Benjamin Godard

A French composer and violinist active in the late nineteenth century, Benjamin Godard wrote secular works across every genre and earned particular renown for his songs and violin compositions. Born in Paris in 1849, he displayed clear musical gifts from childhood onward. His earliest lessons came from the violinist Richard Hammer, after which he entered the Paris Conservatory in 1859 to study composition under Henri Reber and to receive additional instruction from the celebrated violinist and pedagogue Henri Vieuxtemps. Completing his training around 1864, he composed at a rapid pace and soon attracted attention throughout Europe. His reputation reached its peak in 1878 when he received the Prix de la Ville de Paris for the dramatic symphony Le Tasse. Another wave of success followed in the 1880s as his pieces appeared in the Concerts Populaires series led by Jules Pasdeloup; Godard later assumed direction of that series himself and simultaneously joined the faculty of the Paris Conservatory as an instructor. Although drawn to opera, none of his stage works achieved marked success during his lifetime. The unfinished comic opera La Vivandiere was completed by Paul Vidal following Godard’s death in 1895 and went on to enjoy a run of more than eighty performances. His graceful, melodic idiom reflected the strong influence of Mendelssohn, Beethoven, and Schumann. He expressed open opposition to Wagner’s music on account of the composer’s antisemitic views and his criticism of Beethoven, whom Godard held in deep admiration. Additional well-known pieces include the violin sonatas, Concerto Romantique, and Symphonie Legendaire. Critics and scholars have long maintained that Godard never fulfilled his full promise as a composer owing to his early death from tuberculosis at the age of forty-five.