Bass Clef;
1 Tune Total;
2 Pages of Music; With Lyrics;
Inside Rear Cover is last page of music;
Rear Cover has ad for "Exclusive Century Copyrights - Teaching Material of Merit"; Includes select lines of music from The Little Flatterer, Springtime, Autumn Flowers, Princesse Anne, Sir Francis, Lady Catherina, The Little Duchess, Sir Walter, and Scale Waltz;
Folded Panel Format;
Published by Century Music Publishing Co.; New York, New York; Copyright 1910;
Condition Good for age and the fact that it was "on display" for some time; Covers Show Storage Wear; Pages Clean, Tight and Unmarked; Some Edge Tears; Front Cover Rubber Stamped for HMC; While I did not observe any signs of usage wear, it appears that an owner's name was written in the upper right hand corner, and then partially erased;
The primary item was part of the collection of Henry J. Hauschild Jr., who billed himself as a “Physiognomist – Bibliopolist – Cognoscente di Eccellentissimoâ€, and was the very proud owner of the world famous "Nose Gallery†at “The Oldest House†in Victoria, Texas. Henry Senior founded the Hauschild Music Company which was later owned by his 8 children and eventually the four brothers before being closed in 1980; After the Opera House Restaurant failed, the space became the Bible Book Store and later Opera House Antiques; This item was mixed with the leftover inventory of the Music Store and at one time was on consignment at the Bible Book Store;
"Musicologist and historian, Delmer Rogers, longtime member of the staff of the Department of Music at the University of Texas, is of the opinion that the Hauschild Music Company, founded in Victoria, Texas in 1891, was the second oldest institution to commercially publish sheet music in Texas. (Thos. Goggan of Houston being the first.) Also, his extensive research indicates that Hauschild's was the first in Texas to issues music with Spanish titles. About thirty were published, many by talented writers, and sold in large numbers. In addition, probing seems to prove that Hauschilds was the first to publish the efforts of several of the music-loving Germans of the area. Most interesting, too, is that the spritely composition, the Cowboy Rag offered in 1904 possibly was the purcursor of this genre of popular music." taken from "The Cognoscenti Collections";
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HISTORICAL NOTE: "Flower Song from Faust. Arias & excerpts from opera's were quite popular during this period & one of the more popular songs to come from an opera was the Flower Song & the Jewel Song from Gounod's Faust. Faust was based on a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), the same writer whose work upon which Beethoven's Egmont was based. Goethe wrote the work in two parts, one in 1808 (though he worked on it for almost 20 years before its final publication.) & the other in 1833. An epic work, it is based on the old legend of the scholar who makes a pact with the devil Mephistopheles: his Faust seeks not power through knowledge but access to transcendent knowledge denied to the human mind. Faust seduces Margarete, an innocent young girl who embodies for him the transcendent ideal that he seeks; she is condemned to death for killing their infant, but at the last moment, as Faust & Mephistopheles abandon her in prison, a voice from above declares that she is saved. It is much more complex than that & suffice it to say that many composers over the years have written operas based on the Faust legend. However, it is the love story of Margarete, that had captured the imagination of a majority of composers & Gonoud was no exception. However, Gounod took the story & made it a much more human tale. He used his great lyrical skill & defined the characters in a way that departed from previous models. Premiering in 1859, Faust established Gounod as a composer of note & opened many doors for him. The work continues to be performed & the arias, including the Flower Song are still often performed & recorded.";
HISTORICAL NOTE: "Faust is a grand opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier & Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1. It debuted at the Théâtre Lyrique (Théâtre-Historique, Opèra-National, Boulevard du Temple) in Paris on March 19, 1859. Faust was declined at the National Opera House, on the grounds that it was not sufficiently "showy", & its appearance at the Théatre-Lyrique had been delayed for a year because Adolphe d'Ennery's drama Faust was currently playing at the Porte St. Martin. The manager Léon Carvalho (who cast his wife Marie Miolan-Carvalho as Marguerite) insisted on various changes during production, including cutting several numbers. Faust was not initially well-received. The publisher Antoine Choudens, who purchased the copyright for 10,000 francs, took the work (with added recitatives replacing the original spoken dialogue) on tour through Germany, Belgium, Italy & England, with Marie Miolan-Carvalho repeating her role. It was revived in Paris in 1862, now a hit. A ballet had to be inserted before the work would be played at the Opéra in 1869: it became the most frequently performed opera at that house & a staple of the international repertory, which it remained for