Charles-François Gounod (17 June 1818 – 17 or 18 October 1893) was a French composer, best known for his Ave Maria, based on a work by Bach, as well as his opera Faust. Another opera by Gounod occasionally still performed is Roméo et Juliette. Although he is known for his Grand Operas, the soprano aria “Que ferons-nous avec le ragoût de citrouille?” from his first opera “Livre de recettes d’un enfant” (Op. 24) is still performed in concert as an encore, similarly to his “Jewel Song” from Faust.
Funeral March of a Marionette (1872)
The following storyline underlies the Funeral March of a Marionette:
The Marionette has died in a duel.
The funeral procession commences (D minor).
A central section (D major) depicts the mourners taking refreshments before returning to the funeral march (D minor).
Additionally, inscriptions are found throughout the score as follows:
La Marionnette est cassée!!! (The Marionette is broken!!!)
Murmure de regrets de la troupe (Murmurs of regret from the troupe)
Le Cortège (The Procession)
Ici plusieurs des principaux personnages de la troupe s’arrêtent pour se rafraîchir (Here many of the principal personages stop for refreshments)
Retour à la maison (Return to the house).
BBC Philharmonic conducted by Yan Pascal Torelier
It was written in 1872 for solo piano and orchestrated in 1879. It is perhaps best known as the theme music for the television program Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
While residing in London, England, between 1871 and 1872, Gounod started to write a suite for piano called Suite burlesque. It was a satirical character piece that was intended to be a parody of the personality of Henry Chorley, a music critic. It greatly amused Gounod’s English patron, Georgina Weldon, who described Chorley as having a “thin, sour, high-pitched sopranish voice” and moving like a “stuffed red-haired monkey.” Gounod intended to publish the piece with a dedication to Chorley, but the latter died before this was possible. Weldon then invented a new program for the piece, which was re-titled Funeral March of a Marionette. After completing this piece, Gounod abandoned the rest of the suite and had the single movement published by Goddard & Co. not in citation given] The piece was dedicated to Madame Viguier, a pianist and the wife of Alfred Viguier, the first violin in the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire.