Andre Ernest Modestc Gretry, a French composer, born in Liege, Feb. 8, 1741, died at Montmorency, near Paris, Sept. 24, 1813. At six years of age he was placed in the choir of the cathedral at Liege, was subsequently instructed in music by some of the masters of the place, and at 18 went to Rome, where he pursued his studies for eight years. Going to Paris, he encountered many disappointments, and was on the point of leaving the city in despair when Marmontel's libretto, Le Huron, founded on Voltaire's tale, was put into his hands. In a few weeks the music was ready, and the first performance of the opera raised Gretry to the first rank of composers. It was followed by Lucile, Zemire et Azor (successfully produced upon the English stage under the title of "Selima and Azor"), Cephale et Procris, Richard Coeur de Lion, Barbe-Bleue, and many others, both serious and comic; and for nearly 40 years Gretry enjoyed a popularity in France which the efforts of rival composers could never impair. Sixteen years after his death (1829) his Guillaume Tell was produced in Paris with great care, and evoked such enthusiasm that the composer's bust was brought upon the stage attended by the principal singers, who crowned it with laurels. His principal operas are full of grace and spirit, and the music is melodious and dramatic.

The authors of his librettos were in, nearly every instance men of genius, which will in a measure account for the uniform success of his works. He was one of the principal founders of the French comic opera. In 1780 he published Essais sur la musique (3 vols. 8vo).