RomanticCharles Gounod
Charles Gounod was born in Paris.
Charles Gounod’s life
The big moments of this life, and what was happening in the world at the same time.
A life at a glance
- 1818👶 Birth
Born in Paris on 17 June, son of a painter and a pianist
- 1825🌍 Meanwhile
First public passenger railway (England)
- 1836📚 Trainingage 18
Enters the Paris Conservatoire
- 1839🎩 Careerage 21
Wins the Grand Prix de Rome
- 1840🧳 Journeyage 22
In Rome, discovers Palestrina and befriends Fanny Mendelssohn
- 1840🌍 Meanwhile
Adolphe Sax invents the saxophone (c. 1840)
- 1843🎩 Careerage 25
Organist and choirmaster at the Missions étrangères in Paris
- 1852❤️ Private lifeage 34
Marries Anna Zimmerman
- 1853🎼 Workage 35
Meditation on Bach’s Prelude, the future ‘Ave Maria’
- 1859🎼 Workage 41
Faust, his greatest success
- 1864🎼 Workage 46
Mireille, after Frédéric Mistral
- 1875🌍 Meanwhile
The Palais Garnier opera house opens in Paris
- 1877🌍 Meanwhile
Edison invents the phonograph: sound can be recorded!
- 1893🕯️ Deathage 75
Dies in Saint-Cloud on 18 October
Listen to the music
Press the big button to listen. Close your eyes: how does it make you feel?
How does this music feel to you?
How does this music feel to you?
Excerpts of up to 90 seconds, freely licensed recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
Once upon a time…
Charles Gounod was born in Paris. His dad was a painter and his mum a pianist: she taught him music. He won the Prix de Rome and went to live in Italy for three years.
For a long time he hesitated: become a priest or a musician? In the end he chose music, but he wrote lots of religious music. One day he made up a melody over a Bach prelude: it is the famous “Ave Maria”.
His greatest success was Faust, an opera in which an old scholar sells his soul to the devil to become young again. He also composed a very funny little march for a puppet, which became the theme tune of a television series!
Charles Gounod’s instruments
Tap an instrument to hear it!
Cards to flip
Are you an expert on Charles Gounod?
Answer the questions and win stars!
Same era · Romantic
1811 – 1886RomanticFranz Liszt
Franz Liszt was born in Hungary.
1813 – 1901RomanticGiuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi was born in a little village in Italy.
1813 – 1883RomanticRichard Wagner
Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig, Germany.
1819 – 1896RomanticClara Schumann
Clara Wieck was born in Leipzig, Germany.
1822 – 1890RomanticCésar Franck
César Franck was born in Liège, Belgium.
1824 – 1884RomanticBedřich Smetana
Bedřich Smetana was born in Bohemia, today’s Czech Republic.