1734–1829 · France · Classical
François Joseph Gossec (1734–1829) was a French composer of operas, symphonies, choral works and music for string quartet. He founded the orchestra known as the Concert des Amateurs, directed the Opera and taught composition at the conservatoire. Our site has two of his symphonies for orchestra, the first and the second.
François Joseph Gossec was born on 17 January 1734 in the village of Vergnies, into a farming family. At that time the village was a French exclave inside the Austrian Netherlands; today its land belongs to Belgium. The boy showed musical ability very early, and many considered his voice beautiful.
From the age of six he sang in the collegiate church of Walcourt. His first teacher was Jean Vanderbelen, who directed the chapel of Saint-Pierre and gave him lessons in violin, harpsichord, harmony and composition. In 1742 Gossec became a choirboy at Antwerp Cathedral and went on studying with André-Joseph Blavier.
In 1751 Gossec moved to Paris, where the composer Jean-Philippe Rameau noticed him. Under Rameau's influence Gossec became a violinist and bass player in the private orchestra of the tax farmer La Poupelinière, a patron of musicians. In 1755 Gossec replaced Johann Stamitz as head of the orchestra and held the post until La Poupelinière died in 1762.
In those years Gossec composed and published his first opus numbers: sonatas for two violins and bass, duets for flute or violin, and 24 symphonies in four movements written between 1756 and 1762. The first of these symphonies was performed in 1754.
Gossec married in 1759. The couple had one child, baptised in 1760, with La Poupelinière and his wife as godparents. In 1760 the composer wrote his Requiem, the first of his many religious works.
From 1761 Gossec was drawn to vivid theatrical effects. He wrote a series of stage works, beginning with an intermezzo for the private theatre of the Prince de Conti. In 1762 he was appointed director of the private theatre of Louis-Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, at Chantilly.
His greatest successes of these years were the pasticcio Le Tonnelier (1765) and the comic operas Les pêcheurs (1766) and Toinon et Toinette (1767). Les pêcheurs was the most successful: it was given more than 160 times before 1790, while Toinon et Toinette was performed in Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Germany. The operas that followed, Le faux lord and Le double déguisement, failed, and after the poor reception of Les agréments d'Hylas et Silvie in 1768 Gossec gave up writing comic operas.
He did not abandon instrumental music in the meantime. Works of this period include six duets for violins, six trios for two violins and bass, and at least three sextets for clarinets, bassoons and horns. For the princes of Condé and Conti he wrote 12 symphonies.
In 1769 Gossec founded the orchestra called the Concert des Amateurs, which soon became known as one of the best in Europe. For the composer's career it was a breakthrough. Money came from the tax farmer L. Hay, Baron d'Ogny and public donations, which allowed new works to be played and guest artists to be invited.
In each of his four years at the head of the orchestra he conducted about twelve performances of his own symphonies, written specially for that ensemble. Among them was La chasse, one of his most popular works. From 1769 to 1772 Gossec composed 12 string quartets. In his last year leading the orchestra he became the first conductor in France to put Haydn's symphonies into the repertoire.
In 1773 Gossec left his post as director of the Concert des Amateurs. With Simon Le Duc and Pierre Gaviniès he took up the reorganisation of the Concert Spirituel society, where he conducted his own symphonies and those of his contemporaries, Haydn above all.
His first lyric tragedy, Sabinus, was staged at Versailles. Rehearsals began more than a year before the premiere, extra clarinets, violins and basses were brought in, and trombones entered the opera orchestra for the first time. For the premiere in February 1774 the opera was reworked into four acts. Its modest success was soon overshadowed by Gluck's Iphigénie en Aulide, first performed on 19 April of that year.
In the following years Gossec became an ally of Gluck and wrote only pastorals and ballets. The ballet Les Scythes enchaînés (1779) was composed for inclusion in Gluck's opera Iphigénie en Tauride. For the Paris staging of Alceste in 1776 he altered the third act of that opera. After Gluck left Paris, Gossec returned to opera and in 1782 wrote Thésée. It was given only 16 performances, and the next opera, Rosine (1786), was a complete failure.
