François Bourgoing (singer)

François Bourgoing (15..–16..) was a member of the Oratory of Jesus, author of two books on the plain song in use in his order, and active in the first half of the 17th century.

His life remains rather obscure; he was born in Bourges and we know that he entered the Paris Oratory on 26 November 1616.

The second Assembly of the Order charged him with the task of improving the singing of the Oratorians and publishing a collection along these lines (this would be the Brevis psalmodiæ ratio[1] of 1634), which suggests that he was a singer of his church (in 1634 he is said to be a priest and a chori moderatore).

On 5 October 1639, already excluded several times for misconduct and just recovered from an illness, he promised to amend his conduct against a pension paid by the Order.

Shortly afterwards, while he became chaplain to the nuns of Picpus, his pension was reduced to the strict necessities (29 November 1640).