Vadé, Jean-Joseph
Vadé, Jean-Joseph
Vadé, Jean-Joseph, French poet, dramatist, and composer; b. Ham, Picardy, Jan. 17,1719; d. Paris, July 4, 1757. He was taken to Paris by his family when he was five. He was made contrôleur du vingtième arrondissement (a tax-collecting position) in Soissons in 1739; after serving in this capacity in Laon and Rouen, he was made secretary to the Duke of Agenois in Paris in 1743. He began writing for the Comédie-Française in Paris in 1749, achieving success with his first opéra-comique, La Fileuse (1752); subsequently brought out other works there. He was awarded a pension by Louis XV (1751). His importance rests upon his creation of the genre poissard, or fish-market style, which permeates his opéras-comiques and chansons.
Works
dramatic: Opéras-comiques: (all 1stperf. in Paris): La Fileuse (March 8,1752); Le Poirier (Aug. 7, 1752); Le Bouquet du roi (Aug. 24, 1752; in collaboration with J. Fleury and Lattaignant); Le Suffisant, ou Le Petit Maître dupé (March 12,1753); Le Rien (April 10,1753); Le Trompeur trompé, ou La Rencontre imprévue (Feb. 18, 1754); 11 était temps (June 28, 1754); La Fontaine de jouvence (Sept. 17, 1754; in collaboration with Noverre); La Nouvelle Bastienne (Sept. 17, 1754; in collaboration with L. Anseaume); Compliment de clôture (Oct. 6, 1754); Les Troyennes en Champagne (Feb. 1, 1755); Jérôme et Fanchonette, ou La Pastorale de la grenouillère (Feb. 18, 1755); Compliment de clôture (April 6, 1755); Le Confidant heureux (July 31, 1755); Folette, ou L’Enfant gâté (Sept. 6,1755); Nicaise (Feb. 7,1756); Les Raccoleurs (March 11,1756); L’Impromptu du coeur (Feb. 8,1757); Compliment pour la clôture de l’Opéra-Comique (April 3,1757); Le Mauvais plaisant, ou Le Drôle de corps (Aug. 17,1757); also La Folle raisonnable (not perf.).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire