Sophie Gail

Edmee Sophie Gail née Garre (28 August 1775 – 24 July 1819) was a French singer and composer, famous for writing romances (a French song genre) and opéra comique. Life Sophie Garre was born in Paris in the parish of Saint Sulpice, the daughter of Marie-Louise Adelaide Colloz and surgeon Claude-Francois Garre (1730–1799). She studied piano as a child and published her first composition, a romance, at the age of 14. At the age of 19, she married editor Jean-Baptiste Gail (1755–1829) and had one son, Jean François Gail. She and her husband divorced in 1801, and Sophie Garre toured as a singer in Europe. She studied with Fétis, Perne and Sigismund Neukomm and wrote an opera comique as her first work for theater. Her compositions were praised by the critique Castil-Blaze as “the best works in this genre that flowed from the pen of a woman”. Her works were very popular during her lifetime, with her two most popular operas accruing more than 250 performances. Works Selected works include: *1797, Deus airs for the drama Montoni *1813, Les deux jaloux, opéra comique in 1 act *1814, Il est vrai que Thibaut mérite, romance *1853, Ma Fanchette est charmante, trio *1813, Mademoiselle de Launay