François-Joseph Fétis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
François-Joseph Fétis
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| Born | 25 March 1784 |
| Died | 26 March 1871 (aged 87) |
François-Joseph Fétis (French: [fetis]; March 25, 1784 – March 26, 1871) was a Belgian music expert, composer, teacher, and a very important music critic in the 1800s. He wrote a huge collection of information about musicians called Biographie universelle des musiciens. This book is still a key source of facts today.
Contents
Family Life
Fétis was born in Mons, Hainaut. He was the oldest son of Antoine-Joseph Fetis and Elisabeth Desprets. His mother's father was a famous surgeon. François-Joseph had nine brothers and sisters. His father was an organ player at the Saint-Waltrude church. His grandfather made organs. François-Joseph learned music from his father. He played the organ at Saint Waltrude from a young age.
In October 1806, he married Adélaïde-Louise-Catherine Robert. Her father, Pierre-François-Joseph Robert, was a French politician. François-Joseph and Adélaïde had two sons. Their older son, Édouard Fétis (1812–1909), helped his father with the Revue Musicale magazine. Édouard later became a member of the Royal Academy.
In 1866, his wife passed away. After this, he spent less time in Brussels society and at court. When his father died, Édouard received his father's entire library and collection of musical instruments.
His Career and Works
Fétis showed his talent for composing when he was just seven years old. By age nine, he was an organist at Saint Waltrude in Mons. In 1800, he moved to Paris. There, he finished his studies at the Conservatory. He learned from famous teachers like Boïeldieu and Louis-Barthélémy Pradher.
In 1806, he started to review old liturgical chants. These are special songs used in church services. He hoped to find their original forms. In the same year, he also began his most important work, the Biographie universelle des musiciens. This big book about musicians was not published until 1834.
In 1821, he became a professor at the Paris Conservatory. In 1827, he started the Revue musicale. This was the first serious newspaper in France that was only about music. Fétis stayed in Paris until 1833. Then, Leopold I, the King of Belgium, asked him to move. Fétis became the director of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. He also became the king's chapelmaster, leading the music for the king. He started and led famous concerts at the Brussels conservatory. He also gave free talks about music history and ideas.
Fétis wrote many original musical pieces. These included operas, oratorios (large musical works for voices and orchestra), and simple songs. He even created some musical tricks or "hoaxes." One famous example was a "Lute concerto by Valentin Strobel." This piece was played with Fernando Sor as the main performer. Some people thought it was a very old piece, but it was actually written by Fétis himself.
In 1856, he worked closely with Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. Vuillaume was a famous violin maker. Together, they wrote an interesting book about Antonio Stradivari. Stradivari was a legendary maker of violins. The book talked about the history of violins and other string instruments. It also covered old Italian violin makers and the bows made by François Tourte. Fétis loved musical instruments. He had a very large collection, including the oldest known Arab oud (a string instrument).
Fétis lived at the same time as famous musicians like Paganini, Schumann, and Berlioz. He also worked with violin maker Jean Baptiste Vuillaume. His work gives us a special look into the music world of his time. This makes his writings very valuable for today's music experts and players.
His writings about music are perhaps even more important than his compositions. Some were historical, like Curiosités historiques de la musique (Paris, 1850). Another was the Histoire générale de la musique (Paris, 1869–1876). Others were about music theory, like the Méthode des méthodes de piano (Paris, 1840). He wrote this one with Moscheles.
Fétis's opinions on new music sometimes seemed old-fashioned. However, his work in musicology was very new and important. He tried to understand music history without just thinking about his own time or culture. Unlike many others, he did not believe music was always getting better. Instead, he thought music was always changing. It was adapting to new situations, not becoming better or worse. He believed that all cultures and times created art and music that fit their own conditions. He began to study Renaissance music closely. He also looked at European folk music and music from other cultures. This way, Fétis helped create the field of comparative musicology. This is the study of music from different cultures and times.
Fétis died in Brussels. The Belgian government bought his valuable library. They gave it to the Royal Library. His historical works, even with some small mistakes, are still very important for historians.
Some of his students became famous musicians. These include Luigi Agnesi, Jean-Delphin Alard, Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Louise Bertin, William Cusins, Julius Eichberg, Ferdinand Hérold, Frantz Jehin-Prume, Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens, Adolphe Samuel, and Charles-Marie Widor. See: List of music students by teacher: C to F#François-Joseph Fétis.
Honours and Awards
Fétis received many awards and honours during his life:
Kingdom of Belgium:
- Master of the Royal Music.
- Grand Officer in the Order of Leopold.
