A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Gouvy, Theodore
GOUVY, Theodore, prolific composer, born of French parents, July 2, 1819, at Goffontaine, Saarbruck, where his father was a large ironfounder. He took his degree at the college at Metz, and then proceeded to Paris to study the law. Hitherto, though possessing an unmistakeable talent for music, he had had no instruction in it, and had probably not heard a single classical piece. But being at the Conservatoire he happened to hear Beethoven's 7th Symphony. This at once fired his mind, and he wrote home to announce his determination to be a musician. His parents' consent obtained, he placed himself under Elwart for 3 years, then resided at Berlin, where he published his 'Opus 1,' and thence went for more than a year to Italy. In 1846 he returned to Paris, which since then has been his home, with visits to Cologne and Leipsic, where his music has been frequently played with success.
His published and unpublished works (of which a list is given by Fétis and Pougin) extend to op. 56, containing more than 170 numbers, many of them of large dimensions. They comprise 6 Symphonies for full orchestra; 2 Concert overtures; String quartets and a quintet; 5 P.F. trios and one ditto Quintet; 18 Serenades for P.F. solo; Sonatas for ditto; choruses, songs, and other pieces in large numbers. His music appears to be much relished in Paris, and to be esteemed even in Germany. In England, however, it is not at all known.