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{{Short description|French composer and conductor (1853–1929)}}
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[[File:Messager André compositeur 1921.jpg|thumb|alt=head and shoulder shot of an elderly bald man with a large moustache|Messager in 1921]]

'''André Charles Prosper Messager''' ({{IPA|fr|mɛsaʒe|lang}}; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty {{lang|fr|[[opéra comique|opéras comiques]]}}, [[opérette]]s and other stage works, among which his ballet {{lang|fr|[[Les Deux Pigeons (ballet)|Les Deux Pigeons]]}} (1886) and {{lang|fr|opéra comique}} {{lang|fr|[[Véronique (operetta)|Véronique]]}} (1898) have had lasting success; {{lang|fr|[[Les p'tites Michu]]}} (1897) and {{lang|fr|[[Monsieur Beaucaire (opera)|Monsieur Beaucaire]]}} (1919) were also popular internationally.

Messager took up the piano as a small child and later studied composition with, among others, [[Camille Saint-Saëns]] and [[Gabriel Fauré]]. He became a major figure in the musical life of Paris and later London, both as a conductor and a composer. Many of his Parisian works were also produced in the [[West End theatre|West End]] and some on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]; the most successful had long runs and numerous international revivals. He wrote two operatic works in English, and his later output included [[Musical theatre#Early 20th century|musical comedies]] for [[Sacha Guitry]] and [[Yvonne Printemps]].

As a conductor, Messager held prominent positions in Paris and London, at the head of the [[Opéra-Comique]], the [[Paris Opera|Paris Opéra]], the {{lang|fr|italic=no|[[Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire]]}}, and the [[Royal Opera House]], [[Covent Garden]]. Although as a composer he is known chiefly for his light works, as a conductor he presented a wide range of operas, from [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] to [[Richard Strauss]], and he acquired a reputation as a conductor of [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]. In Paris he conducted the world premieres of [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]]'s {{lang|fr|[[Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)|Pelléas et Mélisande]]}}, [[Jules Massenet|Massenet]]'s {{lang|fr|[[Grisélidis]]}} and [[Gustave Charpentier|Charpentier]]'s ''[[Louise (opera)|Louise]]''.  At Covent Garden, he gave the British premieres of operas by Saint-Saëns and Massenet.

Messager's music became known for its melodic and orchestral invention, musical craftsmanship, and characteristically French elegance and grace. Although most of his works have been infrequently revived, historians of music consider him the last major figure in French opéra comique and opérette.
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==Life and career==

===Early years===
[[File:Messager's-mentors.jpg|left|alt=four head and shoulder photos of middle-aged nineteenth-century men in semi-profile. All are wearing suits and have facial hair.|thumb|upright|Four of Messager's musical influences: clockwise from top left, [[Camille Saint-Saëns|Saint-Saëns]]; [[Gabriel Fauré|Fauré]]; [[Eugène Gigout|Gigout]]; [[Emmanuel Chabrier|Chabrier]]]]
Messager was born at [[Montluçon]], Allier, in central France on 30 December 1853, the son of Paul-Philippe-Émile Messager, a prosperous local tax collector, and his wife Sophie-Cornélie, ''née'' Lhôte de Selancy.<ref>Augé-Laribé, p. 16</ref> He recalled, "You would not find any musicians among my ancestors. When very young I learned the piano; but later on my intentions to become a composer met with such opposition from my father".<ref>''Quoted'' in Wagstaff, pp. 157 and 161</ref> At the age of seven he was sent as a boarder to a [[Marist Brothers|Marist]] school where he continued his interest in the piano.<ref name=grove>Wagstaff, John and [[Andrew Lamb (writer)|Andrew Lamb]]. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/18492 "Messager, André"], ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford Music Online, accessed 15 March 2018 {{subscription}} {{Cite web |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000018492 |title=Archived copy |access-date=30 October 2023 |archive-date=12 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912220026/https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000018492 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

Towards the end of the 1860s disastrous stock-market speculation brought Messager's family financial ruin and they could no longer afford to keep him at the Marist school.<ref>Wagstaff, p. 161</ref> They dropped their objection to music as a profession, viewing a post as a church organist as a respectable and steady career. He was awarded a bursary to study at the [[École Niedermeyer de Paris|École Niedermeyer]] in Paris, an academy known for its focus on church music.<ref>Ferchault, Guy, and Jacqueline Gachet. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000019919 "Niedermeyer, (Abraham) Louis"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412001202/http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000019919 |date=12 April 2018}}, Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, accessed 11 April 2018 {{subscription}}</ref><ref name=fournier>Fournier, Jean Claude. [http://www.operette-theatremusical.fr/2015/07/26/andre-messager "André Messager"], {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713034354/http://www.operette-theatremusical.fr/2015/07/26/andre-messager |date=13 July 2017}} ''Opérette&nbsp;– théâtre musical'', L'académie nationale de l'opérette (French text), accessed 15 March 2018</ref> This was at the time of the [[Paris Commune]] uprising (1871), and to escape the violence in the city the school was temporarily evacuated to Switzerland.<ref>Jones, p. 27</ref> Messager studied piano with Adam Lausset, organ with [[Clément Loret]],<ref name=baker>[[Nicolas Slonimsky|Slonimsky, Nicolas]] (ed). [http://bakr.alexanderstreet.com/View/669058/Highlight/messager#messager1 "Messager, André (Charles Prosper)"], {{webarchive| url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707105602/http://bakr.alexanderstreet.com/View/669058/Highlight/messager |date=7 July 2011}} ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', vol. 4, Schirmer Reference, New York, 2001, accessed 18 March 2018 {{subscription}}</ref> and composition with [[Eugène Gigout]], [[Gabriel Fauré]] and (after leaving Niedermeyer's school) [[Camille Saint-Saëns]].<ref>Duteurtre, pp. 42 and 83</ref> The musicologist [[Jean-Michel Nectoux]] comments that after his studies Messager developed into one of the finest orchestrators of the period.<ref>Nectoux, p. 262</ref>

Fauré and Messager quickly moved from being master and pupil to being firm friends and occasional collaborators.<ref name=jones>Jones, pp. 51–63</ref> In 1874 Messager succeeded Fauré as ''organiste du chœur'' (choir organist) at [[Église Saint-Sulpice, Paris|Saint-Sulpice]], Paris, under the principal organist, [[Charles-Marie Widor]].<ref>Nectoux, p. 19</ref> In 1876 he won the gold medal of the Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique with a symphony, the work being warmly received when performed by the [[Concerts Colonne]] at the [[Théâtre du Châtelet]] in January 1878.{{refn|Following its good reception the symphony was given several repeat performances soon afterwards.<ref>Wagstaff, p. 5</ref>|group= n}} He won further prizes for his [[cantata]]s ''Don Juan et Haydée'' and ''Prométhée enchaîné''.<ref name=fournier/>

In 1879 Fauré and Messager travelled to [[Cologne Opera|Cologne]] to see [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]'s ''[[Das Rheingold]]'' and ''[[Die Walküre]]'', and later to [[Bavarian State Opera|Munich]] for the complete ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen|Ring]]'' cycle, ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]'' and ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]''; in 1888 they went to [[Bayreuth Festival|Bayreuth]] for ''Die Meistersinger'' and ''[[Parsifal]]''.<ref name=jones/><ref>Nectoux, p. 39</ref> They frequently performed as a party piece their joint composition, the irreverent ''Souvenirs de Bayreuth'' (c. 1888).{{refn|The date is Nectoux's estimate.<ref name=n541>Nectoux, p. 541</ref> Wagstaff and Lamb in ''[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|Grove]]'' put the date earlier, possibly 1880.<ref name=grove/> The work was not published during either composer's lifetime. It was first published in 1930 by Costallat et Cie, Paris ({{OCLC|317674216}}).<ref name=n541/>|group= n}} This short, skittish piano work for four hands burlesques motifs from ''The Ring''.<ref>Blanche, Jacques-Emile in ''[[La Revue musicale]]'', December 1938, pp. 186–187, quoted in Nichols p. 15</ref> The two composers had a more serious collaboration, their ''[[Messe des pêcheurs de Villerville]]'' (1881).<ref>Nectoux, pp. 114–115</ref>

===First successes===
[[File:Représentation extraordinaire par François le bas bleus.jpg|thumb|alt=Theatre poster listing authors and cast of François les bas-bleus, 1883|Poster for ''[[François les bas-bleus]]'', 1883. The names of both the composers are in small print just below the title.]]
In 1878 Messager was appointed conductor at the [[Folies Bergère]], and he began his career composing for the stage with two short ballets, ''Fleur d'oranger'' (1878) and ''Les Vins de France'' (1879).<ref>Duteurtre, p. 116</ref> In 1880 a former manager of the Folies, M. Comy, was appointed to run the new Eden Théâtre in Brussels. At his invitation, Messager resigned from the Folies in 1880 and became conductor of the Eden.<ref>"The Drama in Brussels", ''[[The Era (newspaper)|The Era]]'', 20 June 1880, p. 12; and Wagstaff, John, and Andrew Lamb. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/18492 "Messager, André"]. ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford Music Online, accessed 15 March 2018 {{subscription}} {{Cite web |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000018492 |title=Archived copy |access-date=30 October 2023 |archive-date=12 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912220026/https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000018492 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> He returned to Paris in 1881 as organist of [[Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis]] church, and from 1882 to 1884 he was organist and choirmaster at Ste Marie-des-[[Batignolles]], a small church in the north west of Paris, where his assistant was another young composer, [[Claude Terrasse]].<ref name=fournier/><ref name=baker/>

Messager's career took a new turn in 1883 when the composer [[Firmin Bernicat]] died leaving an unfinished [[opérette]], ''[[François les bas-bleus]]''. Messager was invited to complete it; he orchestrated the entire work and composed between twelve and fifteen numbers.<ref>Wagstaff, p. 45</ref> It was staged in November 1883 at the [[Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques]] and was an immediate critical and popular success.<ref>"The Drama in Paris", ''The Era'', 17 November 1883.</ref> It was later produced in London and New York.<ref name=ftr/><ref name=fus/> In 1883, while deputising for Saint-Saëns as the soloist at a concert in [[Le Havre]], Messager met a young woman, Edith Clouette, whom he married in the same year.<ref name=fournier/><ref>Augé-Laribé, p. 50</ref> Fauré played the organ at the ceremony,{{refn|As bride and bridegroom processed solemnly down the aisle Fauré mischievously included in his improvisation a tune from one of Messager's Folies Bergère ballets.<ref name=harding124>Harding, p. 124</ref>|group= n}} and composed a mildly cynical song, "[[Madrigal (Fauré)|Madrigal]]", as a wedding present.<ref>Nectoux, p. 108</ref> There was one child of the marriage, Jean André Emile Charles (1886–1952).<ref>[https://www.artlyriquefr.fr/personnages/Messager%20Andre.html "André Messager"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407135915/https://www.artlyriquefr.fr/personnages/Messager%20Andre.html |date=7 April 2018}}, Association l'Art Lyrique Français, accessed 7 April 2018</ref>

In December 1883 Messager and [[Emmanuel Chabrier]] gave the first performance of the latter's ''[[Trois valses romantiques]]'' at the [[Société Nationale de Musique]]. The concert also included the premiere of the two-piano version of ''[[España (Chabrier)|España]]'', arranged by Messager.<ref>Myers, p. 47; and Wagstaff, p. 77</ref> Messager and Chabrier were close friends until the latter's death in 1894. Both were known for their comic operas and opérettes, but Chabrier's one serious opera, ''[[Gwendoline (opera)|Gwendoline]]'', appealed strongly to Messager, who vowed to conduct it in Paris, which he later did.{{refn|Messager's first Paris performance of ''Gwendoline'' was on 12 May 1911.<ref>Delage, p. 625</ref>|group= n}} He also prepared a piano reduction of the orchestral parts for the vocal score of the work.{{refn|The score was published in 1890 in Paris by Enoch frères and Costallat; and in Brunswick by [[Henry Litolff]]s Verlag.<ref>[[British Library]] catalogue number 004260835; {{OCLC|497254214}}</ref>|group= n}}