decades, after being translated into at least 25 languages. Its popularity & critical reputation have declined somewhat since around 1950. A full production, with its large chorus & elaborate sets & costumes, is an expensive undertaking today, particularly if the Act V ballet is included. However, it appears as number eighteen on Opera America's list of the 20 most-performed operas in North America. It was Faust with which the Metropolitan Opera in New York City opened for the 1st time on October 22, 1883. It is the 8th most frequently performed opera there, with over 730 performances up until 2008. It was not until the period between 1965 & 1977 that the full version was performed (& then with some minor cuts), & all performances in that production included the Walpurgisnacht & the ballet. Place: Germany. Time: 16th century. Act 1: Faust's cabinet. Faust, an aging scholar, determines that his studies have come to nothing & have only caused him to miss out on life & love (Rien! En vain j'interroge). He attempts to kill himself (twice) with poison but stops each time when he hears a choir. He curses science & faith, & asks for infernal guidance. Méphistophélès appears (duet: Me voici) &, with a tempting image of Marguerite at her spinning wheel, persuades Faust to buy Méphistophélès's services on earth in exchange for Faust's in Hell. Faust's goblet of poison is magically transformed into an elixir of youth, making the aged doctor a handsome young gentleman; the strange companions then set out into the world. Act 2: At the city gates. A chorus of students, soldiers & villagers sing a drinking song (Vin ou Bière). Valentin, leaving for war with his friend Wagner, entrusts the care of his sister Marguerite to his youthful friend Siébel (O Sainte Medaille). Méphistophélès appears, provides the crowd with wine, & sings a rousing, irreverent song about the Golden Calf (Le veau d'or). Méphistophélès maligns Marguerite, & Valentin tries to strike him with his sword, which shatters in the air. Valentin & friends use the cross-shaped hilts of their swords to fend off what they now know is an infernal power (chorus: De l'enfer). Méphistophélès is joined by Faust & the villagers in a waltz (Ainsi que la brise légère). Marguerite appears & Faust declares his admiration, but she refuses Faust's arm out of modesty. Act 3: Marguerite's garden. The lovesick boy Siébel leaves a bouquet for Marguerite (Faites-lui mes aveux). Faust sends Méphistophélès in search of a gift for Marguerite & sings a cavatina (Salut, demeure chaste et pure) idealizing Marguerite as a pure child of nature. Méphistophélès brings in a decorated box containing exquisite jewelry & a hand mirror & leaves it on Marguerite's doorstep, next to Siébel's flowers. Marguerite enters, pondering her encounter with Faust at the city gates, & sings a melancholy ballad about the King of Thulé (Il était un roi de Thulé). Marthe, Marguerite's neighbour, notices the jewellery & says it must be from an admirer. Marguerite tries on the jewels & is captivated by how they enhance her beauty, as she sings in the famous aria, the Jewel Song (Ah! je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir). Méphistophélès & Faust join the women in the garden and romance them. Marguerite allows Faust to kiss her (Laisse-moi, laisse-moi contempler ton visage), but then asks him to go away. She sings at her window for his quick return, & Faust, listening, returns to her. Under the watchful eye & malevolent laughter of Méphistophélès, it is clear that Faust's seduction of Marguerite will be successful. Act 4: Marguerite's room / A public square outside her house / A cathedral. [Note: The scenes of Acts Four & Five are sometimes given in a different order & portions are sometimes shortened or cut in performance.] After being impregnated & abandoned by Faust, Marguerite has given birth & is a social outcast. She sings an aria at her spinning wheel (Il ne revient pas). Siébel stands by her. The scene shifts to the square outside Marguerite's house. Valentin's company returns from the war to a military march (Deposons les armes & Gloire immortelle de nos aïeux, the well-known "soldiers' chorus"). Siébel asks Valentin to forgive Marguerite. Valentin rushes to her cottage. While he is inside Faust & Méphistophélès appear, & Méphistophélès, thinking that only Marguerite is there, sings a mocking burlesque of a lover's serenade under Marguerite's window (Vous qui faites l'endormie). Valentin comes out of the cottage, now knowing that Faust has debauched his sister. The three men fight, Méphistophélès blocking Valentin's sword, allowing Faust to make the fatal thrust. With his dying breath Valentin blames Marguerite for his death & condemns her to Hell before the assembled townspeople (Ecoute-moi bien Marguerite). Marguerite goes to the church & tries to pray there but is stopped, 1st by Méphistophélès & then by a choir of devils. She finishes her prayer but faints when she is cursed again by Méphistophélès. Act 5: The Harz mountains on Walpurgis Night / A cavern / The interior of a prison. Méphistophélès & Faust are surrounded by witches (Un, deux et trois). Faust is transported to a cave of queens & courtesans, & Méphistophélès promises