Ferdinand Lemaire

Ferdinand Lemaire (1832–1879)[1] was a French librettist and poet, best known for writing the libretto of Camille Saint-Saëns's opera Samson et Dalila.

Lemaire was a creole, originally from Martinique, and had married a cousin of Saint-Saëns's wife. Saint-Saëns had previously set two of his poems, “Souvenance” and “Tristesse”, for voice and piano.[2] Approached by the composer to write an oratorio on the story of Samson and Delilah, Lemaire agreed, but only if the work was to be an opera.[3]

  1. ^ Article on the opera by Heinz Wallisch
  2. ^ ""The Libretto and Source of Saint-Saëns Samson and Delilah"". Archived from the original on 2006-08-21. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
  3. ^ Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1992). The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, vol 3, p. 1141. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-522186-2.