Following the success of ''François les bas-bleus'' Messager accepted simultaneous invitations to compose a ballet for the Opéra and an opérette for the Folies-Dramatiques. The opérette, ''[[La fauvette du temple|La Fauvette du temple]]'', first performed on 17 November 1885, confirmed Messager's early reputation. It ran well into the following year in Paris, and he was able to sell the British rights immediately, though the work was not staged in London until 1891.<ref>"The Drama in Paris", ''The Era'', 13 February 1886; "The Theatres", ''The Daily News'', 30 November 1885, p. 2; and "Occasional Notes", ''[[Pall Mall Gazette]]'', 17 November 1891, p. 2</ref> The ballet, ''[[Les Deux Pigeons (ballet)|Les Deux Pigeons]]'', which became one of Messager's best known works, took longer to reach the stage. It was put into rehearsal at the Opéra, but the staging, which showed a tree being struck by lightning in a storm scene, was considered a fire hazard by the police, and the production was temporarily shelved.<ref>"The Drama in Paris", ''The Era'', 25 October 1884, p. 15</ref>

A month after the opening of ''La Fauvette du temple'' the Bouffes-Parisiens premiered Messager's opéra comique ''[[La Béarnaise]]'', with [[Jeanne Granier]] in the title role. It ran for three months and was successfully produced in Britain the following year with a cast including [[Florence St. John]] and [[Marie Tempest]], running for more than 200 performances.<ref>"La Bearnaise", ''The Era'', 2 October 1886, p. 9; "The London Theatres", ''The Era'', 9 October 1886, p. 14; and "The Drama in America", ''The Era'', 2 July 1887, p. 16</ref> ''[[The Times]]'' said of this production that it gave Messager a secure footing in London, which led to important results later in his career.<ref name=times>Obituary, "M. André Messager", ''The Times'', 25 February 1929, p. 17</ref> A production of ''La Béarnaise'' in New York followed in 1887, under the title ''Jacquette''.<ref name=traubner223/>

In 1886 ''Les Deux Pigeons'' was finally produced at the Paris Opéra and was a box office triumph. It was Messager's last popular success for four years. His attempt at a more serious opera, ''[[Le bourgeois de Calais|Le Bourgeois de Calais]]'' (1888), was not well received. [[Richard Traubner]] remarks in ''Operetta: A Theatrical History'' on its "boring historical plot, bad lyrics, and a banal score";<ref name=traubner223/> a contemporary critic wrote, "That ''Le Bourgeois de Calais'' will have a successful career there is not the faintest chance, for all the patriotic bolstering in the world could not make it an attractive piece."<ref>"The Drama in Paris", ''The Era'', 16 April 1887, p. 8</ref> Messager followed this with a musical fairy tale, ''[[Isoline (opera)|Isoline]]'' (1888), which was slightly better received, and a three-act opérette, ''[[Le mari de la reine|Le Mari de la reine]]'' (1889), which failed, although Messager thought it "the best of my flops".<ref name=fournier/><ref name=traubner223>Traubner, p. 223</ref>

===Fin de siècle===
[[File:La basoche opéra-comique.jpg|alt=Coloured illustration from an 1890 French magazine showing a young woman in a simple dress kneeling before a young nobleman, both in mediaeval costume |left|upright| thumb| Scene from ''[[La Basoche]]'', 1890]]
Messager's fortunes revived in 1890 with ''[[La Basoche]]'', produced with much success at the [[Opéra-Comique]].<ref name=fournier/> The critic who had pronounced so unfavourably on ''Le Bourgeois de Calais'' wrote of the new piece, "an exceptionally pleasing work&nbsp;... a dainty piece which cannot fail to obtain widespread popularity."<ref>"The Drama in Paris", ''The Era'', 7 June 1890, p. 9</ref>  An English-language version was produced in London in 1891 by [[Richard D'Oyly Carte]]. The theatrical newspaper ''[[The Era (newspaper)|The Era]]'' said, "''The Basoche'' is more than a success; it is a triumph",<ref>"The Basoche", ''The Era'', 7 November 1891, p. 11</ref> but the piece had only a modest London run of three months.{{refn|Both the anonymous critic in ''The Era'' and [[George Bernard Shaw|Bernard Shaw]] in ''The World'' condemned the British public for its failure to support the piece.<ref>"Theatres", ''The Era'', 16 January 1892, p. 10; and ''The World'', 10 February 1892, ''reproduced'' in Shaw II, p. 537</ref>|group= n}}  A New York production was given in 1893 but was not a success.<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/03/11/106862884.pdf "''The Basoche'' Goes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802000038/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/03/11/106862884.pdf |date=2 August 2021 }}. ''[[The New York Times]]'', 11 March 1893, p. 8</ref>

Messager was a dandy and a philanderer. The musical historian [[D. Kern Holoman]] describes him as "given to immaculately tailored suits emphasizing his thin frame, careful grooming with particular attention to his mustaches, fine jewelry, and spats&nbsp;... a witty conversationalist with an inexhaustible store of anecdotes and ''bons mots''" and a womaniser.<ref>Holoman, pp. 229–230</ref> In the early 1890s Edith Messager, tired of her husband's infidelities, divorced him. Shortly afterwards she became ill; her condition deteriorated, and Messager visited her daily. By the time of her death in 1892 the two had become close again, and Messager felt her loss deeply.<ref name=hu129/><ref>Augé-Laribé, pp. 79–80</ref>

In 1892 Messager's career as a conductor began to advance when he was invited to conduct ''Die Walküre'' at [[Marseille]]. As a composer the early 1890s brought him mixed fortunes. ''[[Madame Chrysanthème (opera)|Madame Chrysanthème]]'', staged at the [[Théâtre de la Renaissance]] in 1893, was a setting of [[Pierre Loti]]'s story of a betrayed [[geisha]], a theme that later inspired Puccini's ''[[Madama Butterfly]]''; it was politely rather than enthusiastically received. ''[[Mirette (opera)|Mirette]]'', produced by Carte at the [[Savoy Theatre]] in 1894, was Messager's first opera written expressly for the London stage and was the only original [[Savoy opera]] by a French composer.<ref name=traubner213>Traubner, p. 213</ref> To assist him in what was for him (at the time) an unfamiliar idiom, Messager enlisted the help of the songwriter Dotie (Alice Maude) Davis (1859–1938), known professionally as [[Hope Temple]].<ref>Coles, Clifton. [http://gsarchive.net/savoy/mirette/intro.html "''Mirette'': Introduction"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315174638/http://gsarchive.net/savoy/mirette/intro.html |date=15 March 2018 }}, The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, 28 May 1998, accessed 15 March 2018</ref> She became Messager's second wife in 1895.<ref>Wagstaff, p. 9</ref> According to [[George Bernard Shaw|Bernard Shaw]], Messager, concluding from the reception of ''La Basoche'' in London that it was unwise to offer the British public anything too intelligent, decided that the new opera was going to be as commonplace as possible.<ref>Shaw, II, p. 537 and III, p. 266</ref> It ran for 41 performances, was withdrawn and revised, and then ran for another 61 performances.<ref>Rollins and Witts, p. 14</ref> Messager vetoed any production in Paris.<ref name=grove/> His next opera, a serious work, ''[[Le chevalier d'Harmental (opera)|Le Chevalier d'Harmental]]'' (1896), was unsuccessful, and for a while he and his new wife withdrew to the English countryside near [[Maidenhead]], Berkshire.<ref>Duteurtre, p. 13</ref>

[[File:Théatre des Bouffes Parisiens Les P'tites Michu.jpg|thumb|alt=Theatre poster showing brightly-dressed and jovial men and women at a garden party|Poster for ''[[Les p'tites Michu|Les P'tites Michu]]'', 1897]]
From 1897 Messager's career revived. He later recalled that he had received by post an unsolicited libretto:
{{quote|I was attracted by the gaiety of its subject, and putting aside my dark thoughts, I set to work on it with such enthusiasm that the work was completed in three months, and performed in the same year at the Bouffes, with great success. I have since found out that the libretto had been turned down by two or three composers.<ref>Quoted in Wagstaff, pp. 163–164</ref>|}}
This was the opérette ''[[Les P'tites Michu]]'', which was presented to great acclaim at the Bouffes-Parisiens.<ref>"The Drama in Paris", ''The Era'', 20 November 1897, p. 12</ref> Its 1905 English adaptation in London ran for 401 performances.<ref>Howarth, Paul. [http://www.gsarchive.net/british/michus/index.html ''The Little Michus''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407135915/http://www.gsarchive.net/british/michus/index.html |date=7 April 2018}}, The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, 23 January 2017, accessed 5 April 2018</ref> Soon afterwards he was appointed musical director of the Opéra-Comique,<ref name=d127>Duteurtre, p. 127</ref> and in the commercial theatre had another outstanding success with ''[[Véronique (operetta)|Véronique]]'' (1898).<ref name=lamb>Lamb, Andrew.  [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e4372 "Messager, André (Charles Prosper)"]. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'', Oxford Music Online, accessed 18 March 2018 {{subscription}} {{Cite web |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199579037.001.0001/acref-9780199579037-e-4372 |title=Archived copy |access-date=30 October 2023 |archive-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030204153/https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199579037.001.0001/acref-9780199579037-e-4372 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

In 1898 Messager's only child from his second marriage, Madeleine Hope Andrée (d. 1986) was born.<ref>Wagstaff, p. 19</ref> From that year to 1904 Messager's work at the Opéra-Comique left him little time for composition, particularly after 1901, when he also spent May to July at the Royal Opera House in London.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/927167 Lettres d'André Messager à Albert Carré (Extraits relatifs à Pelléas et Mélisande et présentés par Henri Borgeaud] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314194052/https://www.jstor.org/stable/927167 |date=14 March 2018}} ''Revue de Musicologie'', Vol. 48e, No. 125e, pp. 101–04 (French text), accessed 18 March 2018 {{subscription}}</ref> He turned down [[W. S. Gilbert]]'s offer of a collaboration,<ref>Pearson, p. 225; and Hyman, p. 165</ref> and wrote only two stage works between 1898 and 1914.<ref name=fournier/> His international fame as a composer nevertheless grew, with productions of ''Les P'tites Michu'' and ''Véronique'' in countries including Britain, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and the US. Unusually for the London stage at the time, ''Véronique'' was given in French in 1903.<ref name=times03/> An English translation was staged the following year and ran for 496 performances.<ref>"Apollo Theatre", ''The Times'', 19 May 1904, p. 10; and Wearing, p. 185</ref>{{refn|Such was the success of ''Véronique'' in London that the chef-proprietor of the [[Carlton Hotel, London|Carlton Hotel]], [[Auguste Escoffier]], created the dish Sole Véronique in its honour. He had a record of inventing dishes with an operatic connexion, having created [[Peach Melba|pêche Melba]] a decade earlier.<ref>Martin, pp. 74 and 75</ref> He published the recipes for both in his ''Guide to Modern Cookery'' (1907).<ref>Escoffier, pp. 302 and 778</ref>|group= n}} Messager conducted the first nights of both productions.<ref name=times03>"[[Coronet Cinema|Coronet Theatre]]", ''The Times'', 6 May 1903, p. 12</ref><ref>"Messager's ''Veronique''". ''[[The Guardian|The Manchester Guardian]]'', 7 May 1903, p. 7</ref> The English version was staged in New York the following year, running for 81 performances.<ref>Wearing, p. 186</ref>

===Twentieth century===
At the Opéra-Comique, Messager conducted the premieres of [[Jules Massenet|Massenet's]] ''[[Grisélidis]]'' and [[Gustave Charpentier|Charpentier]]'s ''[[Louise (opera)|Louise]]'',<ref name=grove /> and gave the first French performances of operas as contrasted as ''[[Hansel and Gretel (opera)|Hansel and Gretel]]'' and ''[[Tosca]]''.<ref name=d127/> But by far the best known of his premieres was [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]]'s ''[[Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)|Pelléas et Mélisande]]'' (1902).<ref name=hol330/> Messager encouraged the composer to complete the opera and worked closely with him in getting the orchestration ready for the premiere. In gratitude Debussy dedicated the work to Messager. Holoman writes, "his championing of ''Pelléas et Mélisande'' alone would have earned him a place in music history."<ref name=hol330>Holoman, p. 330</ref> Debussy regarded Messager as the ideal conductor.<ref name=o66/> Before the premiere he had trusted him to "make his dream into a reality"; after it he praised him for knowing "how to awaken the inner sound world of ''Pelléas'' with tender delicacy".<ref name=o66>Orledge, p. 66</ref> After Messager's commitments obliged him to leave Paris for London, Debussy found the performances much less satisfactory.<ref>Nichols and Langham-Smith, p. 149</ref> As a conductor, Messager won praise on both sides of the English Channel.<ref name=fournier /><ref>"The Opéra Comique", ''The Times'', 22 November 1901, p. 10; and "Music in Paris", ''The Times'', 3 May 1902, p. 8</ref> The English music critic [[Francis Toye]] wrote that, good though [[Arturo Toscanini]]'s conducting of ''Pelléas et Mélisande'' was at [[La Scala]] in Milan, Messager's was still better.<ref>"The Charm of Music", ''[[The Illustrated London News]]'', 29 July 1939, p. 210</ref> The Parisian critic [[Pierre Lalo]] said of Messager:

[[File:Mary Garden.jpg|thumb|upright=0.5|alt=Portrait of a young white woman with dark hair, standing draped in a classical Roman gown and sandals, admiring herself in a handheld mirror|[[Mary Garden]] in ''[[Thaïs (opera)|Thaïs]]'', c. 1902]]
{{quote|He was an incomparable conductor of ''Pelléas'' – perfect and complete. With him, nothing was missing from this work of Debussy, with extreme refinement and lightness at the same time, and the most penetrating and delicate poetry, all the necessary emphasis, all the accents right and fine, and never anything hard or exaggerated – truly a marvel.<ref>Lalo, Pierre. [http://194.254.96.55/cm/?for=fic&clecomp=221 Obituary of Messager] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408010311/http://194.254.96.55/cm/?for=fic&clecomp=221 |date=8 April 2018}}, ''Comoedia'', 25 February 1929, reproduced in the first link under the heading "Articles de presse" at "Messager, André", ''L'encyclopédie multimedia de la comédie musicale théâtrale en France (1918–1944)'', accessed 7 April 2018</ref>|}}

From 1901 to 1907 Messager was one of the directors of the Grand Opera Syndicate, which ran the annual seasons at the [[Royal Opera House, Covent Garden]], featuring the leading singers of the day, including [[Nellie Melba]] and [[Enrico Caruso]].<ref name=grove/><ref name=baker/> Much of his time was spent on administration, and he had limited scope for conducting. From 1901, for two years, Messager had an affair with the Scottish soprano [[Mary Garden]], whom he met at the Opéra-Comique and conducted when she took over the title role of ''Louise''. She also appeared in a revival of his ''Madame Chrysanthème''.<ref>Turnbull, Michael T.R.B., [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/10659  "Garden, Mary"], ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford Music Online, accessed 18 March 2018 {{subscription}} {{Cite web |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000010659 |title=Archived copy |access-date=30 October 2023 |archive-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030204146/https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000010659 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> His first appearance as a conductor at Covent Garden was in 1902 for the first performance of ''Princess Osra'' by [[Herbert Bunning]].<ref>"The Royal Opera", ''The Times'', 15 July 1902, p. 7</ref>  He next conducted there in 1904 in the British premiere of Saint-Saëns's ''[[Hélène (opera)|Hélène]]'', followed in 1905 by ''[[Carmen]]'', ''[[Don Giovanni]]'', ''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]'', the world première of [[Franco Leoni]]'s ''L'oracolo'', ''[[Orfeo ed Euridice|Orphée et Euridice]]'' and ''[[Roméo et Juliette]]''; in his final year, 1906, he conducted ''[[Armide (Gluck)|Armide]]'', ''Carmen'', ''Don Giovanni'', ''Faust'', the British premiere of ''[[Le jongleur de Notre-Dame (opera)|Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame]]'', and ''Roméo et Juliette''.<ref>Rosenthal, p. 168</ref> In 1906 he also introduced to Covent Garden his ballet ''Les Deux Pigeons.''<ref>"Royal Opera", ''The Times'', 22 June 1906, p. 10</ref> Despite his reputation as a Wagnerian, he yielded the baton for Wagner performances to [[Hans Richter (conductor)|Hans Richter]], widely regarded as the world's foremost exponent of Wagner's music.<ref>"Royal Opera", ''The Times'', 14 June 1904, p. 11; and 2 May 1905, p. 4</ref>  In 1906 Messager and the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] travelled to Paris to play a programme of English music at the Châtelet Theatre, including works by [[Arthur Sullivan|Sullivan]], [[Hubert Parry|Parry]] and [[Charles Villiers Stanford|Stanford]].<ref>"English Concerts in Paris", ''The Times'', 11 January 1906, p. 5;  and 15 January 1906, p. 3</ref>{{refn|Messager was not responsible for the choice of repertoire, which an Anglophile critic in a Paris paper felt had put the cause of English music in France back by fifty years.<ref>Morrison, p. 35</ref>|group= n}} When he left Covent Garden in 1907, the directors found it necessary to appoint two people to fill his place: Neil Forsyth as general manager and [[Percy Pitt]] as musical director.<ref>"Royal Opera", ''The Times'', 2 February 1907, p. 11</ref>

[[File:Véronique-1904.jpg|thumb|left|alt=magazine sketch of a young woman on a swing and an attentive young man, both in early nineteenth century costume|1904 production of ''[[Véronique (operetta)|Véronique]]'']]
In 1907 Messager returned to composition. His "comédie lyrique" ''[[Fortunio (opera)|Fortunio]]'' was presented at the Opéra-Comique with great success.<ref>Duteurtre, p. 65</ref> In the same year he was appointed joint director of the Paris Opéra, responsible for the artistic direction, with Frederick Broussan, formerly director of the Lyons Opera, taking charge of administration.<ref>"The Opera in Paris", '' The Times'', 22 January 1907, p. 5; and Wagstaff, p. 24</ref>{{refn|A comment by the recently retired president of the French Republic, [[Émile Loubet]], was much repeated in Paris: "What a pity Messager has been appointed manager of the Opéra. He will have no time to write good music and will probably write bad."<ref>"Paris Music Notes", ''The New York Times'', 9 June 1907, p. C2</ref>|group= n}} The partnership lasted until 1913, but its success was hampered by shortage of funds and internal disputes.<ref name=grove/> Messager decided on a policy of making the Opéra "more genuinely French".<ref name=times08>"The Paris Grand Opera", ''The Times'', 4 January 1908, p. 3</ref> He revived [[Jean-Philippe Rameau|Rameau]]'s ''[[Hippolyte et Aricie]]'', for the first time in Paris since 1767,<ref name=times08/> and presented unusual French repertoire including Fauré's ''Pénélope''.<ref name=grove/> Foreign opera was not neglected; Messager gave Paris its first complete ''Ring'' cycle,{{refn|The ''Ring'' cycle presented by Messager was given three times; [[Artur Nikisch]] conducted the first cycle, Messager the second, and [[Felix Mottl]] the third.<ref>"Echoes of Music", ''The New York Times'', 2 April 1911, p. X13</ref>|group= n}} presented a Russian season starring [[Félia Litvinne]] and [[Feodor Chaliapin]],<ref name=times08/> and conducted the French premiere of [[Richard Strauss]]'s ''[[Salome (opera)|Salome]]''.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/907398 "Foreign Notes"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326183635/https://www.jstor.org/stable/907398 |date=26 March 2018 }}, ''[[The Musical Times]]'', vol. 51, no. 808, 1910, pp. 393–395 {{subscription}}</ref>  At the invitation of the Emperor [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Wilhelm II]], Messager and Broussan took the Opéra company to Berlin in 1908.<ref>"The Emperor William and French Opera", ''The Times'', 26 March 1908, p. 5</ref> Relations between the two co-directors were not always harmonious;<ref>Duteurtre, p. 129</ref> after the French government refused Messager's resignation on at least one occasion, he finally announced it in November 1913, a year before his term of office was due to expire.<ref>"The Paris Opera", ''The Times'', 11 December 1908, p. 7; and ''The Times'', 1 November 1913, p. 7</ref> He consented to return in January 1914 to conduct ''Parsifal''&nbsp;– its first performance in Europe outside Bayreuth.<ref>"M. Messager and the Paris Opera", ''The Times'', 8 November 1913, p. 7</ref> His conducting of the work won critical praise.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/905763 "Music in Paris"], ''The Musical Times'', February 1914, p. 124 {{subscription}} {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180420090713/https://www.jstor.org/stable/905763 |date=20 April 2018}}; and "''Parsifal'' in Paris&nbsp;– Historic Production at the Opéra", ''The Times'', 5 January 1914, p. 6</ref>

On the strength of his experience as a Wagnerian, Messager was appointed conductor of the [[Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire]] in 1908.<ref>Wagstaff, p. 25</ref> It was at the time, and for many years, the most prestigious symphony orchestra in France,<ref name=d127/> and Messager was determined that it should enjoy the international prestige of the [[Vienna Philharmonic|Vienna]] and [[Berlin Philharmonic]] Orchestras.<ref>Holoman, pp. 358–359</ref> Alongside the main orchestral repertoire of [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn]], [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]], [[Franz Liszt|Liszt]] and French classics, Messager conducted major choral works by [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J. S. Bach]], [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]], [[Robert Schumann|Schumann]] and [[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz]], as well as introducing early French music such as that of [[Clément Janequin|Janequin]]. In the 1913–14 season, he conducted a chronological cycle of Beethoven's symphonies and his ''[[Missa solemnis (Beethoven)|Missa solemnis]]'', as well as [[Requiem (Verdi)|Verdi's ''Requiem'']], for the Italian composer's centenary. Messager took the orchestra outside Paris to Lille, Lyon and Antwerp during these years.<ref>Holoman, pp. 332–333</ref> During the First World War he took the orchestra on tour to Argentina (1916), Switzerland (1917), and the US and Canada (1918–19), giving concerts in more than 50 cities.<ref>"Imperial and Foreign News Items", ''The Times'', 23 August 1918, p. 5; and Wagstaff, pp. 25–27</ref> After their concert at the [[Metropolitan Opera House (39th Street)|Metropolitan Opera House]] in October 1918, the orchestra and Messager received a prolonged ovation that was typical of their reception as the tour progressed.<ref>"French Orchestra Wins an Ovation", ''The New York Times'', 16 October 1918, p. 13; and Holoman, p. 370</ref> At the end of that tour Messager retired from his post.<ref>Holoman, p. 393</ref>

Messager was criticised for performing the music of Wagner during the war, but he maintained that German music represented the noble side of the enemy nation's nature.<ref>Buch, Esteban. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3780276 "Les Allemands et les Boches": la musique allemande à Paris pendant la Première Guerre mondiale] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305085616/http://www.jstor.org/stable/3780276 |date=5 March 2016 }}, ''Le Mouvement social,'' No. 208, Musique en Politique (July–September 2004), p. 52 (French text)</ref> Like Fauré, Messager refused to have anything to do with the National League for the Defence of French Music (La Ligue Nationale pour la Defense de la Musique Française), led by Saint-Saëns, which sought to boycott German music.<ref>Caballero, Carlo. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/831793 "Patriotism or Nationalism? Fauré and the Great War"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306062335/http://www.jstor.org/stable/831793 |date=6 March 2016}}, ''Journal of the American Musicological Society'', Vol. 52, No. 3 (Autumn, 1999), pp. 593–625, accessed 18 March 2018 {{subscription}}</ref>{{refn| Messager and Fauré both thought that their friend and former teacher was making himself look foolish over the matter. Messager wrote to Fauré, "How ridiculous our poor Camille is, with his need to be polemical and say such stupid things."<ref>Jones, p. 162</ref>|group= n}}

In 1914 Messager composed ''Béatrice'', described as a "légende lyrique",<ref name=fournier/> based on the 1911 play ''[[The Miracle (play)|The Miracle]]''.<ref>"Notes and News", ''[[The Observer]]'', 29 March 1914, p. 6</ref> The premiere was in [[Monte Carlo]].{{refn|Grove states that the premiere was moved to Monte Carlo from Paris at the outbreak of war.<ref name=grove/> In fact, the premiere in Monte Carlo was on 21 March, several months before the war began.<ref>Loewenberg, column 1326</ref>|group= n}} The work was performed in Paris in 1917 but was not successful.<ref name=grove/> In 1915 Messager joined with other musicians in contributing compositions to ''King Albert's Book'' to raise money for "the relief of the suffering Belgian people"; the other composers included Debussy, [[Edward Elgar|Elgar]], [[Pietro Mascagni|Mascagni]] and Saint-Saëns.<ref>"King Albert's Book", ''The Musical Times'', January 1915, p. 17</ref>

[[File:Beaucaire1.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=theatre poster advertising Messager's ''Monsieur Beaucaire'' and other pieces playing at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh|Playbill from a 1920 production]]
In 1919 Messager's operetta ''[[Monsieur Beaucaire (opera)|Monsieur Beaucaire]]'' was premiered in [[Birmingham]] prior to a long run in the [[West End theatre|West End]]. The composer, who generally conducted British premieres of his works, was suffering from sciatica and could not even be in the audience for the first nights in either city.<ref name=grove/> The work received its Paris premiere at the [[Théâtre Marigny]] in 1925,<ref name=fournier/> and it ran for 143 performances on Broadway.<ref>[https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/monsieur-beaucaire-6740 ''Monsieur Beaucaire''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030204143/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/monsieur-beaucaire-6740 |date=30 October 2023 }}, Internet Broadway Database, accessed 7 April 2018</ref> Later in 1919 Messager resumed the musical directorship of the Opéra-Comique for the 1919–20 season, conducting among other works the first complete performance in France of ''[[Così fan tutte]]''.<ref>Wagstaff, p. 28</ref>