to provide Faust with the love of the greatest & most beautiful women in history. An orgiastic ballet suggests the revelry that continues throughout the night. As dawn approaches, Faust sees a vision of Marguerite & calls for her. Méphistophélès helps Faust enter the prison where Marguerite is being held for killing her child. They sing a love duet (Oui, c'est toi que j'aime). Méphistophélès states that only a mortal hand can deliver Marguerite from her fate, & Faust offers to rescue her from the hangman, but she prefers to trust her fate to God & His angels (Anges purs, anges radieux). At the end she hallucinates that Faust's hands are covered in blood, repulses him, & faints; Méphistophélès cries out that Marguerite has been judged. As Marguerite stands again, then ascends Heavenward, a chorus of angels announces that she has been saved. (Sauvée! Christ est ressucité!). Parts of the opera have seeped into popular culture in Europe over more than a century. Faust was so popular in the US that in New York the opera season began with a performance of it every year for several decades in the late 19th century, a fact to which Edith Wharton makes great reference in her Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Age of Innocence. The Argentinian author Estanislao del Campo wrote a satirical poem, Fausto (1866), which describes a gaucho's impressions during the performance of Gounod's opera. A performance of this opera is part of the back story of The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux & appears in some of the film adaptations of that novel such as The Phantom of the Opera (1925). Irene Dunne performs "Jewel Song" in the 1934 film Stingaree, Jeanette MacDonald performs several scenes from the opera in the 1936 film San Francisco, complete with costumes, sets & orchestra. The biggest impression has perhaps been left by the famous aria sung by Marguerite – the jewel song – since children all over the world have been reading very short extracts from it in several stories in The Adventures of Tintin. In this series of graphic novels or comic strips our hero Tintin & his sidekick, Captain Haddock, often encounter a bombastic opera singer called Bianca Castafiore. Her trademark is the jewel song, which she always sings at high volume, never saying more than Ah! je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir or a few words more from other lines. The entire Tintin story The Castafiore Emerald (original title: La Castafiore's Jewels) derives from this running gag. The waltz from Act II was used on British television in the 3rd series of Monty Python comedy programmes, 1st shown in 1972; the music was used in the soundtrack of the 34th episode, entitled "The Cycling Tour", ending abruptly each time Mr. Pither crashed. The Soldier's Chorus—perhaps the opera's most widely recognized theme—serves as the melody to a British nursery song with the lyrics "Oh Jemima look at your Uncle Jim / He's in the duckpond learning how to swim / First he does the backstroke, then he does the side / Now he's under water swimming against the tide" (with various versions of the last two lines). Although the Walpurgisnacht ballet sequence from Act 5 is often omitted from staged opera performances, it is frequently performed separately as part of a ballet program.";
HISTORICAL NOTE: "Charles-François Gounod (17 June 1818 – 17 October or 18 October 1893) was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust & Roméo et Juliette. Gounod was born in Paris, the son of a pianist mother & an artist father. His mother was his 1st piano teacher. Under her tutelage, Gounod 1st showed his musical talents. He entered the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied under Fromental Halévy & Pierre Zimmermann (he later married Zimmermann's daughter). In 1839, he won the Prix de Rome for his cantata Fernand. He was following his father; François-Louis Gounod (d. 1823) had won the 2nd Prix de Rome in painting in 1783. While in Italy, Gounod studied the music of Palestrina & other sacred works of the 16th century; these he never ceased to cherish. Around 1846-47 he gave serious consideration to joining the priesthood, but he changed his mind before actually taking holy orders, & went back to composition. In 1854, Gounod completed a Messe Solennelle, also known as the Saint Cecilia Mass. This work was 1st performed, in its entirety, for the church of Saint Eustache in Paris on Saint Cecilia's Day, November 22, 1855; from this rendition dates Gounod's fame as a noteworthy composer. During 1855 Gounod wrote two symphonies. His Symphony No. 1 in D major was the inspiration for the Symphony in C, composed later that year by Georges Bizet, who was then Gounod's 17-year-old student. In the CD era a few recordings of these pieces have emerged: by Michel Plasson conducting the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, & by Sir Neville Marriner with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Fanny Mendelssohn, sister of Felix Mendelssohn, introduced the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach to Gounod, who came to revere Bach. For him, The Well-Tempered Clavier was "the law to pianoforte study...the unquestioned textbook of musical