GEVAERT, FRANÇOIS-AUGUSTE. - Musician and musicologist, b. at Huysse (Belgium) on 31 July 1828, d. at Brussels on 31 Dec. 1908.
A pupil of the Conservatory of Ghent, he later became organist in the Jesuit church. In 1847 he won the Grand Prix de Rome. In 1849-50 he completed his studies in Paris and undertook important journeys through various European countries. In 1866 he became director of the Opéra in Paris. In 1871 he returned to Brussels as director of the Conservatory.
He wrote many theatrical works that enjoyed wide success, and was also the author of theoretical and historical works, including Histoire et théorie de la musique de l'antiquité (2 vols., Paris 1875-81); Les origines du chant liturgique (ibid. 1892); La melopée antique dans le chant de l'Église latine (ibid. 1895). In collaboration with Gaston Paris he published Les gloires de l'Italie (ibid. 1868), which collects operatic pieces by Italian masters of the 17th and 18th centuries.