DAVID, FLICIEN-CSAR

born April 13, 1810, Cadenet, Fr. died Aug. 29, 1876, Saint-Germain-en-Laye composer whose music opened the door for the Oriental exoticism that characterized much French Romantic music. David was chapelmaster at the Saint-Sauveur Cathedral at Aix-en-Provence (1829) and in 1830 studied at the Paris Conservatoire. The following year he joined the socialist brotherhood of the Saint-Simonians, becoming their main artistic figure and composing chants for their services. During 183335 he preached their doctrines in the Middle East. In his later music, David incorporated recollections of the music he had heard in Jerusalem, Cairo, and Syria. In 1844 he produced his symphonic ode Le Dsert. Resembling an oratorio bordering on opera and embodying Arabian melodies, it was a highly evocative, enormously successful work. Of his five operas, Lalla Roukh (1862) maintained its popularity for 40 years. David also wrote other symphonic odes, songs, and chamber works. His music, admired by Berlioz and Saint-Sans, foreshadowed the Orientalism of Bizet's Djamileh, Delibes' Lakm, Verdi's Ada, and other Romantic operas.