Charles Gounod

French-born composer Charles Gounod began his study of music at a young age, in both Paris and Rome. Gounod treasured the Sacred Italian works of the 16th century, as is shown in his multitude of operas, cantatas and symphonies. Of which, he is best known for his composition Ave Maria and his operas Faust and Romeo et Juliette. Interestingly enough, George Bizet was a student of Gounod, an influence seen particularly in Bizet's Symphony in C.