most highly gifted composers of his age. Noticeably in his other works,
preeminently in this, he has shown a melodic freshness and fertility,
a mastery of musical form, a power of orchestration, and a dramatic
energy, which are combined to the same degree in no one of his rivals.
Therefore it is just to place him in the first rank of contemporary
composers.

IV.

Among contemporary French composers there is no name which suggests
itself in comparison with that of Gounod so worthily as that of Ambroise
Thomas, famous in every country where the opera is a favorite form of
public amusement, as the author of "Mignon" and "Hamlet." Lacking the
depth and passion of Gounod, he is distinguished by a peculiar sparkle,
grace, and Gallic lightness of touch; and if we do not find in him the
earnestness and spiritual significance of his rival's conceptions,
there is, on the other hand, in the works of Thomas, a glow of poetic
sentiment which invests them with a charming atmosphere, peculiarly
their own. Perhaps in his own country Thomas enjoys a repute still
higher than that of Gounod, for his genius is more peculiarly French,
while the composer of "Faust" shows the radical influence of the German
school, not only in the cast of his thoughts and temperament, but in his
technical musical methods. Still, as all artists are profoundly moved
by the tendencies of their age, it would not be difficult to find in the
later works of Thomas, on which his celebrity is based, some unconscious
modeling of form wrought by that musical school of which Richard Wagner
is the most advanced type.

Ambroise Thomas was born at Metz, France, on August 5, 1811, and is
therefore by seven years the senior of Charles Gounod. His aptitudes for
music were so strong that he learned the notes as quickly as he acquired
the letters of the alphabet. At the age of four he was instructed in his
_solfeggi_ by his father, who was a professor of music, and three years
later he began to take lessons on the violin and piano. When he was
seventeen he was thoroughly proficient in all the preparatory studies
demanded for admission to the Paris Conservatoire, and he easily
obtained admission into that great institution. He first studied under
Zimmermann and Kalkbrenner, and afterward under Dourlen, Barbereau, Le
Sueur, and Reicha. For successive years he carried off first prizes: for
the piano in 1829; for harmony, in 1830; and in 1832 the highest honor
in composition