Charles Gounod-Part 2

Gounod's father, Francois Louis Gounod was born in 1758 and did not marry until he was forty-seven years old. He died when his son Charles was only five years old. A painter of distinguished note himself, he spent much of his time restoring many of these great masterpieces to be found in the lavish summer homes of the French monarchs at Versailles. His ancestors had been makers of the elegantly engraved armor and weapons that added so much to the spectacular attractiveness of the wars of other days. It was Gounod's mother, however, who developed the love for music in the little child who was to write operas and oratorios which brought his name such wide renown. She was the daughter of a French magistrate, very pious, highly cultured and was a music teacher for over thirty-two years.