François Benoist

François Benoist (; 10 September 1794 – 6 May 1878) was a French organist, pedagogue, and composer.

Life and career Benoist was born in Nantes on 10 September 1794. He took his first music lessons under Georges Scheuermann. Benoist studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris and won the Prix de Rome in 1815 for his cantata Œnone. In 1819, he became organist (organiste du roi) and professor of organ at the Conservatoire; he held the latter post for half a century.

His students included César Franck, Camille Saint-Saëns, Charles Lecocq, Georges Bizet, Louis Lefébure-Wely, Léo Delibes, and Adolphe Adam.

As composer, he was comparatively unimportant, but he wrote two operas, four ballets, one Requiem Mass, and numerous works for organ. He died in Paris.

Selected compositions Léonore et Félix, opéra-comique, 1821 Chœur d'adieu, 1836 La Gipsy, ballet, 1839 Le Diable amoureux, ballet, 1840 Bibliothèque de l'organiste, 12 volumes, 1841–1861 Messe de Requiem pour trois voix d'homme et une d'enfant, avec accompagnement d'orgue ad libitum, 1842. Othello, opera, 1844 L'Apparition, opera, 1848 Nisida ou les Amazones des Açores, ballet (book by Eugène Deligny), 1848 Pâquerette, ballet (with Arthur Saint-Léon), 1851 Deux Préludes, 1860 Recueil de quatre morceaux pour orgue : Andante, Fugue sur le "Pange lingua", Marche religieuse, Communion, 1878 Messe à 4 voix, orgue et orchestre, 1861 Ave Maria pour mezzo-soprano Kyrie à 4 voix O Salutaris à une voix, Cantique à la Sainte Vierge