# A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Scribe, Eugène

​SCRIBE, Eugene, the most prolific of French dramatists, and the best librettist of the 19th century, born in Paris Dec. 25, 1791. He lost his parents early, and the well-known advocate Bonnet urged him to take to the bar, but he was irresistibly drawn to the stage, and from his début at 20 at the Théâtre du Vaudeville till his death, he produced for the different theatres of Paris a rapid succession of pieces which have served as models to a host of imitators. He originated the comédie-vaudeville, and attained to high comedy in 'Une Chaine'; but it is in opéra-comique and lyric tragedy that he has given the most striking proofs of his imagination and knowledge of the stage. For half a century he produced on an average 10 pieces a year, many it is true written conjointly with various authors, but in these 'mariages d'esprit' Scribe was always the head of the firm.
We are not concerned here with his novels, nor with his opéras-comiques, further than in saying that they abound in ingenious surprises, piquant situations, and scenes admirably adapted for musical treatment; it is in lyric tragedy that his invention, originality, dramatic force, and genius for the stage, are most conspicuous. As a writer, especially as a versifier, he was often at fault, but this defect was overlooked by the composers who anxiously secured him for the sake of his poetical conception. Of his librettos, over 100 in all, only the principal can be specified here:—
| La Dame blanche | Boieldieu | 1825 | Opéra-Comique. |
| La Maçon | Auber | {{{1}}}„ | {{{1}}}„ |
| La Somnambule | Hérold | 1827 | Opéra. |
| La Muette de Portici | Auber | 1828 | {{{1}}}„ |
| La Belle au bois dormant | Hérold | 1829 | {{{1}}}„ |
| La Fiancée | Auber | 1830 | Opéra-Comique. |
| Le Dieu et la Bayadere | {{{1}}}„ | {{{1}}}„ | Opéra. |
| Manon Lescaut | Halévy | {{{1}}}„ | {{{1}}}„ |
| Fra Diavolo | Auber | {{{1}}}„ | Opéra-Comique. |
| Le Philtre | {{{1}}}„ | 1831 | Opéra. |
| Robert le Diable | Meyerbeer | {{{1}}}„ | {{{1}}}„ |
| Gustave III | Auber | 1833 | {{{1}}}„ |
| Le Chalet | Ad. Adam | 1834 | Opéra-Comique. |
| Lestocq | Auber | {{{1}}}„ | {{{1}}}„ |
| Le Cheval de Bronze | {{{1}}}„ | 1835 | {{{1}}}„ |
| La Juive | Halévy | {{{1}}}„ | Opéra. |
| L'Ambassadrice | Auber | 1836 | Opéra-Comique. |
| Les Huguenots | Meyerbeer | {{{1}}}„ | Opéra. |
| Le Domino Noir | Auber | 1837 | Opéra-Comique. |
| Guido et Ginevra | Halévy | 1838 | Opéra. |
| Le Lac des Fées | Auber | 1839 | {{{1}}}„ |
| Les Martyrs | Donizetti | 1840 | {{{1}}}„ |
| Les Diamans de la Couronne | Auber | 1841 | Opéra-Comique. |
| La Part du Diablo | {{{1}}}„ | 1834 | {{{1}}}„ |
| La Sirene | {{{1}}}„ | 1844 | {{{1}}}„ |
| Haydée | {{{1}}}„ | 1847 | {{{1}}}„ |
| Le Prophéte | Meyerbeer | 1849 | Opéra. |
| L'Enfant Prodigue | Auber | 1850 | {{{1}}}„ |
| Giralda | Ad. Adam | {{{1}}}„ | Opéra-Comique. |
| La Tempesta | Halévy | {{{1}}}„ | Her Majesty's. |
| L'Etoile du Nord | Meyerbeer | 1854 | Opéa-Comique. |
| Les Vepres Siciliennes | Verdi | 1855 | Opéra. |
| L'Africaine | Meyerbeer | 1856 | {{{1}}}„ |
[App. p.792 "correct date of 'La Fiancée' to 1829."]
As will be perceived, his favourite composers were Meyerbeer and Auber, especially Auber.
[ G. C. ]