Kingdom of the Netherlands: Commander in the Order of the Oak Crown.
Kingdom of Prussia: Knight of the Order of the Red Eagle.
Kingdom of France: Officer of the Legion of Honour.
He also received many academic honours:
- Member of the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium.
- Member of the Academy of Rome.
- Member of the Academy of Berlin.
- Member of the Academy of Vienna.
- Member of the Academy of Stockholm.
- Member of the Academy of London.
Fétis and Berlioz
Fétis was known for his strong opinions about other composers. Some of his criticisms became very famous. He once said about Berlioz: "...what Monsieur Berlioz composes is not part of that art which we distinguish as music. I am completely certain that he lacks the most basic capability in this art."
Berlioz was not happy with Fétis's comments. Fétis may have had the last word in this disagreement. In his 1845 book, La musique mise à la porte de tout le monde, he described the word "fantastique." He said that "this word has even slid into music. ‘Fantastique' music is made of instrument sounds with no clear tune and wrong harmony."
His Ideas on Music Theory
Fétis is mostly known for his work as a music expert and critic. But he also had an impact on music theory. In 1841, he wrote the first history of harmony theory. Harmony is about how different notes sound good together. This book was called Esquisse de l'histoire de l'harmonie. It was put together from articles Fétis wrote for the Revue et Gazette musicale de Paris.
Fétis's main book on music theory was Traité complet de la théorie et de la pratique de l'harmonie (1844). This book explained his ideas about how music is organized. It influenced later musicians like Paul Hindemith and Franz Liszt. In 1882, music expert Hugo Riemann said that Fétis helped us understand the modern idea of "tonality."
Fétis did not invent the word "tonality." But he helped shape how we understand it today. He believed that "tonality" is the main way all melodies and harmonies are organized. He thought that trying to find music's main rule in math or sound waves was not helpful.
Most of his book Traité complet explains how "tonality" organizes music. The main thing that decides tonality is the scale. A scale shows the order of notes in major and minor keys. These are the only two "tonal" types of music he recognized. Scales also show the distances between notes. Fétis believed that scales are cultural ideas. They come from shared experiences and learning. Nature gives us the basic parts of tonality. But human understanding and feelings decide how different harmony systems work.
How Music Changes Over Time
Fétis had a unique idea about how tonality has changed over time. He thought it went through four different stages, or ordres:
- Unitonic: This was the earliest stage. It was like old church music. It used simple chords and could not change keys easily.
- Transitonic: This stage began when a new chord, the dominant 7th, was used more often. This made it possible to change keys in music.
- Pluritonic: In this stage, music could change keys in more complex ways. Fétis thought Mozart was the first to use these changes to express feelings.
- Omnitonic: This was the final stage. Fétis saw Wagner's music as an example. In this stage, notes and chords were changed so much that it was hard to tell what the original chord was. Fétis thought this stage was too extreme.
Fétis later thought about applying these stages to rhythm too. He believed that rhythm was the "least advanced part of music." He thought there were still "great things to be discovered" in rhythm. He believed composers could change from one time signature to another within the same melody. This idea influenced musicians like Liszt and Brahms. You can see it in Brahms's music, where he often mixes different rhythms.
"Se i miei sospiri" Song
The Italian song, "Se i miei sospiri," was first heard at a concert Fétis organized in Paris in 1833. Fétis published the song for voice and strings in 1838. Then, in 1843, he published it again for voice and piano with different words. These new words, "Pietà, Signore," are usually linked to the song today. Fétis said the song was written by Alessandro Stradella, a composer from long ago. He claimed to have Stradella's original handwritten music. But he never showed it to anyone.
As early as 1866, music experts started to doubt if Stradella really wrote the song. When Fétis's library was bought by the Royal Library in Brussels after he died, no such handwritten music was found. Also, the song's style does not match Stradella's time period. Because of this, most people now believe that Fétis himself wrote the song. The original Italian words for "Se i miei sospiri" were found with different music by Alessandro Scarlatti in his 1693 work, "The Martyrdom of St. Theodosia."
Compositions
Ensembles
- String Quartet No. 1
- String Quartet No. 2
- Grand Sextet, Op. 5
Overture
- Ouverture de concert à grand orchestre
Concerto
- 1869: Flute Concerto in B-minor
Symphony
- 1862: Symphony No. 1 in Eb-major
- Symphonic Fantasy for organ and orchestra
Mass
- Messe di Requiem
Songs
- Se i miei sospiri
See also
In Spanish: François-Joseph Fétis para niños
