Jean-François Le Sueur (more commonly Lesueur; ) (15 February 17606 October 1837) was a French

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, best known for his

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

s and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

Life

He was born at Plessiel, a hamlet of

Drucat Drucat () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Drucat is situated on the D82e road, some northeast of Abbeville. Population History There was a station on the Réseau des Bains de Mer, called ...

near

Abbeville Abbeville (, vls, Abbekerke, pcd, Advile) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is the chef-lieu of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of ...

, to a long-established family of

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

, the great-nephew of the painter

Eustache Le Sueur Eustache Le Sueur or Lesueur (19 November 161730 April 1655) was a French artist and one of the founders of the French Academy of Painting. He is known primarily for his paintings of religious subjects. He was a leading exponent of the neoclas ...

. Beginning as a chorister at the collegial church of Abbeville, then at the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

, where he pursued his music studies, Le Sueur was named chorus master at the cathedral of

Sées Sées () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France. It lies on the river Orne from its source and north-by-northeast of Alençon. Sées station has rail connections to Argentan, Caen and Le Mans. Name The town's name derives ...

. He went to Paris to study harmony with the Abbé Nicolas Roze, chorus master at the Saints-Innocents. Le Sueur was named to positions at

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

(1779),

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

(1782), then at

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...

(1783) before he succeeded Roze at the Saints-Innocents at Paris. Finally in 1786, after a competition, he was made music director at

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

. For the Feast of the Assumption, he innovated by introducing an orchestra, with great success, and his sacred concerts at the main feasts of the Church filled the cathedral to overflowing but incurred resistance in ecclesiastical circles. He replied by publishing a pamphlet ''Exposé d'une musique imitative et particulière à chaque solennité'' (1787). The cathedral chapter decided to reduce its musical budget in a time of financial crisis for France, which constrained Le Sueur to give up the important musical Masses that he specialised in, and to give up his position. He spent some time in London, 1788–92, then returned to revolutionary Paris and gave three successful operas at the

Théâtre Feydeau The Théâtre Feydeau (), a former Parisian theatre company, was founded in 1789 with the patronage of Monsieur, Comte de Provence (later to become Louis XVIII), and was therefore initially named the Théâtre de Monsieur. It began performing in t ...

: '' La Caverne, ou le Repentir'' (1793), ''Paul et Virginie, ou le Triomphe de la vertu'' (1794), which was inspired by the hugely popular novel by

Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (also called Bernardin de St. Pierre) (19 January 1737, in Le Havre – 21 January 1814, in Éragny, Val-d'Oise) was a French writer and botanist. He is best known for his 1788 novel '' Paul et Virginie'', ...

, and the classical ''Télémaque dans l'île de Calypso, ou le Triomphe de la sagesse'' (1796). He was named professor at the École de la Garde Nationale, 21 November, 1793, then named Inspecteur at the newly founded

Conservatoire A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

. In the company of Étienne Nicolas Méhul, Honoré Langlé,

François-Joseph Gossec François-Joseph Gossec (17 January 1734 – 16 February 1829) was a French composer of operas, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works. Life and work The son of a small farmer, Gossec was born at the village of Vergnies, then a French e ...

and

Charles Simon Catel Charles-Simon Catel (10 June 1773 – 29 November 1830) was a French composer and educator born at L'Aigle, Orne. Biography Catel studied at the Royal School of Singing in Paris. He was the chief assistant to François-Joseph Gossec at the or ...

, he was limited to teaching elementary principles and

solfège In music, solfège (, ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a music education method used to teach aural skills, Pitch (music), pitch and sight-reading of Western classical music, Western music. Solfège is ...

. Unable to get his operas ''

Ossian, ou Les bardes ''Ossian, ou Les bardes'' (English: ''Ossian, or The Bards'') is an opera in five acts by the French composer Jean-François Le Sueur. The libretto, by Alphonse François "Paul" Palat-Dercy and Jacques-Marie Deschamps, is based on the Ossian po ...

'' and ''

La mort d'Adam ''La mort d'Adam'' is a tragédie lyrique on a biblical theme in 3 acts by Jean-François Le Sueur with a French libretto by Nicolas-François Guillard after Klopstock, first performed in 1809, though written a few years earlier. Composition and ...

'' mounted at the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

, Le Sueur published a violent pamphlet, ''Projet d'un plan général de l'instruction musicale en France'', attacking the Conservatoire, its methods and its director, and was discharged, 23 September 1802. Without official appointments, Le Sueur was reduced to poverty when in 1804,

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

named him ''maître de la chapelle'' at the

Tuileries The Tuileries Palace (french: Palais des Tuileries, ) was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine, directly in front of the Louvre. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from ...

, to replace

Giovanni Paisiello Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born in T ...

. Now he was able to mount his most famous work, ''Ossian ou Les bardes'', with great success at the Opéra and with the Emperor, who made the composer of his favorite opera a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. Le Sueur composed the Triumphal March for the coronation of Napoleon, directed a Mass by Paisiello and a ''Vivat'' by his former master abbé Roze. In 1813, he was named to the

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, replacing

André Grétry André Ernest Modeste Grétry (; baptised 11 February 1741; died 24 September 1813) was a composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (present-day Belgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous ...

. At the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

, he was named composer of the royal chapel and conductor of the orchestra of the Opéra. From the beginning of 1818, he taught composition at the Conservatoire, where over the years he had for pupils

Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

Ambroise Thomas Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas (; 5 August 1811 – 12 February 1896) was a French composer and teacher, best known for his operas '' Mignon'' (1866) and ''Hamlet'' (1868). Born into a musical family, Thomas was a student at the Conservatoire de ...

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

, Louis Désiré Besozzi and

Antoine François Marmontel Antoine François Marmontel () (18 July 1816 – 16 January 1898) was a French pianist, composer, teacher and musicographer. He is mainly known today as an influential teacher at the Paris Conservatory, where he taught many musicians who became ...

. He died on 6 October 1837 in Paris.

Works

Oratorios

*''Ruth et Noëmi'' (written by 1811) *''Ruth et Booz'' (written by 1811) *''Debbora'' *''Rachel'' *''Oratorio de Noël'' (Christmas Oratorio) *Three Passion oratorios *Coronation oratorios

Operas

References

;Attribution * *

Sources

*Howard E. Smither ''A History of the Oratorio, Volume 3: The Oratorio in the Classical Era'' (University of North Carolina Press, 1977) *Raoul Rochette., ''Les Ouvrages de M. Lesueur'' (Paris. 1839).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Sueur, Jean-Francois 1760 births 1837 deaths People from Somme (department) French male classical composers 18th-century French people 18th-century French composers 18th-century classical composers French opera composers Male opera composers Conservatoire de Paris faculty Directors of the Conservatoire de Paris Honorary Members of the Royal Philharmonic Society Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur