Gossec, François-Joseph
(1733–1829)> COMPOSER
Gossec, François-Joseph (17 January 1733, Vergies, Belgium; 16 February 1829, Passy), composer, began his long musical career at age seven as a choirboy in the cathedral of Anvers. He studied violin and composition in his teens, and he went to Paris in 1751 to conduct La Pouplinière’s orchestra. He came to know Rameau in the financier’s home, and he was encouraged to develop the symphonies in which he was taking such a pronounced interest. Gossec published a collection of his writings in this…