François-Joseph Gossec was born in the village of Vergnies, which was then a French area within the Austrian Netherlands and is now part of Belgium. He grew up as the son of a small farmer and showed an early interest in music, becoming a choir-boy in Antwerp. In 1751, Gossec moved to Paris and came under the guidance of the composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. He later took over as conductor of a private orchestra for a wealthy music patron, Le Riche de La Poupelinière. Over time, Gossec aimed to bring back the study of instrumental music in France. Gossec composed his first symphony in 1754, and while he led the orchestra of the Prince de Condé, he also created several operas and other works. His 1760 Requiem, a ninety-minute piece, brought him sudden fame. In 1778, during Mozart's visit to Paris, the young composer met Gossec and described him as both a good friend and a serious man. Gossec founded the Concert des Amateurs in 1769 and helped reorganize the Concert Spirituel in 1773. There, he conducted his symphonies and those of contemporaries like Joseph Haydn, who grew quite popular in Paris, eventually even overshadowing Gossec's own symphonicwork. In the 1780s, Gossec wrote fewer symphonies and turned his attention toward opera. He helped start the École de Chant in 1784 with Etienne Méhul and served as conductor of the band for the Garde Nationale during the French Revolution. In 1795, he became an inspector of the Conservatoire de Musique alongside Méhul and Luigi Cherubini. Gossec was also a founding member of the Institut and received the Legion of Honour. After Napoleon's defeat in 1815, the Conservatoire was closed, and Gossec, then eighty-one, retired. He kept composing until 1817 with support from a pension. Some of Gossec's music anticipated Romantic era ideas, such as scoring a Te Deum for 1200 singers and 300 wind players and using separate choirs, sometimes hidden from view. He wrote pieces celebrating the French Revolution, like Le Triomphe de la République and L'Offrande à la Liberté. While he was not widely known outside France and his many sacred and secular works were overshadowed by more famous composers, Gossec inspired others and helped bring instrumental music back to life in France.