Benjamin Godard

Benjamin Louis Paul Godard (18 August 1849 – 10 January 1895) was a French violinist and Romantic-era composer of Jewish extraction, best known for his opera Jocelyn. His extensive oeuvre includes eight operas, five symphonies, concertos, string quartets, and over a hundred songs. Godard studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, won the Prix de la Ville de Paris, and became a professor at the Conservatoire. A Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, he was critical of Wagner and influenced by Mendelssohn and Schumann.