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Scribe, (Augustin) Eugène
Scribe, (Augustin) Eugène (1791–1861), French dramatist, originator and exploiter of the well-made play. A prolific writer, he was responsible, alone or in collaboration, for more than 400 works, comprising tragedies, comedies, vaudevilles, and librettos for light opera. His early plays were failures and it was not until 1815 that he achieved fame with Une nuit de la Garde Nationale. Even more successful was Un verre d'eau (1850), translated into English as A Glass of Water; or, Great Events from Trifling Causes Spring (1863) and also as The Queen's Favourite (1883). The most successful of Scribe's plays, however, and the only one now remembered, was Adrienne Lecouvreur (1849), written in collaboration with Legouvé. The play, though historically incorrect, provided a fine part for Rachel and later for Bernhardt. In translation it was played by Ristori, Modjeska, and Helen Faucit, among others. Scribe's plays, skilfully constructed with the utmost neatness, economy, and banality, came as a relief to a middle-class audience surfeited with the incoherence of the Revolution and the excess of the Romantics. Though his collaborators contributed much to the common stock, the stagecraft was his alone; with no depth or delicacy of perception, he had an uncanny flair for knowing what the public wanted, and how to give it to them with the maximum dramatic effect. Although he was to some extent unfairly blamed for all the shortcomings of the dramatists who succeeded him, he had an immense influence on them, particularly on Labiche and Sardou, and there is no doubt that his much-sought-after librettos, written for such musicians as Meyerbeer, Offenbach, and even Verdi (Les Vêpres siciliennes, 1855), helped to make French romantic opera a model of theatrical effectiveness.
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PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Scribe, (Augustin) Eugène." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Scribe, (Augustin) Eugène." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-ScribeAugustinEugne.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Scribe, (Augustin) Eugène." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-ScribeAugustinEugne.html |
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Scribe, (Augustin) Eugene
Scribe, [Augustin] Eugene (1791–1861), playwright. The leading French dramatist of the first half of the 19th century, he reacted to the overblown, romantic melodramas of his day by devising the “well‐made” play in which essentially middle‐class problems were presented in neat, economically contrived plots and with prosaic, commonplace dialogue. While these plays were theatrically effective, many detractors felt they merely substituted taut construction for vitality and depth. Although a number of his works were translated and met with varying success in America, he was best known and largely remembered here for a single drama, Adrienne Lecouvreur.
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Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Scribe, (Augustin) Eugene." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Scribe, (Augustin) Eugene." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-ScribeAugustinEugene.html Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Scribe, (Augustin) Eugene." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-ScribeAugustinEugene.html |
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Scribe, (Augustin) Eugène
Scribe, (Augustin) Eugène (b Paris, 1791; d Paris, 1861). Fr. dramatist and librettist. Most prolific librettist of his day, complete works comprising 76 vols. Among composers for whom he wrote libretti were Adam, Auber (38), Bellini (La sonnambula), Boieldieu (La dame blanche), Cherubini, Ciléa (Adriana Lecouvreur), Donizetti (5, incl. L'elisir d'amore and La favorite), Gounod, Halévy (6, incl. La juive), Hérold, Macfarren, Meyerbeer (5, incl. L'Africaine, Les Huguenots, and Le prophète), Offenbach, Rossini (2, incl. Le Comte Ory), Suppé, Verdi (Vêpres siciliennes and Un ballo in maschera), and Zandonai.
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MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Scribe, (Augustin) Eugène." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Scribe, (Augustin) Eugène." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-ScribeAugustinEugne.html MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Scribe, (Augustin) Eugène." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-ScribeAugustinEugne.html |
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Augustin Eugène Scribe
Augustin Eugène Scribe , 1791–1861, French dramatist and librettist. He began his prolific and highly successful writing career with vaudeville sketches. One of the first playwrights to mirror bourgeois morality and life, he infused 19th-century French opera and drama with liberal political and religious ideas. Among the best of his comedies, which are notable for their well-structured plots, is Bataille de Dames (1851). His historical drama Adrienne Lecouvreur (1849) was later adapted as an opera. Scribe wrote librettos for about 60 operas by such composers as Auber, Meyerbeer, Halévy, Bellini, and Verdi. |
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Cite this article
"Augustin Eugène Scribe." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Augustin Eugène Scribe." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Scribe-A.html "Augustin Eugène Scribe." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Scribe-A.html |
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