composition". It inspired Gounod to devise an improvisation of a melody over the C major Prelude (BWV 846) from the collection's 1st book. To this melody, in 1859 (after the deaths of both Mendelssohn siblings), Gounod fitted the words of the Ave Maria, resulting in a setting that became world-famous. Gounod wrote his 1st opera, Sapho, in 1851, at the urging of a friend of his, the singer Pauline Viardot; it was a commercial failure. He had no great theatrical success until Faust (1859), derived from Goethe. This remains the composition for which he is best known; & although it took a while to achieve popularity, it became one of the most frequently staged operas of all time, with no fewer than 2,000 performances of the work having taken place by 1975 at the Paris Opéra alone, not counting other theatres. The romantic & melodious Roméo et Juliette (based on the Shakespeare play Romeo & Juliet), premiered in 1867, is revived now & then but has never come close to matching Faust's popular following. Mireille, 1st performed in 1864, has been admired by connoisseurs rather than by the general public. The other Gounod operas have fallen into oblivion. From 1870 to 1874 Gounod lived in England, becoming the 1st conductor of what is now the Royal Choral Society. Much of his music from this time is vocal. He became entangled with the amateur English singer Georgina Weldon, a relationship (platonic, it seems) which ended in great acrimony & embittered litigation. Gounod had lodged with Weldon & her husband in London's Tavistock House. Later in his life, Gounod returned to his early religious impulses, writing much sacred music. His Pontifical Anthem (Marche Pontificale, 1869) eventually (1949) became the official national anthem of Vatican City. He expressed a desire to compose his Messe à la mémoire de Jeanne d'Arc (1887) while kneeling on the stone on which Joan of Arc knelt at the coronation of Charles VII of France. A devout Catholic, he had on his piano a music-rack in which was carved an image of the face of Jesus. He was made a Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur in July 1888. In 1893, shortly after he had put the finishing touches to a requiem written for his grandson, he died of a stroke in Saint-Cloud, France. One of Gounod's short pieces for piano, "Funeral March of a Marionette", received a new & unexpected lease of life from 1955 when it was 1st used as the theme for the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. His secular piano-accompanied songs were numerous & much praised by Ravel, but are seldom heard in recitals today. Operas: Sapho (1851, revised 1884); La nonne sanglante (1854); Le médecin malgré lui (1858); Faust (1859, revised 1869); Philémon et Baucis (1860, revised 1876); La colombe (1860); La reine de Saba (1862); Mireille (1864); Roméo et Juliette (1867, revised 1888); Cinq-Mars (1877); Polyeucte (1878); Le tribut de Zamora (1881); Maître Pierre (incomplete, 1877–84). Oratorios: Tobie (1854); Gallia (1871); Jésus sur le lac de Tibériade (1873); La rédemption (1882) (commissioned for, & premiered at the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival); Christus factus est (1842); Mors et vita (1884); Requiem (1891). Symphonies: Symphony No. 1 in D major (1855) (probably begun around 1843); Symphony No. 2 in E flat major (1855). Chamber music: String Quartet in A minor (1895); String Quartet No. 1 in C Major "Le petit quatuor" (discovered in 1993); String Quartet No. 2 in A Major (discovered in 1993); String Quartet No. 3 in F Major (discovered in 1993); String Quartet in A minor (published as No. 3) (discovered in 1993); String Quartet in G Major (discovered in 1993); String Quartet in G minor (discovered in 1993); Petite symphonie pour neuf instruments à vent (1885) 'Little Symphony for Winds'. Other instrumental: Marche pontificale composed for Pope Pius IX's silver jubilee of priestly ordination in 1869. Since 24 December 1949 it has been the official Papal Anthem; Funeral March of a Marionette for piano solo (1872), orchestrated (1879), well-known for being the theme music to the TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents & The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.; Works for organ.";
HISTORICAL NOTE: "Georgina Weldon (24 May 1837 – 11 January 1914) was a British campaigner against the lunacy laws, a celebrated litigant & noted amateur soprano of the Victorian era. Georgina Weldon (née Thomas) was born at Tooting Lodge, Clapham Common in 1837, the eldest of three daughters & two sons of Morgan Thomas (1803–1867), a member of the Welsh landed gentry, & his wife, Louisa Frances, daughter of John Apsley Dalrymple of Mayfield in Sussex. Her father was a non-practising barrister, having inherited a large sum of money from his father & uncle, & concentrated on becoming Conservative Party MP for Coventry. She spent most of her childhood in Florence in Italy, & her soprano singing voice was trained by her mother, except for a few lessons she had in 1855 with Jules de Glimes in Brussels. The Thomas family changed its name to Treherne in 1856, the surname of Morgan Thomas' ancestors up to the mid-18th century. On 21 April 1860, & against her father's wishes, she married William