On 22 May 1780 Gossec was appointed director of the Opera. In January 1784 he took charge of the newly re-established Royal School of Singing and Declamation at the Opera. From then until the Revolution he wrote only six symphonies. His ballet Le pied de boeuf (1787) had a moderate success at the Opera.
Together with Méhul and Catel, Gossec was one of the leading musical figures of the revolutionary period. In 1789 he left his duties at the Opera. He helped create civic music: songs, choruses, marches and symphonies for wind instruments, meant to be performed before crowds of people.
On the first anniversary of the fall of the Bastille, at the Festival of the Federation, his Te Deum was performed by singers and a large orchestra. In 1790 Gossec wrote a Lugubre Marche, which was later played at ceremonies when the remains of Voltaire and Rousseau were moved to the Panthéon. In 1792 came the opera L'offrande à la Liberté, about a battle between French revolutionaries and their foreign enemies; it ends with a powerful rendering of the Marseillaise, each verse with its own orchestration. It was performed 143 times at the Opera before 1797.
For his service to the new order Gossec was given the title Tyrtaeus of the Revolution. In 1804 he became a knight of the Legion of Honour.
From 1799, when Napoleon rose to power, Gossec's career as a composer was effectively over. He wrote only two significant works: the Symphonie à 17 parties (1809), with a minuet in the form of a fugue, and the Dernière messe des vivants (1813). After that he devoted himself to teaching and became professor of composition at the conservatoire founded in 1795.
He wrote a work on methods of teaching singing together with other professors, and also treatises on harmony and counterpoint for the conservatoire's students. Among his pupils were Charles Simon Catel and Joseph Bologne de Saint-Georges. When Louis XVIII dissolved the conservatoire, Gossec lost his post. He spent his last years in the Paris suburb of Passy.
Gossec died on 16 February 1829. His former colleagues attended the funeral service, among them Cherubini. He is buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
Gossec wrote in many genres: operas, symphonies, chamber music, choral and religious works. His first opus numbers include sonatas for two violins and bass, duets for flute or violin, and 24 symphonies. For the princes of Condé and Conti he wrote 12 symphonies, and from 1769 to 1772 he composed 12 string quartets. One of his most popular symphonies is called La chasse.
On stage he knew both loud successes and failures. The comic opera Les pêcheurs was given more than 160 times before 1790, while Thésée (1782) was given only 16 times. His last significant works were the Symphonie à 17 parties (1809), with a minuet in the form of a fugue, and the Dernière messe des vivants (1813). His career ran from court composer to concert organiser and then to professor of composition at the conservatoire.
In the revolutionary years Gossec wrote civic music: songs, choruses, marches and symphonies for wind instruments, meant to be performed before crowds. Works of this time include the Te Deum for the Festival of the Federation, the Lugubre Marche (1790) and the opera L'offrande à la Liberté (1792).
The music of the revolutionary years includes the Te Deum for the Fête de la Fédération, the Hymne sur la translation du corps de Voltaire au Panthéon (1791) and Le Chant du 14 juillet, set to words by Marie-Joseph Chénier (1791); each is scored for three voices, a men's chorus and winds. In 1794 followed Le triomphe de la République, a one-act lyrical divertissement with a famous tambourin.
A few of Gossec's methods looked ahead to the Romantic age. His Te Deum was scored for a very large number of performers, and several of his oratorios call for choirs to be placed far apart, some of them singing out of sight behind the stage. Outside France he was not widely known, and more famous composers eclipsed his numerous works. Still, he inspired many musicians and gave a strong push to the revival of instrumental music.
On our site there are two of his symphonies for orchestra: Symphonie n°2 at the Middle+ level and Symphonie n°1 at the Advanced level. It is best to begin with the second and move on to the first later.