Félicien David

Félicien David was born in Cadenet, and began to study music at the age of five under his father, whose death when the boy was six left him an impoverished orphan.

In 1829, he became maître de chapelle at Saint-Sauveur, but realised that to complete his musical education he needed to study at Paris.

Despite the sudden withdrawal of his uncle's subsidy, David's studies, with Fétis and others, continued successfully.

This also proved a source of strong inspiration, leading eventually to his greatest success, the symphonic ode Le désert of 1844.

David wrote a number of operas, of which the most notable are Christophe Colomb (1847), La perle du Brésil (1851), Herculanum (1859), and Lalla-Roukh (1862).

Woodburytype of Félicien David
Félicien David in 1858
David in a Brazilian setting (a reference to his 1851 opéra comique , La perle du Brésil ) surrounded by comic allusions to several of his major works, from an undated theatrical illustration (ca. 1860).