===Last years===
In the 1920s, Messager kept pace with the change in fashion in musical theatre, consciously absorbing the styles of musical comedy, lightening his orchestration, but maintaining a Gallic flavour, mostly avoiding American dance-rhythm influences.<ref name=fournier/> He collaborated with [[Sacha Guitry]] on the musical comedies ''[[L'amour masqué|L'Amour masqué]]'' (1923) and ''Deburau'' (1926), starring [[Yvonne Printemps]].<ref>Duteurtre, p. 101</ref> The former was a considerable success in Paris, but in London the official censor, the [[Lord Chamberlain#Theatre censorship|Lord Chamberlain]], declared it "unfit for the English public", and banned [[C. B. Cochran]]'s planned production starring Printemps and Guitry.<ref>"Bars L'Amour Masqué", ''The New York Times'', 22 January 1928, p. 13</ref> In Messager's late stage works his lighter touch was balanced by echoes of the nineteenth century, with hints of Fauré and, particularly, Chabrier's ''[[L'étoile (opera)|L'Étoile]]''.<ref name=fournier/> Fauré, by 1923 too frail and deaf to go to the theatre, was lent a copy of the score of ''L'Amour masqué'' and wrote to Messager, "Your wit is the same as always – it never grows old – and so are your charm and very personal brand of music that always remains exquisite even amid the broadest clowning".<ref name=harding147/> Fauré died the following year, and Messager dedicated the music of ''Deburau'' to his memory.<ref>Augé-Laribé, p. 233</ref>

In 1924 [[Sergei Diaghilev]] persuaded Messager to conduct the Paris premieres of [[Georges Auric|Auric]]'s ballet ''Les Fâcheux'' and [[Francis Poulenc|Poulenc]]'s ''[[Les biches|Les Biches]]''.<ref>Buckle, pp. 115–116</ref> In 1928 Messager played a key role in establishing important updates to copyright law, though he was on the losing side of the case. He sued the [[BBC]] for breach of copyright for broadcasting his works without his consent. He lost because he had assigned his British performing rights to [[George Edwardes]], whose estate had given the BBC permission for the broadcast. The case established that as the broadcasting rights had not been specifically reserved, the Edwardes estate's rights included them.<ref>"Summary of Cases", ''The Times'', 9 November 1928, p. 5</ref>
[[Image:André Messager tombe.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Messager's grave in [[Passy Cemetery]]]]
After a short illness Messager died in Paris on 24 February 1929 aged 75.<ref>"André Messager", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 25 February 1929, p. 10</ref> He was interred in the [[Passy Cemetery]] near the graves of Debussy and Fauré.<ref>Augé-Laribé, p. 169</ref> His last completed work, the opérette ''[[Coups de roulis]]'', was running in Paris when he died.{{refn|At his death, Messager left some numbers for an unfinished work, ''Sacha'', to a libretto by [[Maurice Donnay]], [[André Rivoire]] and Léon Guillot de Saix. He had composed about a quarter of the score, which was completed by [[Marc Berthomieu]]. It was staged at the Théâtre Garnier, Monte Carlo in December 1933.<ref>[http://194.254.96.55/cm/?for=fic&cleoeuvre=310 "Sacha"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141223085326/http://194.254.96.55/cm/?for=fic&cleoeuvre=310 |date=23 December 2014 }}, ''L'encyclopédie multimedia de la comédie musicale théâtrale en France (1918–1944)'', accessed 7 April 2018</ref>|group= n}} A contemporary critic commented, "Its tuneful melodies show that the veteran composer had lost nothing of the qualities that made ''Véronique'' such a success. Throughout his life Messager remained without a peer as a composer of light music."<ref>MacCormack, Gilson. "A Review of French Records", ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|The Gramophone]]'', May 1929, p. 24</ref>

===Honours and awards===
Messager was elected President of the [[Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques]] in 1926, the first composer to hold this office. In the same year he was elected to the [[Académie des Beaux-Arts]]. In 1927 he was appointed Commander of the [[Légion d'honneur]].<ref name=baker/> In his native town of Montluçon, the music academy, opened in 2009, is named in his honour.<ref>[http://www.agglo-montlucon.fr/index.php/conservatoire.html "Conservatoire à rayonnement départemental pour la musique et l'art dramatique André Messager"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601213409/http://www.agglo-montlucon.fr/index.php/conservatoire.html |date=1 June 2016 }}, Montluçon Communauté, accessed 15 March 2018</ref> In 2003, to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth, Messager was the subject of a large exhibition at the Musée des musiques populaires de Montluçon, recounting his biography and illustrating his works in the various genres. Among the ''comité d'honneur'' of the exhibition were the composer's three grandchildren, and the singers [[Susan Graham]], [[Felicity Lott|Dame Felicity Lott]] and [[Mady Mesplé]], the conductors [[John Eliot Gardiner|Sir John Eliot Gardiner]], [[John Nelson (conductor)|John Nelson]] and [[Michel Plasson]], and the director [[Jérôme Savary]].<ref>Duteurtre, pp. 9–10</ref>

==Music==
[[File:Fauré-ecole-group-.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.25|alt=A group of 18 men in 19th century dress|Staff and students of the École Niedermeyer, 1871. Messager is in the middle row, second from right; his teachers [[Gabriel Fauré|Fauré]] and [[Eugène Gigout|Gigout]] are in the front row, second from left and furthest right, respectively.]]
In his 1991 study of Messager, John Wagstaff writes that the composer's music is notable for its fine orchestration, easy-flowing melody, and skilfully written music, dance-like in character. Unlike his teacher Fauré,<ref>Nectoux, p. 256</ref> Messager enjoyed orchestrating. He said that musical ideas came to him "already clothed in the appropriate instrumental shades",<ref name=h128>Hughes, p. 128</ref> and after the concentrated effort of composing his scores he found it relaxing to work on "the handling of instruments, the balancing of different sonorities, the grouping of colours and the structuring of effects".<ref name=hu129>Hughes, p. 129</ref> He remarked that composers who had their music orchestrated by assistants presumably did not care if their helpers lacked "that indefinable sixth sense which would indicate the right combination of sonorities to carry out the original intentions of the composer". To Messager, passages often depended for their significance or flavour on the orchestral writing alone.<ref>Harding, p. 133</ref>

[[Gervase Hughes]], in a study of French opérette, comments that Messager's only technical defect was "one all too common to many composers of operetta – too close an adherence to repetitive rhythmic figures and four-bar rigidity", although such was Messager's "innate artistry that criticism on that score would be academic pedantry".<ref name=hu99/> One of the composer's distinguishing characteristics was a liking for [[chromaticism]];<ref name=ha127>Harding, p. 127</ref> this appealed to a younger generation of composers. His "Eh que ne parliez-vous?", from ''La Basoche'', was quoted note-for-note by [[Francis Poulenc|Poulenc]] in ''[[Les Mamelles de Tirésias]]''.<ref name=ha127/> Although Messager greatly admired Wagner, and was a celebrated conductor of his music, he distanced himself from Wagnerian influences in his own compositions. In ''Madame Chrysanthème'' he made use of [[leitmotif]]s, and included other references to Wagner, but such examples are rare in his works.<ref name=w17>Wagstaff, p. 17</ref>

Unlike some older contemporaries such as Saint-Saëns and [[Jules Massenet|Massenet]],<ref>Nichols, Roger. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e5856 "Saint-Saëns, (Charles) Camille"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030204150/https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199579037.001.0001/acref-9780199579037-e-5856#acref-9780199579037-e-5856 |date=30 October 2023 }}, ''The Oxford Companion to Music'', Oxford Music Online, Oxford University Press, accessed 16 March 2018 {{subscription}}; and Calvocoressi, M. D. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/907620 "Jules Massenet"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317170225/https://www.jstor.org/stable/907620 |date=17 March 2018 }}, ''The Musical Times'', September 1912, pp. 565–566 {{subscription}}</ref>  Messager remained open to new ideas and idioms throughout his life, and his style evolved to match the spirit of the times.<ref>Traubner, p. 184</ref> His biographer and former pupil Henry Février commented that from classic [[opéra comique|opéras comiques]], such as ''La Basoche'', Messager's later works, such as ''[[Les P'tites Michu]]'' and ''Véronique'', show a difference in style, "bringing an altogether fresher approach to the genre."<ref>Wagstaff, p. 13</ref> Towards the end of his career Messager successfully moved to "comédie musicale", the French form of [[Musical theatre#Early 20th century|musical comedy]].<ref name=grove/>
 
Ballets apart, Messager composed thirty works for the stage; they fall into several different, or sometimes overlapping, genres; the most numerous are opéras comiques (9), opérettes (7) and comédies musicales (3).{{refn|There is no universally agreed dividing line between opéra comique and opérette; a 2003 study of opera suggests that the latter is essentially frivolous, and the former, though often (but not always) humorous, also has some element of genuine human interest and is seen as of loftier artistic intent.<ref>Grout and Williams, p. 378</ref> Others disagree that opérette is "essentially" frivolous.<ref>Traubner, "Introduction", second and third unnumbered pages.</ref>|group= n}} The composer remarked late in his career:
{{quote|I have never intended to write what is nowadays called "opérette". This designation – which all too often has pejorative overtones – seems to have become common since the work of [[Charles Lecocq|Lecocq]]. Many of my works&nbsp;... were only called operéttes at the request of theatre directors who saw in that term some extra chance of success. Neither did I wish to compose [[opéra-bouffe]]s, the best examples of which were provided by the works of [[Jacques Offenbach|Offenbach]], where the element of parody is very dominant. My idea was always to continue the tradition of French opéra-comique (with dialogue) as established by [[opéra comique|Dalayrac]], [[François-Adrien Boieldieu|Boieldieu]] and [[Daniel Auber|Auber]].<ref>''Quoted'' in English in Wagstaff, p. 164. Original French version published in Rohozinski, p. 276.</ref>|}}

===Early stage works===
[[File:Deux-pigeons-final-tableau-ROH-1906.jpg|alt=photograph of a large ballet troupe posed on a large stage with an elaborate woodland set|thumb|upright=1.75|''Les Deux Pigeons''&nbsp;– final tableau]]
Although Messager called some of his early stage works opéras comiques they have, Gervase Hughes suggests, more in common with opérette than their composer acknowledged. Nevertheless, Messager introduced adventurous modern harmonic details in his early pieces, and strove to raise the artistic standards of opérette to that of opéra comique while retaining the essential panache of the genre.<ref name=h94>Hughes, p. 94</ref> Hughes finds the first stage works uneven in quality but ''[[La fauvette du temple|La Fauvette du temple]]'' (1884) to contain two fine expressive duets as well as waltzes and polkas with "an Offenbach lilt".<ref>Hughes, p. 92</ref> Hughes judges the next two scores, ''[[La Béarnaise]]'' and ''La Fauvette'' (both 1885), less satisfying but nonetheless at least as good as anything by Messager's older contemporaries [[Robert Planquette|Planquette]], [[Gaston Serpette|Serpette]] and [[Charles Lecocq|Lecocq]].<ref name=h93>Hughes, p. 93</ref>

Wagstaff writes that the composer's most enduring work is the ballet score ''[[Les Deux Pigeons (ballet)|Les Deux Pigeons]]'' (1886).<ref name=wv/> The piece is based on the fable ''[[The Two Pigeons]]'' by [[Jean de La Fontaine]].<ref name=harding124/> The music is best known in the five-movement suite arranged from the full score, which includes the "Entrée de tziganes".<ref name=DeuxROH>[http://www.roh.org.uk/articles/rhapsody-the-two-pigeons-digital-programme-the-two-pigeons-production-photographs "The Two Pigeons"] {{webarchive| url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317170225/http://www.roh.org.uk/articles/rhapsody-the-two-pigeons-digital-programme-the-two-pigeons-production-photographs |date=17 March 2018}}, Royal Opera House, accessed 17 March 2018</ref>  Messager revived the ballet in 1906 in London and in 1912 in Paris in a shortened, two-act version.<ref>Pougin, Arthur. Review in ''Le Ménéstrel Musique et Théatres'', 30 March 1912</ref> In 1961 [[John Lanchbery]] revised this for [[Frederick Ashton]]'s new version of the ballet, with a closing reconciliation scene from earlier music and a passage transcribed from ''Véronique''. This was first given at Covent Garden, is revived regularly by the [[Royal Ballet]] and has been staged by such other companies as [[CAPAB]] and [[Australian Ballet]].<ref name=DeuxROH/><ref>Vaughan, pp. 315 and 487</ref>

