GARAT  ,

PIERRE-JEAN (1764-1823), French singer, nephew of Dominique Joseph Garat, was born in Bordeaux on the 25th of April 1764 . Gifted with a voice of exceptional timbre and compass he devoted himself, from an early age, to the cultivation of his musical talents . On account of his manifesting a distaste for the legal profession, for which his father wished him to study, he was deprived of his allowance, but through the patronage of a friend he obtained the office of secretary to Comte d'Artois, and was afterwards engaged to give musical lessons to the queen of France . At the beginning of the Revolution he accompanied Rode to England, where the two musicians appeared together in concerts . He returned to Paris in 1794 . After the Revolution he became a professional singer, and on account of a song which he had composed in reference to the misfortunes of the royal family he was thrown into prison . On regaining his liberty he went to Hamburg, where he at once achieved extraordinary success; and by his subsequent appearances in Paris, and his visits to Italy, Spain, Germany and Russia, he made for himself a reputation as a singer unequalled by any other of his own time . He was a keen partisan of Gluck in opposition.to Handel . On the institution of the Conservatoire de Musique he became its professor of singing . He also composed a number of songs, many of which have considerable merit . He,Flied on the 1st of March 1823 in Paris .