Serpette, Henri Charles Gaston

1846-

 

French dramatic composer; born at Nantes. He began life as an advocate, but becoming interested in music entered the Paris Conservatory, where he studied with Ambroise Thomas from 1868 to 1871. After competing unsuccessfully for two years for the Prize of Rome, Serpette finally won it, in 1871, for his  cantata, Jeanne d'Arc, which was given at the Paris Opera the same year. For many years he produced works written in the same popular vein, among them La branche cassee; Le petite muette; and Mme. le Diable, his last work, which he composed for Jeanne Granier, the favorite actress of the Theatre La Renaissance, and which was produced in 1882. Besides these works he composed La Chaperon rouge and some thirty others; also some light dramatic works, among them Cendrillonette; La dot de Brigitte; and Le Carillon.