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Gaveaux, Pierre, 1760-1825 (composer and singer)

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1760 - 1825

Biography

Pierre Gaveaux (1760-1825), French composer and singer, received early training in composition from Abbé Combès at Béziers Cathedral and Franz Beck in Bordeaux, where he became conductor and tenor at the Grand Théâtre. From 1789 he sang in Paris and composed comic operas for his company, including 'Le petit matelot, ou Le mariage impromptu', with a libretto by Count Pigault-Lebrun (1753-1835) in 1795. His finest works were Sophie et Moncars (1797) and Léonore, ou L'amour conjugal (1798). Gaveaux was affected by periods of mental illness after 1812, and retired to an asylum in 1819.