What is François-Joseph Gossec?
[[Image:Gossec-portrait.jpg|thumb|François Joseph Gossec]] '''François-Joseph Gossec''' (born [[Vergnies]], 17 January 1734 — 16 February 1829) was a [[South Netherlands]] [[composer]]. He was born in what is now [[Belgium]], but worked in [[France]] during his long life. People hardly ever hear his music now except for one very popular piece of dance music called [[Tambourin]]. He was famous in France in his time and had a lot of [[influence]] on [[France|French]] music. ==Life and Work== Gossec’s family were small [[farm]]ers. When Gossec was young he worked as a cowherd (someone who looks after [[cattle|cows]]). He showed a lot of [[talent]] and became a [[choir-boy]] in the [[Cathedral]] of Notre Dame in [[Antwerp]]. In 1751, he went to [[Paris]]. The composer [[Jean-Philippe Rameau]] was very impressed by him and got him jobs playing the [[violin]] and [[double bass]] in his private [[orchestra]]. He heard a lot of music by [[Germany|German]] composers and started to write music of his own. His [[symphony]] in D was one of the first works in France to use [[clarinet]]s which had only just been invented. He composed many [[opera]]s as well as instrumental works. In 1762, Gossec became the [[Conductor (music)|conductor]] of a private theatre of the Prince of Condé at Chantilly. A lot of German and [[Bohemia]]n [[wind instrument|wind players]] at that time went to Paris, and Gossec gave them jobs in his orchestra. Gossec wrote a lot of music for the [[French Revolution]]. When the [[Paris Conservatoire]] was opened in 1795 he became a teacher of [[Composition (music)|composition]] there. Gossec composed lots of different kinds of music. His music for instruments was very successful. He wrote operas which suited the taste of French people at the time, but he did not have a good sense of drama and the words of his operas were uninteresting. He was an important man in the history of music because he organized a lot of musical events in Paris. He was made a ''[[chevalier]]'' of the [[Legion of Honour]].