Henry Weldon, a lieutenant in the 18th Royal Hussars, causing her father to promptly disinherit her. Georgina Weldon hoped to follow a career on the stage but her husband, like her father before him, refused to allow her to appear as a professional & she was restricted to performing in amateur theatricals & charity concerts. By 1869 Weldon's childless marriage was breaking down. At this time she devised a scheme for a National Training School of Music to teach music to poor children. The Weldons took over the lease of Tavistock House in London's Bloomsbury, which she filled with orphans, following a then highly progressive plan of education. She joined Henry David Leslie's famous choir, through which she met the French composer Charles Gounod in March 1871. That year Georgina Weldon sang the solo in Mendelssohn's Hear my Prayer at several venues in London, & took the solo soprano part in Gounod's cantata Gallia at the Conservatoire de Paris & the Opéra-Comique in Paris. By November 1871 Gounod, who was in poor health, had moved into Tavistock House with Mr & Mrs Weldon. This close association with the composer benefitted Weldon's singing career. It has been suggested that Georgina & Gounod were lovers, & that he had promised her the title role in his opera Polyeucte when it opened in Paris. However, Gounod became increasingly disturbed by the gossip about the ‘Weldon Affair’, & in June 1874 he returned to his wife in Paris. Feeling slighted by Gounod's departure, Georgina Weldon refused to send on his personal belongings, including the draft of his opera Polyeucte. When he asked her to return these belongings to him, she insisted that he return to London to claim them from her in person. Only when he had virtually reconstructed the musical score nearly a year later, did she return the original draft to him with her name scrawled diagonally across each page in crayon. She then instigated a number of lawsuits against him for libel, attempting to sue him for £10,000, but none of the actions was successful. Instead, in 1880 & again in 1885, she herself was imprisoned for libels connected with her musical career. By 1875 Harry Weldon had tired of his wife's orphanage scheme & her growing interest in spiritualism. The couple separated & he gave Georgina the lease to Tavistock House & £1000 a year as a financial settlement. In 1878 Harry Weldon wanted to reduce or stop this payment, & he tried to use Georgina's interest in spiritualism to prove that she was insane in an attempt to have her confined in a lunatic asylum kept by L. Forbes Winslow. Georgina was seen by the necessary two doctors, who obtained an interview with her under false pretences, pretending they were interested in her musical orphanage, & they signed the lunacy order. Georgina realised that something was wrong &, when people from the asylum arrived to take her away by force, she escaped & evaded capture for the seven days that the order remained valid. She then went to Bow Street Magistrates' Court to press charges for assault. The magistrate sympathised with her situation & was convinced that she was sane, but, under Victorian law, a married woman could not instigate a civil suit against her husband. However, having proved her point, Mrs Weldon publicised her story by giving interviews to the daily newspapers & the spiritualist press in an attempt to provoke her husband & the two doctors into suing her for libel. In 1882 Georgina Weldon successfully sued her husband for the restoration of her conjugal rights, but he refused to return to Tavistock House, the marital home. The passing of the Married Women's Property Act in 1882 allowed her to instigate the civil suit against her husband she had wanted to pursue in 1878. Between 1883 & 1888 she successfully sued all those involved in trying to have her committed in 1878, at one stage in 1884 having seventeen cases in progress at the same time. She always represented herself & conducted all her cases without legal counsel. She became known as the 'Portia of the Law Courts', & her image appeared everywhere, even in an advertisement for Pears Soap. To finance her legal actions in 1884 she would sing two songs an evening at the London Pavilion music hall, & in 1886 appeared in a brief run of the melodrama Not Alone, but this was not a success. By the late 1880s Georgina Weldon's popularity had waned. In her latter years she was a paying guest for 12 years at a convent in Gisors in France where she became a keen gardener & where she wrote her memoirs. She was thrust into the spotlight again through her association with the descendants of Karl Wilhelm Naundorff, a pretender to the title of Louis XVII of France. By now tired of her, the public ignored Weldon's book Louis XVII, or, The Arab Jew, & her eight volumes of legal memoirs. She took part in a series of séances during which she claimed to have contacted the recently deceased Gounod. Becoming increasingly impoverished, she returned to London in 1905, where she began an unsuccessful libel action to clear her name with Gounod's biographers. Her final years were spent in London & Brighton, where she died at 6 Sillwood Street on 11 January 1914.";
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