GRETRY, ANDRE-ERNEST-MODESTE

born Feb. 10/11, 1741, Lige [now in Belgium] died Sept. 24, 1813, Montmorency, near Paris, France French composer of operas, a leader in the evolution of French opra comique from light popular plays with music into semiserious musical drama. Grtry studied singing, violin, and harmony and in 1759 was sent to Rome to study composition. In 1766 he went to Geneva as a music teacher. There he met Voltaire, at whose suggestion he went to Paris in 1767. From 1768 he produced more than 50 works for the stage, including Le Tableau parlant (1769; The Speaking Picture) and Zmire et Azor (1771). His masterpiece, Richard Coeur de Lion (1784; Richard the Lionheart), is an early example of French Romantic opera. Grtry's music is noted for its finesse and melodic grace. He excelled in the development of dramatic scenes through melody and careful setting of words. He was widely honoured during his lifetime and received a pension from Napoleon in 1802. In 1789 he published his Mmoires; ou, essais sur la musique (Memoirs; or, Essays on Music).