Henri Christiné

Henri Marius Christiné (27 December 1867 – 25 November 1941) was a French composer of Swiss birth.

The son of a French Savoyard watchmaker, Christiné was born in Geneva, Switzerland. He began by teaching at the lycée in Geneva, while pursuing his interest in music and playing organ in a local church. He married a cafe singer whose troupe was passing through Geneva, and went with her to Nice where they were married. He made his home in France, writing songs firstly for his wife and then for popular singers such as Mayol, Dranem, and Fragson. He also conducted for the music hall at the Place Clichy.

Although Christiné wrote some operettas for the Scala theatre in Paris before the First World War, his career took off when he had his operetta Phi-Phi staged the day of the Armistice on 11 November 1918, with words by Albert Willemetz and Fabien Solar and which ran for three years at the Bouffes-Parisiens. This success was followed by Dédé in 1921, Madame (1923) and J'adore ça (1925). These works were in the forefront of a new fashion in music-theatre: sparkling, witty, jazzy musical plays. Christiné's tunes often build on repeated refrains of six or seven notes (a 'hook') which made them catchy and popular for contemporary audiences.

In the 1930s Christiné contributed to the renewed fashion for more large-scale spectacular musicals, with pieces for the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Au temps des Merveilleuses and Yana; for these he wrote the more vibrant numbers, while Richepin did the romantic songs. "Le Bonheur, Mesdames" and "Le Flirt ambulant" were rearrangements of his songs from the 1900s. He died in Nice, France.

Phi-Phi and Dédé are still occasionally revived in France.

Birth and Death Data: Born December 27, 1867 (Geneva), Died November 25, 1941 (Paris)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1905 - 1953

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, lyricist, songwriter, arranger

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 51-71 of 71 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Columbia (U.K.) WL2686 10-in. 12/24/1930 Java et Java Pierre Chagnon ; Georges Milton ; Orchestre de Jazz Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WL2733 10-in. 1/14/1931 Polka des camelots René Derval Male vocal solo, with accordion and piano composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WL3156 10-in. 6/4/1931 Mais on n'y pense pas! Pierre Chagnon ; Montel Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WL3696 10-in. 5/4/1932 Le long du Missouri Pierre Chagnon ; Priolet Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) CL4741 10-in. 3/6/1934 Un petit négro Marcel Carivan ; Michel Simon Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) CL4742 10-in. 3/6/1934 Elle est épatante Marcel Carivan ; Michel Simon Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) CL4807 10-in. 4/11/1934 Je sais que vous êtes jolie André Ekyan ; Django Reinhardt ; Jean Sablon ; Alec Siniavine Male vocal solo, with guitar, clarinet, and piano composer  
Columbia (U.K.) CL5057 10-in. 10/15/1934 Je m'donne Pierre Chagnon ; Albert Préjean Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble composer  
Columbia (U.K.) CL5058 10-in. 10/15/1934 Dans la vie faut pas s'en faire Pierre Chagnon ; Albert Préjean Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble composer  
Columbia (U.K.) CL5063 10-in. 10/15/1934 Pour bien réussir dans la chaussure Pierre Chagnon ; Albert Préjean Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble composer  
Columbia (U.K.) CL5565 10-in. 1/17/1936 On m'appelle "la poule" Pierre Chagnon ; Adrien Lamy Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble composer  
Columbia (U.K.) CL5566 10-in. 1/17/1936 Ah! La belle époque Pierre Chagnon ; Adrien Lamy ; Blanche Montel Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble composer  
Columbia (U.K.) CL5568 10-in. 1/17/1936 Chéri Robert Burnier ; Pierre Chagnon ; Blanche Montel Female-male vocal duet, with instrumental ensemble composer  
Columbia (U.K.) CL6815 10-in. 10/13/1938 Reviens Marcel Carivan ; Tino Rossi Male vocal solo, with orchestra songwriter  
Columbia (U.K.) CL7146 10-in. 11/10/1939 Tommy et la petite française Lucienne Boyer Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble composer  
Columbia (U.K.) CL7354 10-in. 11/6/1940 Sélection de l'opérette "Phi-Phi" Raymond Legrand ; Raymond Legrand Orchestra Instrumental ensemble composer  
Columbia (U.K.) CL7355 10-in. 11/6/1940 Sélection de l'opérette "Phi-Phi" Raymond Legrand ; Raymond Legrand Orchestra Instrumental ensemble composer  
Columbia (U.K.) CL7371 10-in. 12/27/1940 Succès d'hier & de toujours Eva Busch ; Jacques Météhen Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble songwriter  
Columbia (U.K.) CL7906 10-in. 3/9/1944 Malgré tes serments Aimé Barelli ; Lucienne Delyle Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble lyricist  
Columbia (U.K.) CL8545 10-in. 4/26/1948 Malgré tes serments Aimé Barelli ; Lucienne Delyle Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble lyricist  
Columbia (U.K.) CL9478 10-in. 6/10/1953 Ma tonkinoise Josephine Baker ; Jo Bouillon Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble songwriter  
(Results 51-71 of 71 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Christiné, Henri," accessed April 19, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/104063.

Christiné, Henri. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 19, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/104063.

"Christiné, Henri." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 19 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/104063

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