Luigi Cherubini

Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842), Italian composer, born in Florence. He wrote a variety of church music and 13 operas before moving to Paris in 1788. There he became associated with the new Paris Conservatoire. As its director from 1821 to 1841, he greatly influenced the music of his time. His music was classical in style and demonstrated a mastery of counterpoint. In 1808 he composed his greatest church work, the three-part Mass in F Major. Other sacred music includes the Mass in C Major (1816) and the Requiems in C Minor (1817) and D Major (1836). He wrote about 30 operas, including Médée (Medea, 1797) and Les deux journées (The Water-Carrier, 1800), which, with its “rescue” plot, was a precursor of Ludwig van Beethoven's opera Fidelio; many motets, cantatas, and choral works; and several string quartets. His treatise on counterpoint and the fugue, Cours de contrepoint et de la fugue (1835), was edited by the French composer Jacques Halévy.