January Resources

Meet the Composer- Jacques Offenbach

Jacques Offenbach was a German-born French composer, cellist, and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. 

His best-known works were continually revived during the 20th century, and many of his operettas continue to be staged in the 21st. The Tales of Hoffmann remains part of the standard opera repertory.

Born in Cologne, Offenbach showed early musical talent. At the age of 14, he was accepted as a student at the Paris Conservatoire.

 From 1835 to 1855 he earned his living as a cellist, achieving international fame, and as a conductor. His ambition, however, was to compose comic pieces for the musical theatre. Finding the management of Paris' Opéra-Comique company uninterested in staging his works, in 1855 he leased a small theatre in the Champs-Élysées. There he presented a series of his small-scale pieces, many of which became popular including the Can Can!

Can Can- Percussion Instruments