February 8, 1741:
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry is born at 34 rue des Récollets in Outremeuse, Liège in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège of the Holy Roman Empire, the son of a musician at the collegiate church of St. Denis in Liège.
August 20, 1768:
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s (27) opéra comique Le huron to words of Marmontel after Voltaire is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris. It is a success, due largely to the music.
January 5, 1769:
Lucile, a comédie mise en musique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (27) to words of Marmontel, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
September 20, 1769:
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s (28) comédie-parade Le tableau parlant to words of Anseaume is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
February 19, 1770:
Silvain, an opéra-comique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (29) to words of Marmontel after Gessner, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
March 31, 1770:
Les filles pourvues, a compliment de clôture by André-Ernest-Modest Grétry (29) to words of Anseaume, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
October 27, 1770:
Les deux avares, an opéra bouffon by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (29) to words of Fenouillot de Falbaine, is performed for the first time, at Fontainebleau, to celebrate the wedding of Louis le Dauphin to Marie Antoinette.
November 13, 1770:
L’amitié à l’épreuve, an opéra-comique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (29) to words of Favart and Fusée de Voisenon after Marmontel, is performed for the first time, at Fontainebleau.
September 18, 1771:
The Comédie-Italienne, Paris, agrees to pay André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (30) a regular salary.
October 26, 1771:
L’ami de la maison, an opéra-comique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (30) to words of Marmontel, is performed for the first time, in Fontainebleau.
November 9, 1771:
Zémire et Azor, a comédie-ballet mêlée de chants et de danses by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (30) to words of Marmontel after Le Prince de Beaumont, is performed for the first time, at Fontainebleau.
November 10, 1771:
King Louis XV of France grants a royal pension of 1,200 francs to André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (30).
January 24, 1772:
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (30) writes to Padre Giovanni Battista Martini (65) that King Louis XV has granted him a pension of 1,200 francs plus a bonus of 200 louis d’or.
March 4, 1773:
Le magnifique, a comédie mise en musique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (32) to words of Sedaine after LaFontaine, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
October 23, 1773:
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s (32) La rosière de Salency to words of Masson de Pézay is performed for the first time, at Fontainebleau.
December 30, 1773:
Céphale et Procris, ou L’amour conjugal, a ballet-héroïque by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (32) to words of Marmontel after Ovid, is performed for the first time, at Versailles, to celebrate the wedding of the Comte d’Artois and Marie-Thérèse of Savoy.
February 1, 1775:
La fausse magie, a comédie mêlée de chants by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (33) to words of Marmontel, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
June 12, 1776:
Le mariages samnites, a drame lyrique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (35) to words of de Rosoi after Marmontel, is performed for the first time, in the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
March 10, 1777:
Amour pour amour, a divertissment by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (36) to words of Laujon, is performed for the first time, at Versailles.
November 3, 1777:
Matroco, a drame burlesque by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (36) to words of Laujon, is performed for the first time, at the home of the Prince of Condé.
March 28, 1778:
Le jugement de Midas, an opéra-comique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (37) to words of d’Hèle after O’Hara, is performed for the first time, in the apartments of Mme de Montesson in the Palais-Royal, Paris. See 27 June 1778.
June 27, 1778:
Le jugement de Midas, an opéra-comique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (37) to words of d’Hèle after O’Hara, is performed publicly for the first time, at the Théâtre Italien, Paris. See 28 March 1778.
November 20, 1778:
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s (37) opéra-comique Les fausses apparences, ou L’amant jaloux, to words of d’Hèle after Centlivre is performed for the first time, at Versailles.
November 11, 1779:
Les événemas imprévus, an opéra-comique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (38) to words of d’Hèle, is performed for the first time, at Versailles.
December 30, 1779:
Aucassin et Nicolette, ou Les moeurs de bon vieux tems, an opéra-comique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (38) to words of Sedaine after de la Curne de Sainte-Palaye, is performed for the first time, at Versailles.
June 6, 1780:
Andromaque, a tragédie lyrique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (39) to words of Pitra after Racine, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.
September 23, 1780:
A bust of André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (39) is installed in the Liège City Theatre.
February 22, 1781:
Emilie, ou La belle esclave, a comédie lyrique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (40) to words of Guillard, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.
January 1, 1782:
Colinette à la cour, ou La double épreuve, a comédie lyrique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (40) to words of Lourdet de Santerre after Favart, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.
November 26, 1782:
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s (41) comédie lyrique L’embarras des richesses to words of Lourdet de Santure after d’Allainval, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.
December 21, 1782:
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (41) makes a triumphant return to his birthplace, Liège.
October 30, 1783:
La caravane du Caire, an opéra-ballet by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (42) to words of Morel de Chédeville, is performed for the first time, at Fontainebleau.
March 5, 1784:
Théodore et Paulin, a comédie lyrique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (43) to words of Desforges (pseud. of Choudard), is performed for the first time, at Versailles.
