Nicolas Lebègue

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Nicolas Antoine Lebègue , also Nicolas Antoine Le Bègue (* 1631 in Laon ; † July 6, 1702 in Paris ) was a French organist , harpsichordist and composer . He is one of the most important and innovative organ masters of the era of Louis XIV and also published two books with harpsichord pieces.

Life

The Saint-Merry Church, Paris, in the 17th century

Nicolas Lebègue came from a humble background, his father was a miller ; through his mother Marie Le Nain he was related to the famous Le Nain family of painters . It is not known who his teachers were, but he had an uncle Nicolas, who was also a musician (" maître joueur d'instrument "). Little Nicolas received his first musical instruction in a singing school in Laon. He went to Paris around the mid-1650s and probably lived with relatives there. He must have had a respected organ position by 1660, because in 1661 he had such an excellent reputation that he was called the "famous organist of Paris" on the occasion of an organ appraisal with a concert in Troyes . From December 18, 1664 he worked as organist at Saint-Merry . As the culmination of his career as an organist, he was appointed to one of the four court organists in Versailles in 1678, alongside Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers , Jean-Baptiste Buterne and Jacques Thomelin. During these years Lebègue was highly regarded as an organist, composer and teacher; his students included Nicolas de Grigny , François d'Agincourt , Jean Nicolas Geoffroy and Pierre Dandrieu , uncle of the more famous Jean-Francois Dandrieu . As an organ expert, Lebègue was not only consulted at churches in Paris. B. at the Invalides (1679), but also got around as far as Bourges , Chartres (1671), Soissons (1680), Laon (1697) and Blois (1699). In the 1690s, however, luck ran out. Due to a fraudster, he lost a considerable part of his fortune and got into financial difficulties, as well as health problems. However, he remained active until his death and could be sure of the recognition of his contemporaries.

According to the inventory made after his death, he owned a Denis harpsichord, a theorbo, a bass and a treble viol, and a violin.

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Pieces de clavecin

Nicolas Lebègue, Prélude (non mesuré) in C sol ut fa (detail) , Pièces de clavecin , 1677

Lebègue mainly created works for keyboard instruments and showed a remarkable gift for melodious and often catchy melodies. There are two books Pièces de clavecin (1677 and 1687), which contain a total of eleven harpsichord suites . His harpsichord style appears graceful and graceful, more transparent and lighter than that of d'Anglebert , who is about the same age , with a certain emphasis on high registers, especially in the second book. It is possible that the interpreter may or must add some embellishments, especially in the second book, which seems a bit sketchy in this regard.

One of Lebègue's merits was that he was the first to try to write down the typically French, quasi-improvisational genre of the Prélude non mesuré in a way that was understandable for laypeople and beginners, in contrast to the pure white notation that was customary until then, as it was e.g. B. by Louis Couperin , and which presents the uninitiated player with relatively great problems of interpretation. In comparison, the suites of his two harpsichord books show some important differences in structure: The suites from 1677 begin with a prelude and all have two different courants , e.g. Sometimes they are called " grave " or " gaye " and sometimes have a double - they still correspond to a traditional suite form with two to three courants, as it was and was cultivated by Chambonnières , Louis Couperin and d'Anglebert .

The second book from 1687, like the second organ book, seems to be intended for beginners: The Preludes are omitted, Lebègue only brings one Courante per suite (no name and no double), and the fugal jigs have also disappeared with one exception. The allemandes have a new, more fluid style, often with sixteenth-note garlands.

The Bourrée was the first and almost only one of the clavecinists to use Lebègue in both books. He is also considered to be the first to use the term " suite " (1687).

Organ works

Nicolas Lebègue, Tierce en taille (3me ton), Les pièces d'orgue , 1676

Lebègue also published three Livres d'Orgue :

There are also other individual works in various collections. According to Lebègues publisher, the first book was "for the connoisseurs" (" ... pour les sçavans ... "), so it had a higher artistic claim, while the second book of the organ masses was "... understandable for everyone ..." (" ... intelligible à tous ... ") should be. The composer therefore "... forced himself to quench the great fire that usually accompanies his playing ...". The Masses and Magnificats are therefore simpler, shorter and without the obligatory pedal.

Lebègue, along with Gigault and Nivers, is one of those composers who particularly shaped or 'invented' typical French organ music of the Baroque era, with often precise regulations for registration and the formation of a whole range of types of movements, such as: Fugue , Récit , Dialogue , Duo , Trio , Basse ( de trompette ), Echo , Plein jeu . Lebègue seems to have been the first in France to assign independent tasks to the pedal , e.g. B. in his trios of 3 claviers or in the genus of Tierce (or Cromhorne) en taille . In the latter, the left hand plays an ornate solo part in tenor or alto position on the aforementioned register ( Tierce or Cromhorne ), with the right hand accompaniment on another manual and the independent pedal. This genre was probably invented by Lebègue (1676).

