GODARD, BENJAMIN (1849-1895), French composer, was born in Paris, on Aug. 18, 1849. He studied at the Conserva toire, and had already published many works when in 1878 his dramatic cantata Le Tasse won a prize in a musical competition instituted by the city of Paris. Godard was a prolific composer of operas, of which one of the best known is La Vivandiere, left unfinished and partly scored by another hand. Among his works the "Symphonie legendaire" may be singled out as being one of the most distinctive. He wrote many charming songs, and his death, which occurred at Cannes Jan. Io, 1895, was a real loss to French art.