''[[Isoline (opera)|Isoline]]'' (1888), a musical fairy story ("conte des fées"), is neither an opérette nor an opéra comique. Writing in 1908, Fauré called it "one of the most poetic, most expressive works that have been written in France in the last twenty years",<ref name=fauré>''Quoted'' in Duteurtre, p. 160</ref> but it made little impact. The score remained in obscurity until 1930 when [[Reynaldo Hahn]] staged the ballet section of the work at Cannes.<ref name=h125/> The whole piece was revived at the Opéra-Comique in 1958; it failed again, but the ballet, unencumbered by the portentousness of the libretto, which weighs down the rest of the piece, has remained in the repertory.<ref name=h125>Harding, p. 125</ref>{{refn|In the discography section of his book on Messager, Wagstaff lists 13 recordings of the ballet music.<ref>Wagstaff, p. 133</ref>|group= n}}

===1890s stage works===
[[File:La-Basoche-Pick-Me-Up-1891.jpg|thumb|left|alt=black and white drawing of a stage scene showing a plaza with a man addressing a woman, both in aristocratic mediaeval costume|Scene from ''[[La Basoche]]'']]
The decade began well for Messager with the artistic and commercial success of ''[[La Basoche]]'' (1890). Février in his ''André Messager: Mon Maître, Mon Ami'' calls it "the last of the great nineteenth-century French comic operas" ("le dernier des grands opéras-comique français du XIX siècle")<ref name=f49>Février, p. 49</ref> and considers it of the greatest importance not only in Messager's career but in the history of French musical theatre.<ref name=f49/> Hughes says it has a good claim to be the composer's masterpiece.<ref name=h93/> The musicologist [[James Harding (music writer)|James Harding]] rates it "the best Messager had written to date&nbsp;... one of his finest works".<ref name=ha127/> When the work was given in London, a year after its Parisian premiere, the reviewer in ''The Times'' called it, "A work of great beauty and charm", although "the influence of ''[[Die Meistersinger]]'' is felt to an extent that is almost absurd both in the bright overture and again in the procession of the guild, but elsewhere the music is as original as it is charming".<ref name=REO>"Royal English Opera", ''The Times'', 4 November 1891, p. 6</ref>

With ''[[Madame Chrysanthème (opera)|Madame Chrysanthème]]'' (1893), a four-act "lyric comedy" with no spoken dialogue, Messager reached a turning point in his development. The crux of the plot was the same as that later used by [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]] for ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'' (1904): a young Japanese [[geisha]] wooed and then abandoned by a foreign sailor.<ref name=traubner213/> Messager's treatment of the story was praised for its sensitivity – reviewers in the Parisian press applauded him for raising opérette to the level of "comédie lyrique"<ref>Février, p. 65</ref> – but he was a self-critical artist, and he felt he had strayed too far in the direction of opera and away from his chosen genre.<ref name=h94/> Harding suggests that the unusual seriousness of the score may be connected with the recent illness and death of Edith Messager.<ref name=ha129>Harding, p. 129</ref> Both Hughes and Harding comment that Messager's score is subtler than Puccini's,{{refn|Reviewing ''Madama Butterfly'' at the Opéra-Comique in December 1908, Fauré, whose view of Puccini's music was less favourable than it later became, made a plea for a revival of ''Madame Chrysanthème''.<ref>Johnson, p. 299; and Wagstaff, p. 40</ref>|group= n}} but add that the almost total eclipse of ''Madame Chrysanthème'' by ''Madama Butterfly'' may be partly due to the relative effectiveness of their libretti.<ref name=h130>Harding, p. 130; and Hughes, p. 94</ref>{{refn|Messager's librettists ([[Georges Hartmann]] and Alexandre André) stuck closely to Loti's original with external local colour, whereas Puccini's, based on [[David Belasco]]'s stage play on the theme, added considerable extra incident to the mainly uneventful story, focusing on the private drama.<ref name=h130/>|group= n}} After this, Messager consciously simplified his style, greatly reducing the harmonic subtleties that had been characteristic of his earlier works.<ref name=hu95>Hughes, p. 95</ref>

The works from the middle of the decade were unsuccessful financially and artistically. ''[[Le chevalier d'Harmental (opera)|Le Chevalier d'Harmental]]'' (1896), classed by Hughes as Messager's first true opéra comique ("in a somewhat pretentious style") was a failure, and an unpretentious opérette in the same year, ''La Fiancée en loterie'', fared no better.<ref name=hu95/> After these disappointments Messager finished the 1890s with two considerable successes. Traubner describes ''Les P'tites Michu'' (1897) as "a sensational hit",<ref name=t214>Traubner, p. 214</ref> and Harding calls it the best of Messager's opérettes so far (classing ''Le Basoche'' as opéra comique, as did its composer).<ref>Harding, p. 132</ref> The plot was not strikingly original: critics commented that its story of babies switched at birth was already very familiar from [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] operas.<ref name=t214/>{{refn|The device was a key plot point in ''[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]'' (1878) and ''[[The Gondoliers]]'' (1889).<ref>Bradley, pp. 248–249</ref> A similar plot device had earlier been used by Offenbach in ''[[L'île de Tulipatan]]'' (1868).<ref>Traubner, p. 55</ref>|group= n}} Traubner describes the piece as "one of those unusual works that begin well enough and gets better and better".<ref name=t214/> Setting a scene in the market of [[Les Halles]] was not innovative, but Messager's chorus for the marchands and marchandes was out of the ordinary, and Traubner also singles out the duet for the Michus in Act 1: "clever, lilting&nbsp;... pulsating with an elegance and grace that other operetta composers have failed to obtain".<ref name=t214/> He also judges the finales as outstanding, including a waltz number that in other hands would be predictable but is turned by Messager into something much more symphonic.<ref name=t214/>

The final work from the decade was ''Véronique''. Messager described it as an opéra comique, but commentators have classed it as a mixture of opérette and opéra comique.<ref>Harding, p. 133; and Traubner, p. 215</ref> The score contains two of the composer's best known numbers, the "Swing duet" ("Poussez, poussez l'escarpolette") and the "Donkey duet" ("De ci, de la").<ref>Harding, p. 88</ref> When the work was revived at the [[the Proms|Proms]] in London in the 1960s, the music critic of ''[[The Times]]'' commented, "Charming as it can prove in the theatre, the music alone is a little thin, with none of the piquancy that – thanks perhaps to Gilbert – redeems Messager's famous English contemporary Sullivan&nbsp;... but ''Véronique'' has plenty of pretty things".<ref>"Véronique at the Proms", ''The Times'', 21 August 1967, p. 5</ref> It became and has remained the composer's most performed musical theatre piece.<ref name=wv>Wagstaff, John. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000905458 "Véronique"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317170225/http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000905458 |date=17 March 2018}}, ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press, accessed 17 March 2018 {{subscription}}; and Traubner, p. 216</ref>

===20th century===
[[File:Monsieur-beaucaire1.jpg|thumb|alt=Photo of a scene in upper-class 18th century costume, a young man kneeling and grasping the hand of a young woman, who is standing and leaning towards him|Marion Green and [[Maggie Teyte]] in ''[[Monsieur Beaucaire (opera)|Monsieur Beaucaire]]'', 1919]]
Messager's work running opera houses in Paris and London limited his composing between ''Véronique'' and the period after the First World War. ''[[Fortunio (opera)|Fortunio]]'' (1907) was a rare example in his oeuvre of a [[sung-through]] opera. Eight decades later the critic [[Edward Greenfield]] described it as "a long-buried jewel of a piece&nbsp;... an improbable cross between musical comedy and ''Tristan und Isolde''".<ref>Greenfield, Edward. "Fortunio smiles: uncovering a Messager gem of charm and romance", ''The Guardian'', 15 July 1988, p. 24</ref>{{refn|Unlike many of Messager's stage works, ''Fortunio'' was not seen in London shortly after the Parisian premiere: it was not given in Britain until 2001, when it was greeted as "an adorable blend of romanticism and Gallic cynicism" by ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'', "a little-known delight" by ''The Times'', "pure joy" by ''[[The Independent]]'' and "tosh of the highest order" by ''[[The Observer]]''.<ref>"Fortunio", ''The Guardian'', 14 July 2001, p. H17</ref>|group= n}} From 1919 onwards Messager composed no more opéras comiques. Among his post-war stage works, ''[[Monsieur Beaucaire (opera)|Monsieur Beaucaire]]'', a "romantic operetta" (1919), was his second work to an English libretto. French critics were inclined to look down on "Messager's English operetta" as over-sweet and sentimental to suit Anglo-Saxon tastes.<ref name=h141>Harding, p. 141</ref> Harding comments that the composer was successful in his attempt to produce an English flavour: one number is "pure [[Edward German]]" and there is much pastiche throughout the score. Despite the critics the piece ran well not only in Britain and the US, but also in France, with more than 300 performances in Paris and a long life in French provincial theatres.<ref name=h141/><ref name=mbnote/>

Of Messager's 1920s comédies musicales the best known is ''[[L'amour masqué|L'Amour masqué]]'' (1923). The [[Théâtre Édouard VII]] where it was premiered had a small orchestra pit, and Messager developed a new style of orchestration to deliver his desired musical effects with a small number of players. Harding comments that the piece was up-to-date enough to include a [[tango]], "a beautifully written example with luscious harmonies that by contrast show up the threadbare nature of most other efforts of the time".<ref name=harding147>Harding, p. 147</ref>

===Non-stage works and role in French music===
[[File:André-Messager-c1888.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|alt=Head and shoulders photo of a youngish man with receding dark hair and large moustache, wearing striped suit|left|Messager in 1890]]
Messager wrote songs for solo voice with piano throughout his career. Like Fauré, he was fond of the poetry of [[Paul Armand Silvestre|Armand Sylvestre]], and from "La Chanson des cerises" in 1882 to the cycle ''Amour d'hiver'' in 1911 he set thirteen of Sylvestre's poems. Others whose verse he set ranged widely, from [[Victor Hugo]] to [[Frederic Weatherly]] (author of among other things "[[Danny Boy]]").<ref name=grove/>

In his old age Messager said that he would have liked to write more concert works, but had never had the opportunity.<ref name=xd/> The Symphony in A, written when he was 22, is on the normal classical plan with [[sonata form]] in the first and last movements, a songlike theme in the [[Tempo#Basic tempo markings|adagio]] and a [[scherzo]] third movement. Looking back he described it as "très classique".<ref>Wagstaff, p. 157</ref> In notes to a 1992 recording of the piece, Xavier Deletang comments that although the influence of [[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]] and possibly [[Robert Schumann|Schumann]] may be discernible, the work reveals a mastery of instrumentation and a quintessentially French flavour, particularly in the wind parts. The two main subjects of the Allegro ''con moto'' first movement are strongly contrasted, with the opening string theme followed by a chorale-like theme for the winds.<ref name=xd>Deletang, Xavier. Notes to Skarbo CD DSK 3921 (2001)</ref>

When Messager was elected to membership of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1926 the influential musical journal ''[[Le Ménestrel]]'' remarked that this conferred on his chosen genre – opérette – official status and recognition;<ref name=nytdeb>"The Youthful Genius of Debussy", ''The New York Times'', 6 June 1926, p. X5</ref> but his fame as a composer of light music has tended to obscure his considerable standing in contemporary serious musical circles. It was said of him that he had "seen all, heard all, and remembered all".<ref>Holoman, p. 328</ref> The leading composers of the time valued his friendship and advice. Fauré called him "familiar with everything, knowing it all, fascinated by anything new".<ref name=grove/> Messager's younger colleague, the composer Reynaldo Hahn, wrote, "I do believe that no musician has ever loved music as much as André Messager did. In any case, it would be impossible to have a greater musical curiosity than he did, up to the end of his life, too."<ref name=hahn>Hahn, p. 110</ref> Like Fauré, Messager wrote musical criticism for ''Le Figaro'' and other publications in the first decades of the 20th century. Unlike Fauré, who was known for his kindly reviews,<ref>Nectoux, Jean-Michel. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/09366 "Fauré, Gabriel (Urbain)"], ''Grove Online'', Oxford Music Online, accessed 7 April 2018 {{subscription}} {{Cite web |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000009366 |title=Archived copy |access-date=30 October 2023 |archive-date=30 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530041625/https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000009366 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> Messager was frequently severe. His views carried weight: some of his criticisms were reported in the international press.<ref>"Events of Music Overseas", ''The New York Times'', 1 April 1923, p. X5</ref>

