Vaucochard et fils Ier

Vaucochard et fils Ier is an unfinished opérette by Emmanuel Chabrier of which only some numbers survive.

[2] With Verlaine and Chabrier, the friends who met together there included Albert Mérat, Adolphe Racot, François Coppée, Louis-Xavier de Ricard and Édouard Lepelletier.

Only four complete numbers exist from this early comic piece where the cowardly but bawdy title role is a satire of Napoleon III.

In this, one of the Chabrier's earliest works, Poulenc discerned elements of the composer's true style in the 'Chanson de l'homme armé',[4] while Delage notes two future favourite rhythms of the composer – the waltz in the duo for Aglaé and Médéric and the bourrée in the trio finale.

[1] The surviving numbers from Vaucochard et fils Ier were first performed on 22 April 1941 at the Salle du Conservatoire, Paris with Germaine Cernay, Lucienne Trajin, Paul Derenne and Roger Bourdin, conducted by Roger Désormière.