June 24, 1784:
L’épreuve villageoise, an opéra bouffon by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (43) to words of Desforges, is preformed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
October 21, 1784:
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s (43) comédie mise en musique Richard Coeur-de-Lion, to words of Sedaine after La Curne de Sainte-Palaye, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris. Among the audience is a diplomat named Thomas Jefferson.
January 25, 1785:
Panurge dans l’île des lanternes, a comédie lyrique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (43) to words of Morel de Chédeville after Parfaict, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.
March 15, 1786:
Amphitryon, an opéra by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (45) to words of Sedaine after Molière, is performed for the first time, at Versailles.
November 7, 1786:
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s (45) opéra-comique Les méprises par ressemblance to words of Patrat after Plautus is performed for the first time, at Fontainebleau.
November 13, 1786:
Le comte d’Albert, an opéra-comique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (45) to words of Sedaine after La Fontaine, is performed for the first time, at Fontainebleau.
December 26, 1787:
Le prisonnier anglais, an opéra-comique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (46) to words of Desfontaines (pseud. of Fouques) is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne.
June 26, 1788:
Le rival confident, a comédie mise en musique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (47) to words of Forgeot, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
March 2, 1789:
Raoul Barbe-bleue, a comédie mise en musique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (48) to words of Sedaine after Perrault, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
March 17, 1789:
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s (48) opéra Aspasie to words of Morel de Chédeville, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.
January 13, 1790:
Pierre le Grand, a comédie mêlée de chants by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (48) to words of Bouilly after Voltaire, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
April 9, 1791:
Guillaume Tell, a drame mise en musique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (50) to words of Sedaine after Lemierre, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
July 18, 1791:
Luigi Cherubini’s (30) heroic comedy Lodoïska to words of Fillette-Loraux after Louvet de Couvrai, is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre Feydeau. The work is an unqualified success. André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (50) thanks the composer publicly “in the name of art.”
January 16, 1792:
Cécile et Ermancé, ou Les deux couvents, an opéra-comique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (50) to words of Rouget de Lisle and Desprès, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
April 15, 1792:
At a public dinner in Strasbourg feting the local garrison before the upcoming war, Rouget de Lisle, a young army engineer with a minor reputation as a composer (he is a friend of Grétry (51)), is asked to produce a patriotic march to send the men off to the front. After the party, he sets to work.
October 17, 1792:
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s (51) opéra-comique Basile, ou A trompeur, trompeur et demi, to words of Sedaine after Cervantes, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
February 26, 1794:
Le congrès des rois, a pasticcio with music by Luigi Cherubini (33), André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (53), Étienne-Nicolas Méhul (30) and nine others to words of Desmaillots (pseud. of Eve), is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre Favart, Paris. It will be banned after two performances.
June 5, 1794:
Joseph Barra, a fait historique by André-Ernest-Joseph Grétry (53) to words of Levrier Champ-Rion, is performed for the first time, at the Opéra-Comique, Paris.
August 23, 1794:
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s (53) opéra Denys le tyran, maître d’école à Corinthe, to words of Maréchal, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.
September 2, 1794:
La rosière républicaine ou La fète de la vertu, an opéra by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (53) to words of Maréchal, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.
August 3, 1795:
The Paris Conservatoire is founded by the National Convention through the joining of the Institut national de musique and the École nationale de chant et de déclamation. Five inspectors of instruction are appointed: François-Joseph Gossec (61), André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (54), Luigi Cherubini (34), Étienne-Nicolas Méhul (32), and Jean-François Le Sueur.
January 10, 1797:
Lisbeth, a drame lyrique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (55) to words of de Favières after de Florian, is performed for the first time, at the Opéra-Comique, Paris.
May 6, 1797:
Le barbier du village, ou Le revenant, an opéra-comique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (56) to words of AJ Grétry, is performed for the first time, in Théâtre Feydeau, Paris.
January 1, 1799:
Elisca, ou L’amour maternel, a drame lyrique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (57) to words of Favières, is performed for the first time, at the Opéra-Comique, Paris.
November 7, 1801:
Le casque et les colombes, an opéra-ballet by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (60) to words of Guillard, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra to celebrate peace with Great Britain.
February 15, 1803:
Delphis et Mopsa, a comédie lyrique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (62) to words of Guy, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.
September 24, 1813:
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry dies at L'Ermitage in Montmorency, Seine-et-Oise in the French Empire, aged 72 years, seven months, and 16 days.
October 2, 1835:
A Requiem mass for Vincenzo Bellini is held at Les Invalides. According to a report, “Paer, Cherubini (75), Carafa and Rossini (43) each held one corner of the shroud.” Bellini’s earthly remains are laid to rest in Pére-Lachaise Cemetery between those of Andre Ernest Modeste Grétry (†22) and François-Adrien Boieldieu (†0). See 15 September 1876.
July 18, 1842:
Franz Liszt attends the unveiling of the memorial to Grétry (†28) in Liège. King Leopold awards him the Order of the Lion of Belgium.