In 1908 Fauré wrote of Messager, "There are not many examples in the history of music of an artist with such a complete education, of such profound knowledge, who consents to apply his gifts to forms regarded, nobody knows why, as secondary".<ref name=fauré/> ''[[Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians]]'' says of Messager, "His style may be described as enlightened eclecticism; his music was characteristically French, and more specifically Parisian, in its elegance and gaiety."<ref name=baker/> In his book ''Composers of Operetta'', Hughes comments that Messager combined "a flow of spontaneous melody worthy of Offenbach with a flair for economic workmanship at least the equal of Lecocq's" and in much of his music "a measure of Massenet's fluent grace, Saint-Saëns's aristocratic elegance, even Fauré's refined subtlety".<ref>Hughes, p. 91</ref> He observes that Messager spanned an entire era: "Auber, [[Gioacchino Rossini|Rossini]] and [[Giacomo Meyerbeer|Meyerbeer]] were still alive when he began his studies, yet he survived the First World War and witnessed the rise and decline of "[[les Six]]".&nbsp;... For forty years he carried aloft the torch kindled by [[Adolphe Adam]] in 1834; after his death it soon flickered out".<ref name=hu99>Hughes, p. 99</ref>

===Conductor===
[[File:Messager-dirigeant-lorchestre-de-lOpéra.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=caricature of elderly man in evening dress conducting an orchestra|Messager conducting at the Opéra, 1908]]
The wide range of Messager's musical sympathies was noted by ''Le Menéstral'', which said that he "has served Wagner, Debussy, Fauré, Ravel and [[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]] when their works were still struggling for recognition".<ref name=nytdeb/> He was widely admired as a conductor. He avoided extravagant gesturing on the podium; Harding records, "His manner was precise and undemonstrative. The baton flicked neatly here and there in a way that meant little to the audience behind him but conveyed volumes to the orchestra".<ref>Harding, p. 126</ref> The music critic [[Pierre Lalo]] wrote that under Messager's direction, ''Parsifal'', without losing any of its grandeur, "assumed a French clarity, and a sobriety, nobility and order&nbsp;... even the most famous Bayreuth conductors have not always been able to do this."<ref>Lalo, p. 146. ''Quoted'' in English in Wagstaff, p. 115</ref> Not everyone shared Lalo's view; some audience members equated undemonstrativeness with dullness: Reynaldo Hahn commented, "[Messager] is not a master of the theatre ["chef du théâtre"], being too exclusively musical; he sets too much store by detail without feeling the spirit of the public behind him, and does not understand the variable musical flow that makes one hold one's breath, sigh and wait."<ref>''Quoted'' in Wagstaff, pp. 38–39</ref> Nevertheless, Hahn admired Messager as an orchestral conductor:
<blockquote> André Messager is the most French of conductors; I mean that in this art he embodies sharpness. Grace and clarity are not uniquely French qualities: they are frequently found among the Italians and even some Germans. But sharpness is a French virtue, and nothing but French. M. André Messager has it to an exceptional degree, and it shows in how he writes, orchestrates, dresses, talks, and plays the piano. But it is when he conducts the orchestra that what one might call his organic sharpness shows itself most forcefully.<ref>Hahn, Reynaldo, in ''Musica'', September 1908, ''quoted'' in Duteurtre, p. 161</ref></blockquote>

===Recordings===
In 1918 Messager conducted recordings in New York, with the [[Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire]], of ''Les Chasseresses'' and ''Cortège de Bacchus'' from ''[[Sylvia (ballet)|Sylvia]]'' by [[Léo Delibes|Delibes]], Sérénade and Mules from ''Impressions d'Italie'' by Charpentier, the Bacchanale from ''Samson et Dalila'' and the Prelude to ''[[Le Déluge (Saint-Saëns)|Le Déluge]]'', both by Saint-Saëns, and 4½-minute extracts from ''[[Capriccio Espagnol|Capriccio espagnol]]'' by [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov|Rimsky-Korsakov]] and ''Le Rouet d'Omphale'' by Saint-Saëns.<ref>Holoman, D. Kern. [http://hector.ucdavis.edu/SdC/ Société des Concerts du Conservatoire] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070514034255/http://hector.ucdavis.edu/SdC/ |date=14 May 2007}}, Appendix 5: Discography, University of California Press, accessed 15 March 2018</ref> In Wagstaff's 1991 study of Messager, the list of recordings of the composer's music runs to 40 pages; 24 of his works are represented in the list of recordings up to that date.<ref>Wagstaff, pp. 116–156</ref>

[[File:VeroniquePoster1898.jpg|right|thumb|alt=brightly coloured theatre poster showing a festive grouping of characters from ''Veronique'', with the title of the piece in large letters|1898 Paris theatre poster]]

====Complete operas====
Complete recordings exist of several of Messager's stage works. There are three complete sets of ''Véronique''&nbsp;– a 1953 mono recording for the Société française du son conducted by [[Pierre Dervaux]],<ref>IPG LPs 115.194 and 115.195 {{OCLC|12915425}}</ref> a 1969 stereo [[EMI]] recording conducted by [[Jean-Claude Hartemann]],<ref>Pathé CD 2C 061-10175-6 {{OCLC|913181340}}</ref> and a 1998 recording sung in English, conducted by J. Lynn Thompson.<ref>Newport Classic CD B01AXLIKHA {{OCLC|40055914}}</ref> Other complete sets include ''L'Amour masqué'' (1970; conductor, Raymond Legrand),<ref>Musidisc CD 202992 {{OCLC|33084900}}</ref> ''La Basoche'' (1960; [[Tony Aubin]]),<ref>Musidisc CD 202572 {{OCLC|658849493}}</ref> ''Coups de roulis'' (1963; Marcel Cariven),<ref>Musidisc CD 202382 {{OCLC|715755700}}</ref> ''Fortunio'' (1987; [[John Eliot Gardiner]]),<ref>Erato CD 75390 {{OCLC|781315326}}</ref> ''Isoline'' (1947; [[Louis Beydts]]),<ref>Mémoire Vive, CD IMV051 {{OCLC|658706254}}</ref> ''Monsieur Beaucaire'' (1958; [[Jules Gressier]]),<ref>Musidisc CD 202412 {{OCLC|715753182}}</ref> ''[[Passionnément]]'' (1964; Jean-Paul Kreder; and 2021; Armando Noguera);<ref>Musidisc CD 201352 {{OCLC|711838247}} and Bru Zane CD set BZ1044 {{oclc|1285368932}}</ref> and ''Les p'tites Michu'' (2019; Pierre Dumoussaud).<ref>Bru Zane CD set BZ1034 {{oclc|1255919219}}</ref>

====Individual numbers====
Singers who have recorded individual numbers by Messager include role creators such as [[Jean Périer]] (''Véronique''), [[Lucien Fugère]] (''La Basoche''), Pierre Darmant and Yvonne Printemps (''L'Amour masqué''), Koval (''Passionnément''), Marcelle Denya (''Coups de roulis''),<ref>Cascavelle CD vel 3074 {{OCLC| 70210796}}</ref> and [[Maggie Teyte]] (''Monsieur Beaucaire''),<ref>EMI CD RLS716 (HLM7092B), also Naxos CD 8.110757-58 {{OCLC|53876242}}</ref> as well as other contemporaries – [[Aino Ackté]],<ref>Ondine CD ODE883-2 {{OCLC|884187702}}</ref> [[Emma Eames]],<ref>Romophone CD 81001-2 {{OCLC| 221802725}}</ref> and [[John McCormack (tenor)|John McCormack]]<ref>Naxos CD 8.112056 {{OCLC|806311278}}</ref> – whose recordings have been reissued on compact disc. Singers of the next generation who recorded Messager numbers included [[Georges Thill]] and [[Ninon Vallin]].<ref>O'Connor, Patrick. "Messager", ''Gramophone'', October 2004, p. 87</ref> More recent examples include [[Mady Mesplé]],<ref>Parlophone CD 5099909500358 {{OCLC| 885032491}}</ref> [[Susan Graham]],<ref>Erato CD 0927-42106-2  {{OCLC|634657927}}</ref> and [[Felicity Lott]].<ref>Virgin Classics CD 562406-2 {{OCLC|456094706}}</ref>

====Non-operatic recordings====
Of Messager's non-operatic works, his ''Messe des pêcheurs de Villerville'', written jointly with Fauré, has been recorded by, among others, [[Harmonia Mundi]], conducted by [[Philippe Herreweghe]] (1989).<ref>HMC CD 40 1292 {{OCLC| 913858730}}</ref> Messager's other collaboration with Fauré, the Wagner send-up ''Souvenirs de Bayreuth'', has been recorded by piano duettists including [[Kathryn Stott]] and [[Martin Roscoe]] (1995, Hyperion),<ref>Hyperion CD A66911/4 {{OCLC| 224489565}}</ref> and, in an orchestral arrangement, by the orchestra of the [[Bayreuth Festival]].<ref>Wagstaff, p. 141</ref> A suite from ''Les Deux Pigeons'' has been recorded several times, for example by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by [[Hugo Rignold]] (1948)<ref>HMV  CD C3778-9 {{OCLC|990251501}}</ref> and by [[Charles Mackerras]] (1958);<ref>HMV CD CLP1195 {{OCLC|173199753}}</ref> in 1993 Decca recorded the complete score with the Orchestra of [[Welsh National Opera]] conducted by [[Richard Bonynge]].<ref>Decca CD 433 700-2DH {{OCLC|903875897}}</ref> His ballet-pantomime ''Scaramouche'' was recorded by the [[Toulon Opera]] orchestra under Guillaume Tourniaire (2018).<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/title/scaramouche/oclc/1043251776&referer=brief_results ''Scaramouche''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181223030429/https://www.worldcat.org/title/scaramouche/oclc/1043251776%26referer%3Dbrief_results |date=23 December 2018 }}, Timpani [via WorldCat], accessed 21 December 2018 {{OCLC|1043251776}}</ref> The Symphony in A has been recorded by the Orchestre Symphonique du Mans, conducted by José-André Gendille (2001).<ref>Skarbo CD DSK3921 {{OCLC|913822265}}</ref> His ''Solo de concours'' – a test piece for clarinet and piano written at Fauré's request for the 1899 clarinet contest at the Paris Conservatoire, demonstrating the clarinettist's skill in both cantabile and virtuoso passages – has been recorded numerous times.<ref>MacDonald, Calum (2010), Notes to Chandos CD CHAN 10615 {{oclc|873511589}}; notes to BIS-SACD-1823 {{oclc|823753704}}; notes to Centaur CD CRC2808 {{oclc|1271472310}}; notes to Warner Classics CD 190296458729 {{oclc|1315489864}}</ref>

