Henri-Joseph Rigel

Henri-Joseph Rigel was a German-born composer of the Classical era who spent most of his working life in France. He was born in Wertheim am Main where his father was musical intendant to the local prince. After an education in Germany, where his teachers included Niccolò Jommelli, Rigel moved to Paris in 1767. He quickly acquired a reputation in musical circles and published harpsichord pieces, string quartets, symphonies and concertos. He began composing for the Concert Spirituel, most notably four hiérodrames : La sortie d'Egypte (1774), La destruction de Jericho (1778), Jephté (1783) and Les Macchabées. These show the influence of Christoph Willibald Gluck, and Gluck himself praised La sortie d'Égypte. Between 1778 and 1799 Rigel also wrote 14 operas, including the opéra comique Le savetier et le financier (1778).

9 February 1741

Born on the same birth day (9 February): Alban Berg • Brad Maynard • Brian Greene • Callistus Ndlovu • Despina Papamichail • Dit Clapper • George W. Campbell • Hugh Price Hughes • K. J. McDaniels • Magdalena Neuner • Mikel Arruabarrena • Pope Honorius II • Sebastián Driussi • Sharon Case • Sheraldo Becker • Svetlana Boginskaya • Tex Hughson • Tonie Nathan • Wataru Endō • William Henry Harrison

Born in the same month (February 1741): André Grétry • Henry Fuseli