Marmontel, Jean-François (11 July 1723, Bort; 31 December 1799, Abbéville), librettist, is remembered in musical circles principally as a collaborator of Niccolò Piccinni and a defender of the Italian school of operatic composition in the famous dispute between the Gluckists and Piccinnists. After finishing his education, Marmontel resisted efforts to persuade him to enter the Society of Jesus because his mother needed his assistance in raising her large family. He taught philosophy for a while…