==List of works==
===Stage works (except ballets)===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align: left; margin-right: 0;"
|+ {{Sronly|List of stage works by André Messager}}
! scope="col" |Title
! scope="col" |Genre
! scope="col" |Year
! scope="col" |Acts
! scope="col" |Librettists
! scope="col" |Notes
|-
| ''Les Païens''<br><small>The Pagans</small>
| opérette
| 1876
| ?
| [[Henri Meilhac]]
| {{refn|Collaboration with [[Gaston Serpette]], [[Charles-Marie Widor]], [[Jules Massenet]] and [[Léo Delibes]]. The score is lost.<ref>Wagstaff, p. 44</ref>|group= n}}
|-
| ''[[François les bas-bleus]]''<br><small>François the [[Bluestocking]]</small>
| opéra comique
| 1883
| 3
| Ernest Dubreuil, Eugène Humbert and [[Paul Burani]]
| {{refn|Completion of work begun by [[Firmin Bernicat|Bernicat]]. The first London production was presented by [[Kate Santley]] in 1885 under the title ''François the Radical'';<ref name=ftr>"Reopening of the Royalty", ''The Era'', 11 April 1885, p. 8</ref> it was given in the US in 1886 as ''Victor, the [[Bluestocking]]'',<ref name=fus>[http://digital.chipublib.org/digital/collection/CPB01/id/475 "Victor, the Bluestocking"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413043614/http://digital.chipublib.org/digital/collection/CPB01/id/475 |date=13 April 2018 }}, Grand Opera House, Chicago, 8 March 1886; and Franceschina, [https://books.google.com/books?id=R4tEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT88 "Loesch, George"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328143628/https://books.google.com/books?id=R4tEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT88 |date=28 March 2023 }} section.</ref> and a new version was staged in Britain in 1894 by the [[Carl Rosa Opera Company]] under the title ''Fanchette'', with English words by Oscar Weill.<ref>"The Rosa Opera Season", ''Liverpool Mercury'', 15 January 1894, p. 6</ref>|group= n}}
|-
| ''Gisèle''
| opérette
| c. 1884–5
| 3
| F. Oswald and [[Maxime Boucheron]]
| {{refn|Lost score.<ref>Wagstaff, pp. 47–48</ref>|group= n}}
|-
| ''[[La fauvette du temple|La Fauvette du temple]]''<br><small>The Temple Songbird</small>
| opéra comique
| 1885
| 3
| Eugène Humbert and Paul Burani
|{{refn|The London production (1891), under the one-word title ''Fauvette'', had English words by Alfred Rae.<ref>"Fauvette", ''The Era'', 21 November 1891 p. 12</ref>|group= n}}
|-
| ''[[La Béarnaise]]''<br><small>The Woman from Béarn</small>
| opéra comique
| 1885
| 3
| [[Eugène Leterrier]] and [[Albert Vanloo]]
|{{refn|The London production (1886) was given under the original French title, with a text translated and adapted by Alfred Murray.<ref>"The New Comic Opera at The Prince of Wales's", ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', 5 October 1886, pp. 4–5</ref> An American production (1887) was given under the title ''Jacquette'', with a text adapted by [[J. Cheever Goodwin]].<ref>"Jacquette", The Era, 2 July 1887, p. 16</ref>|group= n}}
|-
| ''Le Petit Poucet''<br><small>Tom Thumb</small>
| féerie
| 1885
| 4
| Eugène Leterrier, Albert Vanloo and [[Arnold Mortier]]
|{{refn|Messager composed the music for the third-act ballet of this divertissement.<ref>Noël and Stoullig, pp. 354–356</ref>|group= n}}
|-
| ''[[Le bourgeois de Calais|Le Bourgeois de Calais]]''<br><small>The Burgher of Calais</small>
| opéra comique
| 1887
| 3
| Ernest Dubreuil and Paul Burani
|
|-
| ''Les premières armes de Louis XV''<br><small>The First Conquest of Louis XV</small>
| opéra comique
| 1888
| 3
| [[Albert Carré]]
| {{refn|Enlarged version of Bernicat's ''Les beignets du roi'', 1882.<ref>Wagstaff, p. 49</ref>|group= n}}
|-
| ''[[Isoline (opera)|Isoline]]''
| conte des fées
| 1888
| 3
| [[Catulle Mendès]]
|
|-
| ''[[Le mari de la reine|Le Mari de la reine]]''<br><small>The Queen's Husband</small>
| opérette
| 1889
| 3
| [[Ernest Grenet-Dancourt]] and [[Octave Pradels]]
|
|-
| ''[[La Basoche]]''<br><small>The Guild</small>
| opéra comique
| 1890
| 3
| Albert Carré
|{{refn|The English version, presented in London in 1891 as ''The Basoche'', was adapted by [[Augustus Harris]] and [[Eugène Oudin]].<ref name=REO/> A new adaptation by [[Madeleine Lucette Ryley]] was produced in Chicago and New York in 1893.<ref>Gänzl, p. 120</ref>|group= n}}
|-
| [[Hélène (drama)|''Hélène'']]
| drame lyrique
| 1891
| 4
| [[Paul Delair]]
| {{refn|[[incidental music]] for play; 5 tableaux.<ref>Duteurtre, p. 170</ref>|group= n}}
|-
| ''[[Madame Chrysanthème (opera)|Madame Chrysanthème]]''<br><small>Madam Chrysanthemum</small>
| comédie-lyrique
| 1893
| 4
| [[Georges Hartmann]] and Alexandre André 
|
|-
| ''Miss Dollar''
| opérette
| 1893
| 3
| Charles Clairville and Albert Vallin
| {{refn|L. Lhérie is mentioned in Grove as a librettist but is not mentioned in the published score<ref>[http://petrucci.mus.auth.gr/imglnks/usimg/4/4c/IMSLP76151-PMLP153411-MESSAGER_-_Miss_Dollar.pdf ''Miss Dollar''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319004221/http://petrucci.mus.auth.gr/imglnks/usimg/4/4c/IMSLP76151-PMLP153411-MESSAGER_-_Miss_Dollar.pdf |date=19 March 2018 }}, IMSLP, accessed 18 March 2018</ref> or in the work-lists in the studies of Messager by Duteurtre and Wagstaff.<ref>Duteurtre, p. 171; and Wagstaff, p. 53</ref>|group= n}}
|-
| ''[[Mirette (opera)|Mirette]]''
| comic opera
| 1894
| 3
| [[Michel-Antoine Carré|Michel Carré]], [[Frederic Weatherly]], [[Percy Greenbank]] and [[Adrian Ross]]
| {{refn|Grove lists Hope Temple as another possible co-author;<ref name=grove/> Duteurtre names her unequivocally.<ref name=deut171>Duteurtre, p. 171</ref>|group= n}}
|-
| ''[[Le chevalier d'Harmental (opera)|Le Chevalier d'Harmental]]''<br><small>The Knight of Harmental</small>
| opéra comique
| 1896
| 5
| [[Paul Ferrier]]
|
|-
| ''La Fiancée en loterie''<br><small>The Raffled Bride</small>
| opérette
| 1896
| 3
| Camille de Roddaz and Alfred Douane
|
|-
| ''La Montagne enchantée''<br><small>The Enchanted Mountain</small>
| pièce fantastique
| 1897
| 5
| Albert Carré and [[Émile Moreau (playwright)|Émile Moreau]]
| {{refn|12 tableaux. Collaboration with [[Xavier Leroux]].<ref>[https://imslp.nl/imglnks/usimg/c/c6/IMSLP71893-PMLP74625-Messager_-_La_montagne_enchantee_VS.pdf ''La montagne enchantée''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326183636/https://imslp.nl/imglnks/usimg/c/c6/IMSLP71893-PMLP74625-Messager_-_La_montagne_enchantee_VS.pdf |date=26 March 2018 }}, IMSLP, accessed 18 March 2018</ref> Messager's contributions were the 3rd and 4th tableaux (of 12) and three other numbers.<ref name=deut171/>|group= n}}
|-
| ''[[Les P'tites Michu]]''<br><small>The Little Michus</small>
| opérette
| 1897
| 3
| [[Georges Duval (journalist)|Georges Duval]] and [[Albert Vanloo]]
|{{refn|Presented in an English version, ''The Little Michus'', with text adapted by [[Henry Hamilton (playwright)|Henry Hamilton]] and [[Percy Greenbank]] in 1905 in London and 1907 in New York.<ref>"Daly's Theatre", ''The Times'', 1 May 1905, p. 14; and [https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-little-michus-6322 "The Little Michus"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814103045/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-little-michus-6322 |date=14 August 2016 }}, Internet Broadway Database, accessed 13 April 2018</ref>|group= n}}
|-
| ''[[Véronique (operetta)|Véronique]]''
| opéra comique
| 1898
| 3
| Georges Duval and Albert Vanloo
|{{refn|The English version, under the original title, with text adapted by Henry Hamilton, Lilian Eldée and Percy Greenbank, was presented in London and New York in 1905.<ref>Wearing, p. 185; and [https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/veronique-4884 "Véronique"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514182057/http://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/veronique-4884 |date=14 May 2018 }}, Internet Broadway Database, accessed 13 April 2018</ref>|group= n}}
|-
| ''Les Dragons de l'impératrice''<br><small>The Empress's Dragoons</small>
| opéra comique
| 1905
| 3
| Georges Duval and Albert Vanloo
|
|-
| ''[[Fortunio (opera)|Fortunio]]''
| comédie lyrique
| 1907
| 5
| [[Gaston Arman de Caillavet]] and [[Robert de Flers]]
| {{refn|5 tableaux. The work was given in a four-act version at its first revival, in 1910.<ref>Letellier, p. 348; and Wagstaff, p. 57</ref>|group= n}}
|-
| ''[[Béatrice (opera)|Béatrice]]''
| légende lyrique
| 1914
| 4
| Gaston Arman de Caillavet and Robert de Flers
|
|-
| ''Cyprien, ôte ta main de là!''<br><small>Hands off, Cyprien!</small>
| fantaisie
| 1916
| 1
| [[Maurice Hennequin]]
|
|-
| ''[[Monsieur Beaucaire (opera)|Monsieur Beaucaire]]''
| romantic operetta
| 1919
| 3
| [[Frederick Lonsdale]] and Adrian Ross
|{{refn|The French adaptation, by André Rivoire and [[Pierre Veber]], was given in Paris in 1925 and ran for 333 performances in the first run and revivals.<ref name=mbnote>[http://194.254.96.55/cm/?for=fic&cleoeuvre=211 "Monsieur Beaucaire"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413234714/http://194.254.96.55/cm/?for=fic&cleoeuvre=211 |date=13 April 2018}}, ''L'encyclopédie multimedia de la comédie musicale théâtrale en France (1918–1944)'', accessed 13 April 2018</ref>|group= n}}

|-
| ''[[La petite fonctionnaire|La Petite Fonctionnaire]]''<br><small>The Post-Mistress</small>
| comédie musicale
| 1921
| 3
| [[Alfred Capus]] and Xavier Roux
|
|-
| ''[[L'amour masqué|L'Amour masqué]]''<br><small>Hidden Love</small>
| comédie musicale
| 1923
| 3
| [[Sacha Guitry]]
|
|-
| ''[[Passionnément]]''<br><small>Passionately</small>
| comédie musicale
| 1926
| 3
| Maurice Hennequin and [[Albert Willemetz]]
|
|-
| ''Deburau''
| musique de scène
| 1926
| 4
| Sacha Guitry
| {{refn|The score is dedicated to the memory of Fauré.<ref>Duteurtre, p. 117; and Wagstaff. p. 61</ref>|group= n}}
|-
|''[[Coups de roulis]]''<br><small>The Roll of the Ship</small>
| opérette
| 1928
| 3
| Albert Willemetz and [[Maurice Larrouy (writer)|Maurice Larrouy]]
|
|}
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}

===Ballets ===
Single act, except where shown
*''Fleur d'oranger'' 1878
*''Les Vins de France'' 1879
*''Mignons et vilains'' 1879
*''[[Les Deux Pigeons (ballet)|Les Deux Pigeons]]'' (2 acts) 1886
*''Scaramouche'' (2 acts) 1891 (with [[Georges Street]])
*''Amants éternels'' 1893
*'' Le Procès des roses'' 1896
*''Le Chevalier aux fleurs'' 1897 (with [[Raoul Pugno]])
*''Une aventure de [[Marie-Madeleine Guimard|la Guimard]]'' 1900

===Orchestral===
*Symphony in A major 1875
*''Loreley'', ballade for orchestra, c. 1880

===Chamber and instrumental===
*3 valses, piano 4 hands (1884)
*"Souvenirs de Bayreuth", piano 4 hands, with [[Gabriel Fauré]], c. 1888
*For solo piano (1889):
**Impromptu, Op.10
**Habañera, Op.11
**Menuet, Op.12
**Mazurka, Op.13
**Caprice polka, Op.14
**Valse, Op.15
**"Pavane des fées"
*Trois pièces, violin and piano (1897): Barcarolle, Mazurka, Sérénade
*Solo de concours, clarinet and piano (1899)

===Choral===
*''Don Juan et Haydée'' ([[Lord Byron|Byron]]), cantata,  c. 1875
*''Prométhée enchaîné'' (Georges Clerc), cantata, c. 1877
*''[[Messe des pêcheurs de Villerville]]'', with Gabriel Fauré, 1881, for choir with solo violin and [[harmonium]]; orchestral accompaniment added 1882.
{{col-break}}

