Philidor, François André Danican (1726–1795)

French composer and accomplished chess player. At his father's early death he became a page at court, where he learnt to play chess and became so proficient that he toured abroad to display his skill, starting in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1745. He was invited to England by Lord Sandwich and the Duke of Cumberland, and published his treatise, Analyse du jeu des echecs/Analysis of the Game of Chess, there in 1749. He heard, and was influenced by, Handel's oratorios, in imitation of which he wrote motets on his return to Paris, France, in 1754. In 1756 he began to write comic operas, and between that year and 1788 he wrote over 30 works for the stage.

Philidor was born in Dreux, France. He was one of a family that included at least 12 musicians of some importance, several of whom performed as woodwind players at the French court. In his last years he was pensioned by the Chess Club in London, England, where he continued to live much of the time, and where he died. Among his operatic works are Blaise le savetier (after Lafontaine), Sancho Panca dans son île (after Cervantes), and Tom Jones (after Fielding).