François Joseph Gossec, by Antoine Vestier.

François Joseph Gossec, by Antoine Vestier.

François-Joseph Gossec (1734 — February 16, 1829) was a Belgian composer of operas, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works who worked in France. ImageMetadata File history File links Gossec-portrait. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Gossec-portrait. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (584x752, 95 KB) François Joseph Gossec by Antoine Vestier (1683 - 1756) File links The following pages link to this file: François Joseph Gossec ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (584x752, 95 KB) François Joseph Gossec by Antoine Vestier (1683 - 1756) File links The following pages link to this file: François Joseph Gossec ... Events January 8 - Premiere of George Frideric Handels opera Ariodante at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. ... February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Life and Work

The son of a small farmer, Gossec was born at the village of Vergnies, in Belgian Hainaut. Showing an early taste for music, he became a choir-boy in Antwerp. He went to Paris in 1751 and was taken on by the great composer, Jean-Philippe Rameau. He became the conductor of a private band kept by La Popelinière, a wealthy amateur, and became gradually determined to do something to revive the study of instrumental music in France. Hainaut (French; English traditionally Hainault, Dutch: Henegouwen, German: Hennegau, Walloon: Hinnot) is the westernmost province of Wallonia, in Belgium. ... For other uses, see Antwerp (disambiguation). ... Jean-Philippe Rameau, by Jacques André Joseph Aved, 1728 Jean-Philippe Rameau (September 25, 1683 - September 12, 1764) was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. ...

Gossec's own first symphony was performed in 1754, and as conductor to the Prince de Condé’s orchestra he produced several operas and other compositions of his own. He imposed his influence on French music with remarkable success. He premiered his Requiem in 1760, a piece ninety minutes in length, which made him famous overnight. The piece was later admired by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who visited Gossec during a rather unsuccessful trip to Paris in 1778, and described him in a letter to his father as "a very good friend and a very dry man". To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Prince of Condé is a title in French peerage, attributed for the first time to Louis of Bourbon, brother of Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendome and uncle of Henry IV of France. ... The Teatro alla Scala in Milan is one of the worlds most famous opera houses. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart; January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was a prolific and highly influential composer of Classical music. ...

Gossec founded the Concert des Amateurs in 1770 and in 1773 he reorganised the Concert Spirituel together with Simon Leduc and Pierre Gaviniès. In this concert series he presented and conducted his own symphonies as well as those by his contemporaries, especially works by Joseph Haydn, whose music became more and more popular in Paris, and finally even superseded Gossec's symphonic work. In the 1780s, Gossec's symphonic output decreased and he concentrated on operas. He organized the École de Chant in 1784, together with Etienne Méhul, was conductor of the band of the Garde Nationale at the French Revolution, and was appointed (again with Méhul and Luigi Cherubini) inspector of the Conservatoire de Musique on its creation in 1795. He was an original member of the Institut and a chevalier of the Legion of Honour. In 1815, after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, the Conservatoire was closed for some time by Louis XVIII, and the eighty-one year-old Gossec had to retire. Until 1817 he worked on his last composition, a third Te Deum, and was supported by a pension granted by the Conservatoire. It has been suggested that Papa Haydn be merged into this article or section. ... Nothing much really happened in the 1780s only that Mary-Anne Tobin was hung in public for wearing a flase beard and voting. ... Etienne Henri (or Nicolas) Méhul (June 24, 1763 - October 18, 1817), was a French composer. ... The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a pivotal period in the history of French, European and Western civilization. ... Luigi Cherubini (September 14, 1760 – March 15, 1842) was an Italian composer. ... ... French Legion of Honor The Légion dhonneur (in Legion of Honor (AmE) or Legion of Honour (ComE)) is an Order of Chivalry awarded by the President of France. ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... Many things bear the name Waterloo. ... Louis XVIII (November 17, 1755 - September 16, 1824) was King of France and Navarre from 1814 (although he declared that he considered his reign to have begun in 1795) until his death in 1824, with a brief break in 1815 due to Napoleons return in the Hundred Days. ... Te Deum is an early Christian hymn of praise. ...

He died in the Parisian suburb of Passy. The funeral service was attended by former colleagues, including Cherubini, at the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris. His grave is near those of Méhul and Grétry. Passy is an exclusive suburb on the Right Bank of Paris, France and traditional home to many of the citys wealthiest residents. ... Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini (September 14, 1760 – March 15, 1842) was an Italian composer. ... Looking down the hill at the Père-Lachaise cemetery The cimetière du Père-Lachaise (pronounced pierre la-sh-ez) is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris (there are larger cemeteries in Paris suburbs). ... André Ernest Modeste Grétry (February 8, 1741 – September 24, 1813), a Belgian composer, who worked from 1767 onwards in France. ...

Some of his techniques seem to have anticipated the innovations of the Romantic era: he wrote a Te Deum for 1200 singers and 300 wind instruments; several oratorios include instructions for physical separation of multiple choirs, including invisible ones behind the stage. He wrote several works in honor of the French revolution, including Le Triomphe de la République, and L'Offrande à la Liberté. The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a pivotal period in the history of French, European and Western civilization. ...

He was little known outside France, and his own numerous compositions, sacred and secular, were overshadowed by those of more famous composers; but he was an inspiration to many, and powerfully stimulated the revival of instrumental music.

Works

For Orchestra

• Sei sinfonie a più stromenti op.4 (1759)
• Sei sinfonie a più stromenti op.5 (1761)
• Six Symphonies op.6 (1762)
• Six Symphonies à grand orchestre op. 12 (1769)
• Deux symphonies (1773)
• Symphonie n° 1 (c.1771-1774)
• Symphonie n° 2 (c.1771-1774)
• Symphonie en fa majeur (1774)
• Symphonie de chasse (1776)
• Symphonie en ré (1776)
• Symphonie en ré (1777)
• Symphonie concertante en fa majeur n° 2, à plusieurs instruments (1778)
• Symphonie en do majeur for wind orchestra (1794)
• Symphonie à 17 parties en fa majeur (1809)

Chamber Music

• Sei sonate a due violini e basso op.1 (c.1753)
• Sei quartetti per flauto e violino o sia per due violini, alto e basso op. 14 (1769)
• Six Quatuors à deux violons, alto et basse op. 15 (1772)

Vocal and Choral Works

• Messe des morts (Requiem) (1760)
• La Nativité, oratorio (1774)
• Te Deum (1779)
• Te Deum à la Fête de la Fédération for three voices, men's chourus and wind orchestra (1790)
• Hymne sur la translation du corps de Voltaire au Panthéon for three voices, men's chourus and wind orchestra (1791)
• Le Chant du 14 juillet (Marie-Joseph Chénier) for three voices, men's chourus and wind orchestra (1791)
• Dernière messe des vivants, for four voices, chorus and orchestra (1813)

Voltaire at 24 years of age by Nicolas de Largillière. ... The Panthéon The Panthéon is a building in the Latin Quarter in Paris, France. ... Marie-Joseph Blaise de Chénier (February 11, 1764 - January 10, 1811), was a French poet, dramatist and politician. ...

Operas

• Les pêcheurs, opéra comique en 1 act (1766)
• Le triomphe de la République, ou Le camp de Grandpré, divertissement-lyrique en 1 acte, (Chénier) (1794)

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the 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. ...

External links

• Life and detailed work list, in french
• François-Joseph Gossec: "Le Tyrtée de la Révolution" - the official composer of the French Revolution