Caroline Wuiet
Caroline Wuiet Auffdiener, Caroline Vuyet or Caroline Vuïet (born 1766, d. 1835) was a French journalist, novelist and composer, best known for opera.
Life
Caroline Wuiet was the daughter of an organist born and in Rambouillet, France. She was considered a child prodigy at age five and was presented to Queen Marie-Antoinette by Princess de Lamballe. The queen took her as an adopted daughter and saw that she received an education in the arts.[1] Wuiet studied music under Andre Gretry, painting with Greuze and theater with Beaumarchais and Demoustier.[2]
Wuiet began her career as a composer and librettist at the age of eighteen with Le trompeur tromp, but was disappointed that the opera was not performed. She was given the opportunity to write a sequel to Gretry's Epreuve villageoise (1784), and wrote both the music and libretto for L'Heureuse erreur with more success. She later became a concert pianist, still enjoying the patronage of Marie-Antoinette. As a Royalist, Wuiet went into hiding during the French Revolution and remained there through the Reign of Terror, leaving journals regarding the years of the French Revolution.[3]
Under the French Directory, Wuiet began composing again and enjoyed more success with sonatas. During this time, she also established a newspaper and wrote for other publications. She married Colonel Baron Joseph Auffdiener in 1807 and went with him to Lisbon where he was imprisoned and died. Wuiet returned to France and continued writing and composing, but suffered from mental disorders and died homeless after living in the park at St. Cloud, France. She wrote and composed under various pseudonyms including Aufdiener and Dona Elidora.[4]
Works
Selected works include:
- Trois Sonates pour le clavecin avec violon et basse, Paris 1785.
- Potpourri harpsichord, op2, published under pseudonym Aufdiener (Gerber)
- Six romances avec accompagnement de piano Paris 1798, op3 pub under pseudonym Aufdiener (Gerber)
- L'Heureuse erreur petit opera, Theatre Beaujolais Paris 1786 libretto and music Caroline Wuiet
- L'Heureux stratageme ariette de Caroline de Liechtfeld, Voice.[4]
- Le trompeur trompé opera
- Angelina 1782, comedy
- Sophie 1787, comedy, Variety Theatre
- Zephyr and Flora 1784, opera, published in Brussels
References
- ↑ Head, Matthew (2002). "Rethinking Authorship through Women Composers: Women Writing Opera Creativity and Controversy in the Age of the French Revolution". Women & Music.
- ↑ Sadie, Julie Anne; Samuel, Rhian (1994). The Norton/Grove dictionary of women composers (Digitized online by GoogleBooks). Retrieved 4 October 2010.
- ↑ Letzter, Jacqueline; Adelson, Robert (2001). Women Writing Opera (Digitized online by GoogleBooks). ISBN 0-520-22653-4. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
- 1 2 "Vuyet (Wuiet) Auffdiener, Caroline". Retrieved 3 October 2010.