François-René Gebauer (15 March 1773, Versailles, France – 28 July 1845, Paris) was a French composer, professor, and bassoonist and the son of a German military musician. He had four brothers, Michel-Joseph Gebauer (1763–1812), Pierre-Paul Gebauer, Jean-Luc Gebauer, and Étienne-François Gebauer, all of whom were also musicians and composers. The brothers played together in a quintet that was modeled on woodwind quintet instrumentation but modified by removing the flute parts to include their brother Jean-Luc, who was a percussionist. The quintet received favorable reviews from critics, who found the music to be "unusually lively for a wind quintet" and "full of earthly elegance".

He took music lessons first with his brother Michel-Joseph Gebauer, which ended soon due to artistic differences between the two. He then took lessons with François Devienne, which proved to be more successful. In 1788 he joined the Swiss Guard in Versailles as a bassoonist. In 1790 he joined the orchestra of the Musique de la garde nationale de Paris. From 1801 to 1826 he was a bassoonist in the orchestra of the Paris Opera. In 1795 he was appointed professor of bassoon at the Conservatoire de Paris, a post he held until 1802 and then from 1824 to 1838.

His most famous work was Duos Concertants, Op. 48, for horn and bassoon, which featured repetitive rhythmic motifs in phase shifting patterns and strikingly modern asymmetrical melodies. The most memorable effect he achieved with this piece was the portrayal of schadenfreude through jarring note patterns in the bassoon line.

Works

Works for orchestra 
 Variations on "Au clair de la lune" for bassoon and orchestra

Works for wind ensemble 
 Pas de manœuvre (No. 1)
 Pas de manœuvre (No. 2)

Chamber music 
 Six arias from The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini for two bassoons (1816)
 Ecco, ridente in cielo
 Largo al factotum
 Una voce poco fa
 Dunque io son
 Zitti zitti, piano piano
 Di si felice innesto
 Six Concert Duos, Op. 2, for two clarinets
 Six Concert Duos, Op. 8, for clarinet and bassoon
 "Menuet du Diable" for bassoon
 Three wind quintets
 Three arias from The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini for two Bassoons
 Ecco ridente in cielo
 Una voce poco fa
 Largo al factorum
 Nocturno Nr. 2 of arias by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gioachino Rossini for bassoon and piano
 Three quartets, Op. 20, for flute, oboe, horn and bassoon
 Three quartets, Op. 27, for flute, oboe, horn and bassoon
 Ten trios for three bassoons, Op. 33 (also for violin, cello and bassoon)
 3 quartets, Op. 37, for horn, violin, viola and double bass
 Quartet in G minor, Op. 41, for flute, clarinet, horn and bassoon
 Three trios for flute, clarinet and bassoon, Op. 42
 Duos concertants, Op. 44, for two bassoons
 Duos concertants, Op. 48, for horn in F and bassoon
 Three trios for clarinet, horn und bassoon
 Variations sur "Au clair de la lune" for two bassoons

References

Further reading 
 Danny Keith Phipps: The Music for Bassoon and Strings of François-René Gebauer. 1987, D.M.A. document, The Catholic University of America

1773 births
1845 deaths
French classical bassoonists
18th-century French composers
18th-century French male musicians
19th-century French composers
French male composers
Musicians from Versailles
Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris
19th-century French male musicians