Sophie Gail published her first romance at fourteen, in the genre that then opened music to women. Married in 1795 to the Hellenist Jean-Baptiste Gail, professor at the Collège de France, and divorced from him in 1801, she studied composition and had four opéras-comiques of her own hand staged in Paris between March 1813 and September 1814, something almost no woman could do at the time. They are no longer performed, but the fact remains: a woman composer on the bill under the Empire.
The story
Born in Paris on 28 August 1775, daughter of the surgeon Claude-François Garre, Sophie Gail published her first romance at fourteen — the genre through which women could then enter music.
She married the Hellenist Jean-Baptiste Gail (1755-1829), professor at the Collège de France: a marriage of scholars, which left her free to compose.
She had comic operas staged in the Paris theatres, which almost no woman then managed — and she sang as well, in concert, in France and abroad.
Her works are no longer played, but their existence is a fact: a woman composer programmed under the Empire, at a time when composition passed for a man's trade.
She died in Paris on 24 July 1819, aged forty-three, and rests in Division 17, on Chemin de La Bédoyère, third row, with her husband and their son the librettist Jean-François Gail (1795-1845).
The grave
A family tomb with no particular monument, where the composer shares the space with two men of letters: her husband, the Hellenist Jean-Baptiste Gail (1755-1829), professor at the Collège de France, and their son the librettist Jean-François Gail (1795-1845). Her inscription is the briefest of the three: “Sophie GAIL, 1776-1819”. The first date is wrong — she was born on 28 August 1775 — and nothing says that she composed, or that she was performed.
On site, do not miss
The inscription concerning her consists of three elements: “Sophie GAIL, 1776-1819” — and the birth date on it is wrong: she was born on 28 August 1775. The family tomb also bears her husband, a Hellenist of the Collège de France, and their son, a librettist.
Visitors' questions
Where is Sophie Gail's grave?
In Division 17, chemin de La Bédoyère, third row, in the family grave: her husband, the Hellenist Jean-Baptiste Gail, and their son the librettist Jean-François Gail rest there. The inscription that concerns her runs to a name and two dates.
Michel ChaslesWhy is Sophie Gail a rare figure?
Because a woman having her comic operas staged in Paris under the Empire was all but unheard of. She had published her first romance at fourteen — the one genre through which women could then enter music at all.
Hubertine AuclertWho was her husband?
The Hellenist Jean-Baptiste Gail (1755-1829), professor at the Collège de France and translator of the Greek texts. A marriage of scholars, which left her the time and the freedom to compose — less common then than the other way round.
Auguste ComteAre her works still performed?
Almost never. But their existence is enough: comic operas by a woman programmed on the Paris stages of 1810, at a time when composing passed for a man's trade, and her name on the bills.
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