Vocal music

Lebègue also wrote some vocal works: a hymn and a collection of motets ( Motets pour les principales festes de l'année , in Paris 1687), which he composed for the nuns of the Benedictine convent Val-de-Grâce , are preserved; The accompanying organ is not limited to continuo tasks, but is sometimes performed in concert.

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  • Willi Apel : "Lebègue", in: History of organ and piano music up to 1700 , publ. and afterword by Siegbert Rampe, Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2004 (originally 1967), pp. 707–709 (organ music).
  • Philippe Lescat: "Brief biography" of Lebègue, in: Nicolas-Antoine Lebègue, Pièces de Clavecin, Premier Livre, 1677 , Facsimile, publ. sous la dir. de J. Saint-Arroman, Courlay: Édition JM Fuzeau, 1995, pp. 10-11.

Web links

The organ of Saint-Merry in Paris, beg. 21st century
Commons : Nicolas Lebègue  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Philippe Lescat: "Brief Biography", in: Nicolas-Antoine Lebègue, Pièces de Clavecin, Premier Livre, 1677 , Facsimile, ..., Courlay: Édition JM Fuzeau, 1995, p. 10.
  2. ^ Philippe Lescat: "Brief Biography", in: Nicolas-Antoine Lebègue, Pièces de Clavecin, Premier Livre, 1677 , Facsimile, ..., Courlay: Édition JM Fuzeau, 1995, p. 10.
  3. ^ Philippe Lescat, "Brief Biography", in: Nicolas-Antoine Lebègue, Pièces de Clavecin, Premier Livre, 1677 , ..., Courlay: Édition JM Fuzeau, 1995, p. 10.
  4. ^ Philippe Lescat: "Brief Biography", in: Nicolas-Antoine Lebègue, Pièces de Clavecin, Premier Livre, 1677 , ..., Courlay: Édition JM Fuzeau, 1995, p. 10.
  5. ^ Philippe Lescat: "Brief Biography", in: Nicolas-Antoine Lebègue, Pièces de Clavecin, Premier Livre, 1677 , ..., Courlay: Édition JM Fuzeau, 1995, p. 10.
  6. ^ Philippe Lescat: "Brief Biography", in: Nicolas-Antoine Lebègue, Pièces de Clavecin, Premier Livre, 1677 , Facsimile, ..., Courlay: Édition JM Fuzeau, 1995, pp. 10-11.
  7. ^ Philippe Lescat: "Brief Biography", in: Nicolas-Antoine Lebègue, Pièces de Clavecin, Premier Livre, 1677 , ..., Courlay: Édition JM Fuzeau, 1995, p. 11.
  8. ↑ The suites of the first book are, however, organized by key in such a way that the pieces in D minor and D major can be viewed either as one or (more likely) as two separate suites; the same goes for G minor and G major. In this respect, there would be two more suites, i.e. 13. (See: Nicolas-Antoine Lebègue, Pièces de Clavecin, Premier Livre, 1677 , Facsimile, ..., Courlay: Édition JM Fuzeau, 1995.)
  9. ↑ Similar to the handwritten harpsichord works of the era, e.g. B. in the manuscripts Bauyn , Parville etc.
  10. ↑ Only the gigue of the suite in G major is fugal.
  11. ↑ This applies to the Allemands of the suites in g (2 Allemanden), a, A, and F.
  12. ↑ The Bourrée was not actually used by any of Lebègues' predecessors, nor by any of the contemporaries and successors named here: Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1687 and 1707), d'Anglebert (1689), Marchand (1702, 1703), Clèrambault (1703 ), Rameau , François Couperin , Jean-François Dandrieu , Daquin , Duphly.
  13. ↑ Willi Apel : "Lebègue", in: History of organ and piano music until 1700 , ..., Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2004 (originally 1967), p. 708.
  14. ↑ Willi Apel : "Lebègue", in: History of organ and piano music until 1700 , ..., Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2004 (originally 1967), p. 708.
personal data
SURNAME Lebègue, Nicolas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lebègue, Nicolas Antoine (full name); Le Bègue, Nicolas Antoine
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French organist, harpsichordist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH 1631
PLACE OF BIRTH Laon
DATE OF DEATH July 6, 1702
Place of death Paris