Jean Prosper Guivier ( – 18 November 1862), also later known as Prospère, was a French musician, best known for his solo performances in the orchestra of Louis-Antoine Jullien. The son of a Napoleonic soldier, he was brought up in the army before enrolling at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he was expelled. As an early exponent of the ophicleide, Guivier became one of Jullien's core of elite musicians along with other soloists such as Herman Koenig. Ill health forced him to reduce his musical engagements during the 1850s and he supplemented his income by dealing and consulting on the design of brass instruments. He retired to Marseille in 1860, where he died.
Early years Jean Prosper Guivier was born in Antakalnis, a district in Vilnius, Lithuania, the son of Etienne Simon Guivier (1780–1829), a Napoleonic soldier of the (106th Line Infantry Regiment)Registres Matricules de la Garde Imperiale et l'Infanterie de Ligne, SHD/GR 21 YC 773, Château de Vincennes, Paris http://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/ark:/40699/e0052ab9a960c079/52ab9a977cee9 and Hélène or Marie-Hélène Odino or Odinot (1786–1857). He was born in Vilnius shortly before his parents were released and returned to France after the disastrous Russian Campaign.1er contrôle des élèves du 15 mai 1822 au 31 décembre 1835, CARAN archives, Paris, AJ37 352*, p.191 The exact date of birth is not known; his birth certificate states that he was born on 28 February and christened on 30 February (Julian Calendar).Birth certificate for Jean Prosper Guivier, Lithuanian State Historical Archives, Fund 604, Description 10, Year 1814, File 189, p.128v His baptismal certificate states that he was born on 30 February and baptised on 1 March (Julian calendar),Copy of baptismal certificate for Jean Prosper Guivier, Royal Society of Musicians, London while later documents give his birth date as 1 March, 'the last day of February (old style)',Copy of marriage contract for Jean Prosper Guivier, Royal Society of Musicians, London or 19 March.Illustrated London News, 24 June 1843 Assuming his date of birth to be 28 February, this would give his date of birth as 12 March in the Gregorian calendar.
Jean Prosper had four brothers, Simon Antoine (born 1804),Registres Matricules de la Garde Imperiale et l'Infanterie de Ligne, SHD/GR 21 YC 774, Château de Vincennes, Paris http://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/arkotheque/inventaires/ead_ir_consult.php?fam=10&ref=23&le_id=868 Napoléon Nicolas (1806–1827), Joseph (1816–1871)Tables décennales, Archives de DoubsTables décennales, Archives de Marseille and Jean Baptiste (1818–1860)Tables décennales, Archives de Lyon and grew up in the barracks of the which was garrisoned on a rotational basis, generally moving each year.Annuaires de l'état Militaire de France In 1820, the legion was combined with 2e battalion, and renamed the Smith, Digby. Napoleon's Regiments, first edition, Greenhill Books, London, 2000, pp. 96-97 (in 1840 renamed the ).
Etienne's wife was a cantinière, officially engaged by the army as a seller of goods or as a launderess for his company and while no records of her employment have been found, the fact is known by their right to bring up their sons within the regiment. Each of the boys in turn became an enfant de troupe from the age of two years,Registre Matricule, Légion du Doubs, SHD/GR 33 YC 42Registre Matricule, Légion du Doubs, SHD/GR 33 YC 43 receiving education, a wage, uniform and when old enough, apprenticeship to a trade which appears for each boy to have been musical training. At the age of 13, Jean Prosper was present at the Battle of Navarino on 20 October 1827 on board the Scipion. On 13 May 1828, he deserted the regimentRegistre Matricule, Légion du Doubs, SHD/GR 33 YC 2008 and took a position, probably as a musician-gagiste, a civilian musician, in the suite of General Camille Alphonse Trezel, Assistant Chief of the General Staff who was returning to the Morea to oversee the withdrawal of Egyptian and Turkish troops and the handing over of Greece to its people. He was also required to work in the commissariat, a role which he found intensely tedious. By now, he had adopted the pseudonym Prospère, later claiming that this had been to distinguish himself from his four brothers whilst still in the army.
In Paris By 1832, Prospère had returned to France and enrolled as a student of the horn ("1er Cor") at the Conservatoire de Paris. However, he was expelled for non-attendance within three months as shown in the register, where it states "rayé, pour cause d'abs. le 1er janv. 1833".
A possible contributory factor in his decision to leave formal musical education may have been his interest in the ophicleide, a large, keyed, brass instrument, a precursor to the tuba, and which replaced the serpent in romantic orchestras. At this time, it was still a new instrument and was not yet taught at the Conservatoire.
