Antoine de Boësset

Antoine de Boësset (also: Sieur de Villedieu, * between 1585 and 1587 in Blois , † December 8, 1643 in Paris ) was a French court composer of the Baroque.

The son-in-law of the composer Pierre Guédron , received the post of Maître de musique de la chambre du roi in 1613 and that of Maître de musique de la reine in 1617 , in 1620 that of a chamber secretary for the king, and in 1623 that of surintendant de la musique de la chambre du roi . In 1634 he became an advisor and maître d'hôtel ordinaire du roi . He was able to exercise the most important offices until his death.

De Boësset is best known as one of the composers of Air de Cour , published in a collection in 1608 with works by other composers. 200 four to five-part airs appeared in nine volumes, which were provided with a lute tablature. In his function at court he created more than 20 ballet music. The ecclesiastical works that have long been ascribed to him seem to go back to his son Jean-Baptiste de Boësset (1614–1685).

Marin Mersenne considered him to be one of the best masters of ornament and recommended his imitation. In his seventh collection of songs, published in 1630, he first used the term basso continuo in France . Unusually for the 17th century, the publisher Ballard published a collection of polyphonic arias ( airs polyphoniques ) in 1689, 46 years after Boësset's death .

Works (selection)

• Nine livres d ' airs de cour for 4 and 5 parts (1617–1642; new edition 1689)
• Numerous airs de cour for voice and lute (published by Ballard, Paris)
• Several ballet music (composed between 1614 and 1639)

literature

• Georgie Durosoir: L'Air de cour en France 1571-1655 . Édition Mardaga, Liège 1991, ISBN 2-87009-400-0 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Boësset, Antoine de (Sieur de Villedieu). 1586-1643. Musicologie.org [2002] (French, accessed May 14, 2017).