Michel Blavet
Michel Blavet ( baptized March 13, 1700 in Besançon , † October 28, 1768 in Paris ) was a French flute virtuoso and composer.
Life
Hailed as the “best French flautist” at a young age, at the age of 23 he received the post of first flautist at the Paris Opera with the protection of the Duke of Levis .
In 1732 he became music superintendent of the Count of Clermont, a position he held until his death in 1768. In 1738 he was also a member of the royal chapel in Versailles of Louis XV. In 1740 he joined the orchestra of the Paris Opera.
Praised by famous composers such as Johann Joachim Quantz and Georg Philipp Telemann , Frederick the Great had offered him a position - also on the recommendation of Voltaire - but Blavet refused.
Works
Blavet's instrument, the transverse flute , is the focus of his compositional work. The following are handed down:
- six sonatas for two flutes without bass op. 1 (1728);
- twelve sonatas for flute and continuo op. 2 (1732);
- third book of sonatas (1740);
- Concerto in A minor for flute and strings (without viola) (1745, rediscovered in 1954). It has some cadences worked out by the composer, some of which sound over an organ point ;
- four operas , of which only surviving: Le Jaloux Corrigé (1752); thus Blavet was the first composer of a French comic opera ;
- Blavet's famous quartets for flute, violin , viola da gamba and continuo have not survived .
A selection of Blavet's sonatas was republished in England as early as 1908. Several of Blavet's compositions have also been edited for the recorder (soprano or alto).
literature
- Carla Christine Bauer: Michel Blavets Flute Music: A Study of the Development of French Instrumental Music in the 18th Century. University publishing house, Freiburg i. Br. 1981, ISBN 3-8107-2149-2 (Zugl .: Freiburg (Breisgau), Univ., Diss., 1981).
- Roger J. V. Cotte, Gudula Schütz: Blavet, Michel. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 3 (Bjelinski - Calzabigi). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2000, ISBN 3-7618-1113-6 ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
- Lewis E. Peterman: Michel Blavet's Breathing Marks: A Rare Source for Musical Phrasing in Eighteenth-Century France . In: Performance Practice Review. 4, 1991 (2), pp. 186-198 ( doi: 10.5642 / perfpr.199104.02.04 ).
- L. Vaissier: Michael Blavet, 1700–1768: essai de biographie. In: Recherches sur la musique française classique , 22 (1984), 131-59
Web links
- Sheet music and audio files by Michel Blavet in the International Music Score Library Project
- Blavet Michel 1700-1768 musicologie.org (French)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Neal Zaslaw: Blavet, Michel. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
- ↑ Herbert Kölbel: From the flute: Breviary for flute players. Bärenreiter , Kassel 1966, p. 101f. Hardback edition. (Revised version of the first edition, Staufen Verlag, Cologne 1951)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Blavet, Michel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French flautist and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | baptized March 13, 1700 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Besançon |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 28, 1768 |
| Place of death | Paris |