Michel Pignolet de Montéclair

Michel Pignolet de Montéclair (baptized December 4, 1667 as Michel Pignolet in Andelot , Haute-Marne , † September 22, 1737 in Domont ) was a French Baroque composer.

Life

On January 27, 1676 he was accepted as a choirboy at Langres Cathedral . This was then under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Moreau .

When he settled in Paris in 1687, he nicknamed himself "de Montéclair", named after a well-known fortress in his birthplace.

From 1699 he played in the "Académie Royale de Musique" the "Basse de Violon", an instrument similar to the cello, but which is around 10 cm longer.

In 1709 Montéclair published his "Nouvelle méthode pour apprendre la musique" (New method of learning music), on the title page of which he described himself as the conductor of the Prince of Vaudémont, whom he accompanied on a trip to Italy. There are no surviving reports on details of this trip, but it is believed that he learned to play the double bass there .

Montéclair was known as an excellent teacher, among other things he taught one of the two daughters of François Couperin . His novel method is said to have introduced the students to music with joy and serenity and not with strict protocol. In 1721 he and his nephew François Boivin founded a music store with a publishing house "à la règle d'or" in Paris' rue St. Honoré , which also published most of his works and those of other composers. Montéclair sold Boivin his share in 1728.

In 1735 he gave up teaching in order to be able to devote himself more to orchestral and composing activities. From July 1737, three months before his death, he received a royal pension.

effect

Alongside André Campra, Montéclair is considered to be the musician who most influenced Jean-Philippe Rameau . A dramatic color scheme is striking in his orchestral pieces, which is particularly evident in his flute concerto La Guerre (The War). His contribution to the development of the French cantata was significant.

Works

• 1695: Brunettes anciennes et modern appropriées à la flûte
• 1697: Sérénade ou concert divisé en trois suites pour les violons, flûtes et hautbois
• 1709: Premier Livre de Cantates composé de Six Cantates Françoises et deux Cantates Italiènes à voix seule et avec symphonie
• 1709: Nouvelle Méthode pour apprendre la Musique par demonstrations faciles.
• 1711: Méthode facile pour apprendre à jouer du violon avec un abrégé des principes de la Musique
• 1716: IIe Livre de Cantates françoises et Italiènes à voix seule et avec un dessus de violon ou de flûte
• 1716: Les Fêstes de l'Eté , opéra-ballet in 3 acts with a prologue based on the libretto by abbé Joseph Simon Pellegrin
• 1723: 6 Concerts à deux Flûtes traversières sans basses composés par Monsieur Montéclair de l'Académie Royale de Musique.
• 1724: 6 concerts pour la Flûte traversière avec la Basse chiffrée
• 1728: IIIe Livre de Cantates françoises et Italiènes à voix seule et Symphonie
• 1732: Jephté , opéra biblique sur un livret de Joseph Simon Pellegrin
• 1735: (in May) Mass en musique chantée à l'église Saint-Sulpice (lost)
• 1736: Principes de Musique divisées en quatre classes
• Untitled : Menuets tant anciens que nouveaux qui se dansent au bal de l'Opéra, Ier recueil contenant 101 menuets en 10 suites by Mr Montéclaire
• undated: O sacrum convivium (petit motet)
• undated .: Properate hunc (petit motet)
• undated .: Several Grands Motets for the Concerts Spirituels (lost)

Web links

• Works by and about Michel Pignolet de Montéclair in the catalog of the German National Library