Etienne Henri (or Nicolas) Méhul (June 24, 1763 - October 18, 1817), was a French composer. June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 190 days remaining. ... 1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in Leap years). ... 1817 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... A composer is a person who writes music. ...

He was born at Givet in Ardennes. His father being too poor to give him a regular musical education, his first lessons came from a poor blind organist of Givet; yet such was his aptitude that, when ten years old, he was appointed organist of the convent of the Récollets. In 1775 a German musician and organist, Wilhelm Hauser, was engaged for the monastery of Lavaldieu, a few miles from Givet, and Méhul became his occasional pupil. Givet is a town in the Ardennes (département) of France very close to the Belgian border. ... The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests and rolling hill country (its highest point is under 700 m), primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France (lending its name to the Ardennes département and the Champagne-Ardenne région) and Germany, where this range is known as... 1775 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1778 he was taken to Paris by a military officer, and placed himself under Edelmann, a harpsichord player. His first attempts at instrumental composition in 1781 did not succeed, and he therefore turned his attention to sacred and dramatic music. Gluck gave him advice in his studies. 1785 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... A harpsichord is the general term for a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument nowadays called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ... 1781 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Christoph Willibald Gluck (July 2, 1714 – November 15, 1787) was a German composer. ...

After various disappointments during his efforts for six years to obtain, at the Grand Opéra, a production of his Cora et Alonzo, he offered to the Opéra Comique his Euphrosine et Coradin, which, being accepted and performed in 1790, at once fixed his reputation. His opera, Stratonice, was also received with enthusiasm in 1792. After several less successful productions, his Adrien appeared, and his fame was further increased by his three best works, La jeunesse d'Henri IV, Uthal and Joseph, the finest of the series. Uthal was written for an orchestra without violins. 1792 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Méhul held a post as one of the four inspectors of the Paris Conservatoire, though this office made him feel continually the insufficiency of his early studies. Timoléon, Ariodant and Bion followed. Epicure was composed by Méhul, and Cherubini jointly; but the superiority of the latter was evident. Méhul's next opera, L'irato, ou l'emporté, failed. After writing forty-two operas, besides a number of songs for the festivals of the republic, cantatas, and orchestral pieces of various kinds (including at least four symphonies), his health gave way, from an affection of the chest, and he died in Paris. Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini (September 14, 1760 – March 15, 1842) was an Italian composer. ... Cantata (Italian for a song or story set to music), a vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement. ...

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...