François Francoeur

Biography

François Francœur was born in Paris, the son of Joseph Francœur, a basse de violon player and member of the 24 violons du roy. Francœur was instructed in music by his father and joined the Académie Royale de Musique as a violinist at age 15. After travel and performances in the principal European culture centres, he returned to Paris as a member of the Concert Spirituel. Francœur was appointed to the 24 violons du roy in 1730 and Maître de musique (music instructor) to the Opera in 1739.

In 1744, he and François Rebel, his lifelong colleague and friend, were appointed inspecteurs musicaux (music directors) of the Paris Opéra—centre of the French music world—becoming responsible for all phases of its management in 1757. Rebel and Francœur faced numerous challenges in their joint roles, including a large financial deficit, lack of discipline, as well as handling contentious disagreements between traditionalists who favored French operatic tragedies and its mythological themes versus partisans of Italian opera's simpler lyricism and contemporary subject matter, known as the Querelle des Bouffons.

King Louis XV appointed Francœur as his Music Master in 1760, ennobling Rebel in the same year and Francœur himself in May 1764. Disaster struck when the Paris Opéra was consumed in flames on 6 April 1763, and the two directors were forced to resign in 1767 in its aftermath. However, Louis XV asked Rebel to return to the Opéra as Administrateur général in 1772, a position he held until shortly before his death three years later. Francœur resigned himself from the music world, living in retirement until his own death in 1787 at age 89. He was thus spared the fate of his nephew, Louis-Joseph Francœur, Master of the King's Chamber music and orchestra director, who was imprisoned during the French Revolution until the fall of Robespierre in 1794.

Compositions

His surviving compositions, published in Propyläen der Musik, V. 2 (1989), include two books of violin sonatas, 10 operas (including one about the life of Skanderbeg) and some ballets, created jointly with François Rebel. Thus he is often quoted as a relatively rare case of collaboration in musical composition. A sicilienne and rigaudon were initially attributed to him, in a publication by Fritz Kreisler, but were eventually revealed to be the work of Kreisler himself.

Recordings

Recordings of Francœur's works include a noteworthy LP, Music for the Wedding of the Count d'Artois, on the Musical Heritage label, and the Cypres CD 1626 Suites de Simphonies, including what may be the same set of works by Francœur. Hugo Reyne and La Simphonie Du Marais also recorded the Symphonies pour le Festin Royal du Comte d'Artois. There is a 2003 recording of Francœur's Sonata in E for Cello and Piano on Delos by Zuill Bailey which shows off this composer to advantage. The opera Pirame et Thisbe, a collaborative work with Rebel, was released in 2008, and Zélindor, Roi des Sylphes and Le Trophée were released in 2009.

Operas (with François Rebel)

Instrumental music

Other works