François Benoist (; 10 September 1794 – 6 May 1878) was a French organist, pedagogue, and composer.

Life and career

Benoist was born in

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

on 10 September 1794. He took his first music lessons under Georges Scheuermann. Benoist studied music at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

and won the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in 1815 for his

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

''Œnone''. In 1819, he became organist (''organiste du roi'') and professor of organ at the Conservatoire; he held the latter post for half a century. His students included

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

Charles Lecocq Alexandre Charles Lecocq (; 3 June 183224 October 1918) was a French composer, known for his opérettes and opéra comique, opéras comiques. He became the most prominent successor to Jacques Offenbach in this sphere, and enjoyed considerable su ...

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', w ...

, Louis Lefébure-Wely,

Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and French opera, operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and ''Sylvia (b ...

, and

Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets ''Giselle'' (1841) and ''Le corsaire'' (1856), his operas ''Le post ...

. As composer, he was comparatively unimportant, but he wrote two operas, four ballets, one Requiem Mass, and numerous works for organ. He died in Paris.

Selected compositions

* ''Léonore et Félix'',

opéra-comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

, 1821 * ''Chœur d'adieu'', 1836 * ''La Gipsy'',

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, 1839 * ''

Le Diable amoureux ''The Devil in Love'' (, 1772) is an occult romance by Jacques Cazotte which tells of a demon, or devil, who falls in love with a young Spanish nobleman named Don Alvaro, an amateur human dabbler, and attempts, in the guise of a young woman, to w ...

'', ballet, 1840 * ''Bibliothèque de l'organiste'', 12 volumes, 1841–1861 * ''Messe de Requiem pour trois voix d'homme et une d'enfant, avec accompagnement d'orgue ad libitum'', 1842. * ''Othello'',

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

, 1844 * ''L'Apparition'', opera, 1848 * ''Nisida ou les Amazones des Açores'', ballet (book by Eugène Deligny), 1848 * '' Paquerette'', ballet (with

Arthur Saint-Léon Arthur Saint-Léon (17 September 1821, in Paris – 2 September 1870) was the '' Maître de Ballet'' of St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet from 1859 until 1869 and is famous for creating the choreography of the ballet '' Coppélia''. Biography He ...

), 1851 * ''Deux Préludes'', 1860 * ''Recueil de quatre morceaux pour orgue : Andante, Fugue sur le "Pange lingua", Marche religieuse, Communion'', 1878 * ''Messe à 4 voix, orgue et orchestre'', 1861 * ''Ave Maria pour mezzo-soprano'' * ''Kyrie à 4 voix'' * ''O Salutaris à une voix'', * ''Cantique à la Sainte Vierge''

References

External links

François Benoist : un maître nantais oublié
(in French) *
La Gipsy, ballet, 3 acts
by Francois Benoist, French, digitized by BYU on archive.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Benoist, Francois 1794 births 1878 deaths 19th-century French classical composers Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris Breton musicians Composers for pipe organ French ballet composers French classical organists French opera composers French male opera composers French male organists Musicians from Nantes Prix de Rome for composition 19th-century French male musicians French male classical organists 19th-century French organists

Life and career

Selected compositions

See also

References

External links