Joseph-Nicolas Lefroid de Méreaux (22 June 1767 – 6 February 1838)
(in French) was a French composer born in Paris and composed works for piano and organ – among his piano works, also sonatas. He was the son of

Nicolas-Jean Lefroid de Méreaux Nicolas-Jean Lefroid de MéreauxSpelled thus by , p.61 (1745–1797) was a French composer born in Paris. According to music critic François-Joseph Fétis, Méreaux studied music under French and Italian teachers before becoming the organist of ...

and father of Jean-Amédée Lefroid de Méreaux.

Career

Throughout his life, Joseph-Nicolas was not particularly known as a composer, but rather as a keyboard player, and mostly composed for the piano. He played organ at

Champ de Mars Champ, CHAMP or The Champ may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Champ (cartoon character), an animated dog introduced in 1960 * The Champ, played on radio and created by Jake Edwards (radio personality), Jake Edwards * Champ ...

, where the famous

Fête de la Fédération The (; ) was a massive holiday festival held throughout Kingdom of France, France in 1790 in honour of the French Revolution, celebrating the Revolution itself, as well as national unity. It commemorated the revolution and events of 1789 which ...

on 14 July 1790 was held. Afterwards, he became professor at the ''L'école royale de chant'' of 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 ...

, which grew attached to the many likings of

King Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir-apparent of King Louis XV), and Mari ...

at the time. Since then, he was employed as organist and pianist at the Protestant temple of the Oratoire du Louvre in Paris despite being a Catholic. Joseph-Nicolas married Marie Angélique-Félicité Blondel (1774-1840) on 17 August 1801 in ParisEntry at gw.geneanet.org
(in French) and – only for the crowning of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

– composed a cantata with orchestra three years later, which was performed in the temple of the very Paris oratory he worked at. His marriage brought along not only

Amédée Méreaux Jean-Amédée Lefroid de Méreaux (18 September 1802 – 25 April 1874) was a French composer, pianist, piano teacher, musicologist and music critic. He is best-known for his ''60 Grandes Études'', Op. 63. Family background Amédée Méreaux cam ...

, but also Louise-Eugénie Lefroid de Méreaux (1808-1892). Joseph-Nicolas left an unfinished manuscript of “Grand methods for piano” behind and taught many distinguished students. He died on the 6th February 1838 in Paris.

References

Note

The name is always confused with ''Jean-Nicolas'', which is wrong. 1767 births 1838 deaths Composers from Paris 18th-century French classical composers 19th-century French classical composers 18th-century French male musicians 19th-century French male musicians 18th-century organists 19th-century French organists 18th-century French pianists 19th-century French pianists Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris {{France-composer-stub