Delibes

Delibes, LÉON, a French composer, born in 1836 at St Germain du Val, in the Sarthe, entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1848, and in 1855 produced an operetta, Deux Sacs de Charbon. At the Grand Opéra, where he became second director in 1865, his music for the ballet La Source (1866) met with great success, and his ballet-music for Coppélia (1870), his finest work, secured his position as a composer. He wrote music for a third ballet and for three comic operas, one of which, Le Roi l'a dit (1873), became very popular. In 1880 Delibes was appointed professor in the Conservatoire. He died 16th January 1891.