Bazin, born in Marseille in 1816, won the first Grand Prix de Rome in 1840 and gave the Opéra-Comique a series of works whose Parisian success was immediate and whose oblivion was swift. His lasting work lies elsewhere: his harmony course, published in 1858, and then his counterpoint course fed the teaching of the Conservatoire for decades. He taught solfège there until his death.
The story
François Emmanuel Joseph Bazin was born in Marseille in 1816. First Grand Prix de Rome for composition in 1840, he was appointed professor of solfège at the Paris Conservatoire, where he would teach until his death.
Between 1846 and 1869 he gave the Opéra-Comique a run of works: “La Trompette de M. le Prince” in 1846, “Maître Pathelin” in 1856, “Le Voyage en Chine” in 1865. The genre was made for immediate Paris success and quick forgetting.
The romance from Maître Pathelin outlived him all the same, and unexpectedly: taken up in the 1970s by the singer Jack Lantier, it found a second popular life more than a century after its first night.
His lasting work is the teaching. The “Cours d'harmonie théorique et pratique”, published in 1858, and the “Cours de contrepoint” that followed it underpinned the Conservatoire's teaching for decades: Bazin's pupils are counted in generations.
He died on 2 July 1878 and lies in Division 32. The bust the sculptor Amédée Doublemard set on his grave was shown at the Salon of 1879; the inscription keeps only a few words of him, ‘membre de l'Institut’ — member of the Institute.
The grave
A bust signed Amédée Doublemard, shown at the Salon of 1879 under number 4980 — the year after the composer's death. The main inscription keeps only one title: “F. Bazin, member of the Institut”. The four others, all opening with the same formula “Here lies”, line up the family: his wife Thérèse Madeleine, née Amyot, who died on 11 December 1857, two children who died in 1848 and 1858, and the composer himself, “died on 2 July 1878”. Not one opera title on the stone.
On site, do not miss
The bust by Doublemard, and the repetition of the formula “Here lies” at the start of each of the four family inscriptions.
Visitors' questions
Where is François Bazin's grave?
In Division 32, Chemin Bernard, second row, in the upper, older part of the cemetery. A bronze bust by the sculptor Amédée Doublemard crowns it, and the inscription describes him as “membre de l'Institut” — a member of the Institut de France.
Tony AubinWhat did François Bazin compose?
Opéras-comiques staged in Paris between 1846 and 1869: “La Trompette de M. le Prince”, “Maître Patelin” in 1856, “Le Voyage en Chine” in 1865. The lament from Maître Patelin found a second audience in the 1970s.
Georges BizetWhat did he teach at the Conservatoire?
Solfège, then harmony and counterpoint. His two treatises, including the “Cours d'harmonie théorique et pratique” of 1858, underpinned the school's teaching for several generations of students.
Marietta AlboniWho rests with him in Division 32?
Four members of his family, including his wife Thérèse Madeleine, née Amyot, who died in 1857, and two children who died before him, in 1848 and 1858. Each inscription opens with the same words: “Ici repose” — here lies.
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