François-Joseph Gossec
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François-Joseph Gossec | |
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Born | Vergnies, France | 17 January 1734
Died | 16 February 1829 Passy, France | (aged 95)
Era | Classical |
François-Joseph Gossec (17 January 1734 – 16 February 1829)[1] was a French composer of operas, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works.[2]
Life and work
The son of a small farmer, Gossec was born at the village of Vergnies, then a French
Gossec's own first symphony was performed in 1754, and as conductor to the
Gossec founded the Concert des Amateurs in 1769 and in 1773 he reorganised the Concert Spirituel together with Simon Le Duc and Pierre Gaviniès.[3] In this concert series he conducted his own symphonies as well as those by his contemporaries, particularly works by Joseph Haydn, whose music had become increasingly popular in Paris, finally even superseding Gossec's symphonic work.
In the 1780s Gossec's symphonic output decreased as he began concentrating on operas. He organized the École de Chant in 1784, together with
He died in the Parisian suburb of
Some of his techniques anticipated the innovations of the Romantic era: he scored his Te Deum for 1,200 singers and 300 wind instruments, and several oratorios require the 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. Gossec's
Gossec 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
Symphonies
- Sei sinfonie a più strumenti op. 4 (1759)
- Sei sinfonie a più strumenti op. 5 (1761)
- Six symphonies op. 6 (1762)
- Six symphonies à grand orchestre op. 12 (1769)
- Deux symphonies (1773)
- Symphonie No. 1 (c. 1771-1774)
- Symphonie No. 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 No. 2, à plusieurs instruments (1778)
- Symphonie en do majeur for wind orchestra (1794)
- Symphonie à 17 parties (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 chorus and wind orchestra (1790)
- Hymne sur la translation du corps de Voltaire au Panthéon for three voices, men's chorus and wind orchestra (1791)
- Le Chant du 14 juillet (Marie-Joseph Chénier) for three voices, men's chorus and wind orchestra (1791)
- Dernière messe des vivants, for four voices, chorus and orchestra (1813)
Operas
- Le tonnelier, opéra comique (1765)
- Le faux Lord, opéra comique (1765)
- Les pêcheurs, opéra comique en 1 act (1766)
- Toinon et Toinette, opéra comique (1767)
- Le double déguisement, opéra comique (1767)
- Les agréments d'Hylas et Sylvie, pastorale (1768)
- Sabinus, tragédie lyrique (1773)
- Berthe, opera (1775, not extant)
- Alexis et Daphné, pastorale (1775)
- Philémon et Baucis, pastorale (1775)
- La fête de village, intermezzo (1778)
- Thésée, tragédie lyrique (1782)
- Nitocris, opera (1783)
- Rosine, ou L'épouse abandonnée, opera (1786)
- Le triomphe de la République, ou Le camp de Grandpré, divertissement-lyrique en 1 acte, (Chénier) (1794) – includes a famous Tambourin.
- Les sabots et le cerisier, opera (1803)
Notes
- ISBN 978-0-918728-86-9.
- ^ Gregoir, Édouard Georges Jacques (1878). Notice biographique sur François-Joseph Gossé dit Gossec: compositeur de musique, né à Vergnies en Hainaut (in French). Impr. Dequesne-Masquillier.
- ^ a b c d public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gossec, François Joseph". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 269. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Abert, Hermann (2007). Eisen, Cliff (ed.). W. A. Mozart. Translated by Spencer, Stewart. Yale University Press. p. 497.
- ^ Soundtrack, Porky’s Cafe, IMDB, https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0035202/soundtrack
References
- Thibaut, W., François Joseph Gossec, Chantre de la Révolution française, (1970)
External links
- Life and detailed work list (in French)
- François-Joseph Gossec: "Le Tyrtée de la Révolution" – the official composer of the French Revolution
- Free scores by François-Joseph Gossec at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- Free scores by François-Joseph Gossec in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)