GODARD, BENJAMIN (-LOUIS-PAUL)

born Aug. 18, 1849, Paris, Fr. died Jan. 10, 1895, Cannes French composer of operas, light piano pieces, and songs. Godard was a child prodigy on the violin, studied composition, and in his youth composed symphonies, chamber works, concerti, and piano music. His best-known opera, Jocelyn (1881), is remembered for its famous Berceuse. Other works included the operas Pdro de Zalama (1884) and La Vivandire (1895) and his Symphonie Lgendaire, Opus 100 (1886). Godard's music, slender and sentimental, at its best shows an affinity with that of Frdric Chopin and Robert Schumann.