Alfred Bruneau

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Louis Charles Bonaventure Alfred Bruneau (3 March 1857 – 15 June 1934) was a French composer who helped bring realism to French opera. Born in Paris, he studied the cello at the Paris Conservatory and played with the Pasdeloup Orchestra. He began composing early, writing a cantata called Geneviève de Paris. In 1884 his Ouverture héroïque was performed, and he wrote two choral works, Léda (1884) and La Belle au bois dormant (1886). His first opera, Kérim, premiered on 9 June 1887 at the Théâtre du Château-d'Eau.

In 1888 he met Émile Zola, starting a collaboration that lasted about twenty years. Bruneau's 1891 opera Le Rêve was based on a Zola story, and Zola provided ideas for many of Bruneau's works, including L’attaque du moulin (1893). Zola himself wrote the libretti for Messidor (1897) and L’Ouragan (1901). Other Bruneau operas with Zola influence include L’Enfant roi (1905), Naïs Micoulin (1907), Les Quatre journées (1916), and Lazare (produced posthumously in 1954).

Bruneau also set works by other authors, including Hans Christian Andersen (Le Jardin du Paris, 1923) and Victor Hugo (Angelo, tyran de Padoue, 1928). His orchestral music often shows the influence of Wagner. He wrote a Requiem (1888) and two song collections, Lieds de France and Chansons à danser. He was awarded the Legion of Honor in 1895 and died in Paris.