Jean-Baptiste Volumier
Jean Baptiste Volumier (also: Woulmyer ; * around 1670 probably in the Spanish Netherlands ; † October 7, 1728 in Dresden ) was a Flemish violinist and composer .
Life
Volumier probably received his training at the French court at a young age. In 1692 he got a job as a violinist in the electoral Brandenburg court orchestra in Berlin . Soon he was promoted to concertmaster and had to provide the court with ballet and dance music. In 1708 he was dismissed from all positions.
In 1709 he became concertmaster of the royal orchestra in Dresden . Here he introduced the French style and the Dresden chapel rose to become one of the best in Europe. Musicians such as Veracini and Pisendel joined the court orchestra under his direction . Furthermore, over time he merged the French with the Italian style and added German style elements, which were subsequently called the so-called "mixed" or "German style". This prompted Quantz in his autobiography in Marpurgs : Historisch- Kritische Geräte , (Berlin, 1754) to state that he had never heard an orchestra better than the one from Dresden under Volumier.
It is possible that he played the world premiere of the sonatas and partitas for solo violin by Johann Sebastian Bach , with whom he was friends. In this context he is said to have initiated an organ competition between Bach and Louis Marchand in 1717 . Marchand fled before the duel occurred, which strengthened the position of court organist Christian Petzold .
On behalf of the Saxon king, Volumier stayed in Cremona for several months in 1715, where he supervised the completion of 12 violins in Antonio Stradivari's workshop .
During a several month trip to Warsaw in the king's entourage, Volumier fell ill and was often represented by Pisendel after his return. From 1730 Volumier's widow received a six-monthly pension of 600 guilders.
Works
Volumier composed numerous ballets and violin pieces, all of which fell victim to a fire in Dresden in 1760 during the Seven Years' War .
- The victory of beauty over heroes (opera, together with Gottfried Finger and Augustin Reinhard Stricker , 1706)
- The ballet music for Antonio Lotti's operas Ascanio and Teofane, performed in Dresden
literature
- Robert Eitner: Volumier, Johann Baptist . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 40, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, p. 282 f.
Individual evidence
- “Dictionnaire des compositeurs de Belgique du Moeyn age à nos jours” p. 696
- New Grove 1st Edition, contribution by Dieter Härtwig
- ↑ Bach Vs Marchand: The Duel That Never Was. Accessed January 31, 2019 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Volumier, Jean-Baptiste |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Woulmyer; Volumier, Juan Bautista; Volumier, Johann Baptist |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Flemish violinist and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1670 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | unsure: Spanish Netherlands |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 7, 1728 |
| Place of death | Dresden |