It was while Prospère was in Paris that he became acquainted with the conductor and composer Louis Julien or Jullien (23 April 1812 – 14 March 1860). A former bandmaster in the French navy and then briefly a soldier in the ,New York Times, 31 March 1860 (Obituaries) See also a biography of the early life of Jullien which appeared in The Musical World, vol.31, nos. 20-30. Also 'Jullien, Louis', The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 13, p. 281 he attended the Conservatoire after Jean Prosper from 26 October 1833 to 1 May 1836,1er contrôle des élèves du 15 mai 1822 au 31 décembre 1835, CARAN archives, Paris, AJ37 352*, p.217 but he too was expelled, apparently due to his preference for lighter forms of music. From 1836 to 1838 Jullien conducted the band of the Jardin Turc on the Boulevard du Temple, playing music from military marches and introducing many Parisians to the latest operatic music, simplified and played as quadrilles, largely emulating the concerts of Philippe Musard. By 1838, Prospère was playing the ophicleide in Jullien's concerts at the Jardin Turc.Carse, Adam. The Life of Jullien, first edition, W. Heffer & Sons, Cambridge, 1951, p. 32. See also Riviere, Jules. My Musical Life and Recollections, Sampson, Low, Marston & Co., London, 1893, p.42
Jean Prosper married Louise Barbary (25 March 1816 – 28 June 1900) in her home town of Avesnes-sur-Helpe, northern France on 5 March 1838. Returning to Paris, they lived at 3, Rue Capron, Batignolles Monceau in the Parisian arrondissement of Saint-Denis where their first child, Hyacinthe Palmire Hélène, was born on 30 December 1838.Copy of Baptism certificate for Hyacinthe Helen Their second daughter, Hélèna, was born c. 1840.Actes (décès) 1843-52, Etat Civil, Avesnes-Sur-Helpe
In London In the autumn of 1840, Prospère arrived in London for a season of Concerts d'Hiver at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, beginning on 8 October and conducted by Philippe Musard.Playbills mircofilm no. 28, British Library Playbills advertising the forthcoming season state that this is Musard's first public appearance in England, and lists several musicians, including Prospère, who are making their English debut. Prospère's first advertised solo was given on 5 November, playing pieces from the opera Les Huguenots by Giacomo Meyerbeer. With Musard's return to Paris at the end of the season, Jullien established his residency in London, performing summer and winter seasons and extensive provincial toursPlaybills microfilms, British Library. See also the popular weekly journals such as The Era, The Morning Chronicle and the Illustrated London News throughout Great Britain almost continuously until 1859,Carse, Adam. The Life of Jullien, first edition, W. Heffer & Sons, Cambridge, 1951, pp. 11-12 except when he left for an extended tour of the US from February 1853 to May 1854, in which Prospère did not accompany him.The Musical World, vol XXXI, no 31, p.476 for a full list of players in Julliens USA tour Between Jullien's rigorous schedules, Prospère found work elsewhere, at promenade concerts and music festivals.
Jean Prosper and Louise's son Joseph Prosper was born at Louise's parents' home on Rue de Mons, Avesnes-sur-Helpe on 26 October 1842.Actes (naissances) 1838-42, Etat Civil, Avesnes-Sur-Helpe Once Prospère had been established in London for about two years with regular work, he arranged for his wife and children to come to England as soon as was convenient. Tragically, shortly before the family could travel, three-year-old Hélèna died on 19 February 1843. Despite this, Prospère made appearances at the Birmingham Music Festival and the Hanover Square Rooms, performing on the colossal monstre, a contrabass ophicleide, and made himself available for an interview and portrait with the Illustrated London News. The Guivier family's first London address may have been 1 York Street, Strand,Birth certificate for Henriette Marie Louise Guivier, year: 1844, Quarter: Jul-Sept, District: Strand, Vol. 1, p.379 where Henriette Marie Louise was born on 24 July 1844.
Prospère's professional engagements included performing for Royalty, at five state balls at Buckingham Palace on 15 April 1842,' 'Morning Advertiser' ', 16 April 1842, p.3 24 July 1843,' 'London Evening Standard' ', 25 July 1843, p.1 19 May 1845,The Morning Chronicle, 20 May 1845, Issue 23576 'Court Circular' (News) 26 June 1850,Freeman's Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser, 28 June 1850 'Fashionable Intelligence' (Arts and Entertainment) and 13 June 1851' 'Bell's Weekly Messenger' ', 14 June 1851, p.1 each of which were attended by around two thousand people.
Perhaps in an appeal to aficionados of more purely classical music, Prospère undertook engagements with some of London's leading orchestras including that of the Philharmonic Society between his regular seasons with Jullien as early as Spring 1846.London Daily News, 13 March 1846, p.6 Meanwhile, in the Summer of that year, he played for Jullien's Concerts d'Été, temporarily substituting his ophicleide for "his newly-invented instrument called the serpentcleide",Daily News, 30 June 1846, Issue 26 (Classified Adverts) an instrument closely related to the ophicleide, but made of wood.
Upon the reopening of the Royal Italian Opera in April 1847, Prospère joined the resident orchestra,The Morning Chronicle, 24 February 1847, Issue 24130 (Classified Adverts) while continuing to play for Jullien's orchestra in the seasons of Concerts d'Été and d'Hiver. On 4 February 1849, Prospère joined the Royal Society of Musicians in London.Application papers to the Royal Society of Musicians By this time, Jean Prosper and his family had moved house to 26 Brydges Street, Covent Garden. His successful application was fortunate, as medical complications forced Prospère to approach the RSM nine years later for financial relief.
Prospère occasionally appeared publicly with his daughter Hyacinthe Hélène, who accompanied him on the piano.The Era, 3 April 1853, Issue 758 (News) So well known was Prospère's name and reputation that he was occasionally referred to in metaphor. A newspaper journalist's analysis of a lacklustre cricket match between St John's, Westminster and Kingston, is disparaging of the last-minute rearranging of the fielders. They should evidently have been kept to allotted positions in accordance with their individual strengths. He argues by way of comparison "A Prospere, great as he is on the ophicleide, would cut a sorry figure at first fiddle."The Era, 18 September 1853, Issue 782 'Cricket' (Sports)