===Songs===
For solo voice with orchestral accompaniment
*Sérénade (Louis Legendre), written for the play ''Colibri'', 1889
For solo voice with piano accompaniment
*"Regret d'avril" ([[Paul Armand Silvestre|Armand Silvestre]]) (1882)
*"Chanson de ma mie" ([[Théodore de Banville]]) (1882)
*"Mimosa" (Armand Silvestre) (1882)
*"Nouveau printemps" ([[Heinrich Heine]], translated by Georges Clerc), 5 songs (1885), dedicated to Fauré
*"Gavotte" – danse chantée (Théodore de Banville) (1887)
*"Chanson mélancolique" ([[Catulle Mendès]]) (1889)
*"La Chanson des cerises" (Armand Silvestre) (1889)
*"Neige rose" (Armand Silvestre) (1889)
*"Fleurs d'hiver" (Armand Silvestre) (1889)
*"O canto do Paris n'America" (unnamed) (1890)
*"À une fiancée" ([[Victor Hugo]]) (1891)
*"Arioso" ([[Paul Burani]]) (1891)
*"Ritournelle" ([[Henry Gauthier-Villars]]) (1894)
*"Chanson d'automne" ([[Paul Delair]]) (1894)
*"Chant d'amour" (Armand Silvestre) (1894)
*"Le Bateau rose" ([[Jean Richepin]]) (1894)
*"Douce chanson" (Émile Blémont) (1894)
*"Notre amour" (Armand Silvestre) (1896)
*"Aimons nous" (Emile Blémont) (1897)
*"Curly Locks" ([[Frederic Weatherly]]) (1897)
*"Amour d'hiver" (Armand Silvestre), 6 songs (1911)
*"Pour la patrie" (Victor Hugo) (1914)
*"La Paix de blanc vêtue" (Léon Lahovary) (1922)
*"Va chercher quelques fleurs" (Louis Aufauvre) (1922)
{{col-end}}

Sources: ''[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]''; L'académie nationale de l'opérette; and Wagstaff: ''André Messager''.<ref name =grove/><ref name=fournier/><ref>Wagstaff, pp. 44–81</ref>

==Notes, references and sources==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=n|colwidth=24em}}

===References===
{{Reflist|colwidth=25em}}

=== Sources===
* {{cite book | last = Augé-Laribé | first = Michel | title =  André Messager, musicien de théâtre | year = 1951 | location = Paris | language = fr | publisher = La Colombe | oclc = 43358730}}
* {{cite book | last = Bradley | first = Ian | author-link = Ian Bradley | year = 1996 | title = The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan | location = Oxford | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 978-0-19-816503-3 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/completeannotate00sull }}
* {{cite book | last = Buckle | first = Richard | author-link = Richard Buckle | title = Diaghilev | year = 1979 | location = London | publisher = Weidenfeld & Nicolson | isbn = 978-0-297-81377-4 }}
* {{cite book | last = Delage | first = Roger | author-link = Roger Delage | title = Emmanuel Chabrier | language = fr | year = 1999 | location = Paris | publisher = Fayard | isbn = 978-2-213-60508-1 }}
* {{cite book | last = Duteurtre | first = Benoît | author-link = Benoît Duteurtre | title = André Messager | year = 2003 | language = fr | location = Paris | publisher = Klincksieck | isbn = 978-2-252-03451-4}}
* {{cite book | last=Escoffier| first=Auguste | author-link=Auguste Escoffier| title=A Guide to Modern Cookery | year=1907 | location= London| publisher=Heinemann | url= https://archive.org/details/cu31924000610117|oclc= 560604907}}
* {{cite book | last= Février | first= Henry |author-link=Henry Février|language=fr| title= André Messager: mon maître, mon ami | year= 1948| location= Paris | publisher= Amiot-Dumont | oclc= 906458628}} 
* {{cite book | last= Franceschina | first= John | title= Incidental and Dance Music in the American Theatre from 1786 to 1923, Volume 3| year= 2018 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=R4tEDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover | location= Albany, Georgia| publisher= BearManor | isbn= 978-1-62933-237-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Gänzl|first=Kurt|year=2001|author-link=Kurt Gänzl|title=The Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, Volume 1|location=New York|edition=2nd|publisher=Schirmer Books|isbn=978-0-02-865572-7|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmu00ganz_0}}
* {{cite book | last = Grout | first = Donald Jay | author-link = Donald Jay Grout | author2 = Hermine Weigel Williams | title = A Short History of Opera | year = 2003 | location = New York | publisher = Columbia University Press | isbn = 978-0-231-11958-0 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofop0004grou }}       
* {{cite book | last = Hahn | first = Reynaldo | author-link = Reynaldo Hahn | title = L'oreille au guet | year = 1937| language = fr | location = Paris | publisher = Gallimard | oclc = 186981486}}
* {{cite book | last = Harding | first = James | author-link = James Harding (music writer) | title = Folies de Paris: The Rise and Fall of French Operetta | url = https://archive.org/details/foliesdeparisris0000hard | url-access = registration | year = 1979 | location = London | publisher = Elm Tree | isbn = 978-0-903443-28-9 }}
* {{cite book | last= Holoman | first= D. Kern | author-link = D. Kern Holoman |title= The Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, 1828–1967| year=2004 | location= Berkeley | publisher= University of California Press | isbn= 978-0-520-23664-6}}
* {{cite book | last= Hughes |author-link=Gervase Hughes| first= Gervase | title= Composers of Operetta | year= 1962| location= London | publisher= Macmillan | oclc= 460660877}}
* {{cite book | last = Hyman | first = Alan | author-link = Alan Hyman | title = Sullivan and his Satellites: A Survey of English Operettas 1860–1914 | year = 1978 | location = London and New York | publisher = Chappell | isbn = 978-0-903443-24-1}}
* {{cite book | last = Johnson | first = Graham | author-link = Graham Johnson (musician) | author2 = Richard Stokes | year = 2009 | title = Gabriel Fauré&nbsp;– The Songs and their Poets | location = Farnham, Kent and Burlington, Vermont | publisher = Ashgate | isbn = 978-0-7546-5960-0}}
* {{cite book | last = Jones | first = J. Barrie | title = Gabriel Fauré&nbsp;– A Life in Letters | year = 1988 | location = London | publisher = Batsford | isbn = 978-0-7134-5468-0 }}
* {{cite book | last = Lalo | first = Pierre | author-link = Pierre Lalo | title = De Rameau à Ravel: portraits et souvenirs | language = fr | year = 1947 | location = Paris | publisher = Michel | oclc = 216123140}}
* {{cite book | last=Letellier | first= Robert Ignatius | author-link = Robert Letellier | title=Operetta: A Sourcebook, Volume I | year= 2015| location= Newcastle upon Tyne | publisher= Cambridge Scholars| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=z5jWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA348|isbn=978-1-4438-6690-3 }} 
* {{cite book | last = Loewenberg | first = Alfred | title = Annals of Opera 1597–1940
 | year = 1978 | edition = Third | url = https://archive.org/details/AnnalesOfOpera1597-1940 | location = London | publisher = John Calder | isbn = 978-0-7145-3657-6 }}
* {{cite book | last=Martin | first=Kathy | title=Famous Brand Names and Their Origins | year=2016 | location= Barnsley, Yorkshire| publisher=Pen and Sword Books | isbn=978-1-78159-015-7 }} 
* {{cite book | last = Morrison | first = Richard | title = Orchestra: The LSO: a Century of Triumph and Turbulence| author-link = Richard Morrison (music critic) |  location = London | publisher = Faber and Faber | year = 2004 | isbn = 978-0-571-21584-3 }}
* {{cite book | last = Myers | first = Rollo | title = Emmanuel Chabrier and his Circle | location = Rutherford, NJ | publisher = Fairleigh Dickinson University Press | year = 1970 | isbn = 978-0-8386-7833-6 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/emmanuelchabrier0000myer }}
* {{cite book | last = Nectoux | first = Jean-Michel | author-link = Jean-Michel Nectoux | year = 1991 | title = Gabriel Fauré&nbsp;– A Musical Life | location = Cambridge | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn = 978-0-521-23524-2 | others = [[Roger Nichols (musical scholar)|Roger Nichols]] (trans)}}
* {{cite book | last = Nichols | first = Roger | author-link = Roger Nichols (musical scholar) |year = 1987 | title = Ravel Remembered | location = London | publisher = Faber and Faber | isbn = 978-0-571-14986-5}}
* {{cite book | last=Nichols | first=Roger | author2= Richard Langham Smith | title= Claude Debussy : Pelléas et Mélisande | year= 1999| location= Cambridge | publisher= Cambridge University Press | isbn= 978-0-521-30714-7| author2-link=Richard Langham Smith }} 
* {{cite book | last= Noël | first= Édouard |author2= Edmond Stoullig |title= Les Annales du théâtre et de la musique | year=1886 |url= http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k549593/f383.image | location= Paris|language=fr| publisher= G. Charpentier | oclc= 183361820}}
* {{cite book | last= Orledge | first= Robert | author-link = Robert Orledge | title= Debussy and the Theatre | year=1982 | location= Cambridge | publisher= Cambridge University Press | isbn= 978-0-521-22807-7}} 
* {{cite book | last = Pearson | first = Hesketh | author-link = Hesketh Pearson | title = Gilbert and Sullivan | year = 1954 | location = Harmondsworth, UK | publisher = Penguin | oclc = 31472883}}
* {{cite book | last = Rohozinski | first = Ladislas | title = Cinquante ans de musique française: de 1874 à 1925 | year = 1925 | language = fr | location = Paris | publisher = Librairie de France | oclc = 163015618}}
* {{cite book | last = Rollins | first = Cyril | year = 1962 | author2 = R. John Witts | title = The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Gilbert and Sullivan Operas: A Record of Productions, 1875–1961 | location = London | publisher = Michael Joseph | oclc = 504581419}}
* {{cite book | last = Rosenthal | first = Harold | author-link = Harold Rosenthal | title = Two Centuries of Opera at Covent Garden | year = 1958 | location = London | publisher = Putnam | oclc = 593682}}
* {{cite book | last = Shaw | first = Bernard | author-link = George Bernard Shaw | others = Dan H. Laurence (ed) | title = Shaw's Music&nbsp;– The Complete Musical Criticism of Bernard Shaw | year = 1981 | location = London | publisher = The Bodley Head}}
**Volume II: {{ISBN|978-0-370-31271-2}}
**Volume III: {{ISBN|978-0-370-31272-9}}
* {{cite book | last = Traubner | first = Richard | author-link = Richard Traubner | title = Operetta: A Theatrical History | year = 2003 | location = London | publisher = Routledge | isbn = 978-0-415-96641-2 }}
* {{cite book | last = Vaughan | first = David | author-link = David Vaughan (dance archivist) | title = Frederick Ashton and his Ballets | year = 1977 | location = London | publisher = A & C Black | isbn = 978-0-7136-1689-7}}
* {{cite book | last = Wagstaff | first = John | title = André Messager: A Bio-Bibliography | year = 1991 | location = New York | publisher = Greenwood Press | isbn = 978-0-313-25736-0 }}
* {{cite book | last = Wearing| first = J. P. | author-link = J. P. Wearing | title = The London Stage, 1900–1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel | year = 2014 | edition = second | location = Lanham, Maryland | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=o5JWAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover | publisher = Greenwood Press | isbn = 978-0-8108-9294-1 }}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last = Mirambeau| first = Christophe| title = André Messager. Le passeur de siècle | year = 2018| publisher = [[Actes Sud]] | isbn = 978-2-330-10264-7}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|André Messager}}

* [http://musicaltheatreguide.com/composers/messager/messager_andre.htm List of stage works by Messager] at The Guide to Light Opera and Operetta
* [https://atom.lib.byu.edu/obps/search/?adv=person%3Amessager List of works by Messager] at the Index to Opera and Ballet Sources Online
* {{IMSLP|id=Messager, André}}
* {{ChoralWiki}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjtw3x_Uhsc Video feature on ''The Two Pigeons''] at [[The Royal Ballet]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpwFEFaONrk Video feature on ''Solo de concours'']

{{s-start}}
{{s-culture}}
{{succession box | title=[[Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire|Principal conductors, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire]] | before=[[Georges Marty]] | years=1908–1919 | after=[[Philippe Gaubert]]}}
{{Succession box
  |title=director of the [[Paris Opera]]
  |before=[[Pedro Gailhard]]
  |after= [[Philippe Gaubert]]
  |years=1908–1914}}
{{s-end}}
{{André Messager}}
{{Opéra-Comique music directors}}
{{Authority control}}
{{portal bar|Classical music|France}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Messager, Andre}}
[[Category:1853 births]]
[[Category:1929 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at Passy Cemetery]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:French ballet composers]]
[[Category:French male conductors (music)]]
[[Category:French opera composers]]
[[Category:French male opera composers]]
[[Category:French operetta composers]]
[[Category:Members of the Académie des beaux-arts]]
[[Category:Music directors (opera)]]
[[Category:Directors of the Paris Opera]]
[[Category:People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan]]
[[Category:People from Montluçon]]
[[Category:Pupils of Camille Saint-Saëns]]
[[Category:Chief conductors of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire]]