Although his father was a boarding school master and the author of multiple school manuals, Brazier's education was however strongly neglected due to the
French Revolution. At first a jeweller's apprentice, then employed in the "Droits réunis" (the French
indirect taxes administration of the time), he showed a talent for verse and was encouraged and guided by
Armand Gouffé. Following his first success at the Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques, in 1803, he left his job to devote himself to chansons and to the theatre, following courses at school to fill in the gaps in his education. His witty, spirited and lively
chansons often proved popular, though the vulgarity of his style has led to them being forgotten. The
Société du Caveau keeps their memory alive. Brazier collaborated on over 200 witty vaudeville pieces, above all on the couplets. His collaborators included
Dumersan,
Désaugiers,
Merle,
Mélesville,
Théaulon,
Carmouche, etc. The best known of his pieces are :
le Soldat laboureur;
les Cuisinières;
les Bonnes d’enfants;
le Ci-devant jeune homme;
Le Coin de rue;
Les Cuisinières;
Préville et Taconnet;
la Carte à payer;
La Laitière de Montfermeil;
le Savetier et le Financier;
Je fais mes farces;
le Philtre champenois; etc. Brazier also wrote a
Histoire des petits théâtres de Paris (Paris, 1838, 2 vol. in-8), a light, amusing, useful and curious chronicle, despite its errors. Besides a chanson collection in honour of the
Bourbons, under the title
Souvenirs de dix ans (Paris, 1824), two editions of his other couplets survive (Paris, 1835, 1836). He wrote, in the Vert-Vert, a series of articles on
les Abbés chansonniers, etc. ==References==