Gustave Dugazon

Gustave Dugazon was a French composer born in Paris around 1782 and who died in the same city around 1826; his dates of birth and death are given with some uncertainty. The son of the soprano Louise-Rosalie Dugazon, he trained at the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied composition with Gossec and harmony with Berton, both central figures in Parisian musical life at the start of the nineteenth century.

His career unfolded almost entirely in the theatres of the capital. In 1800 he collaborated with several of Berton's fellow students on the comic opera Le voisinage, premiered at the Théâtre Favart, and in 1804 he wrote Le chevalier d'industrie with Pradher for the Théâtre Feydeau. In 1806 he won the second prize of the Prix de Rome with the cantata Héro et Léandre. He then composed two further operas and four ballets, none of which achieved success, as well as chamber music and vocal pieces.

His legacy is modest. Today he is remembered chiefly as a member of Berton's generation of pupils and as the son of a well-known singer, rather than for works that have remained in the repertoire.