Pierre Jaillard Bressan

Pierre Jaillard Bressan (Anglicized: Peter Bressan ; born May 27, 1663 in Bourg-en-Bresse , † April 21, 1731 in Tournai ) was a French woodwind instrument maker .

Life

He was the third of five children of Claude and Phillibert (née Mercier) Bressan. In 1667 his father and grandfather died and the children were placed in the care of Philibert Cavasod . He was responsible for her training and probably sent her to the college in Bourg.

From May 13, 1678, Pierre Jaillard Bressan completed an apprenticeship with the master turner Jean Bossier in Bourg for two years . It remains questionable to what extent Bossier was familiar with the art of instrument making.

On December 29, 1679, Jeanne Cattin Bressan, Pierre's grandmother, who can be regarded as a close reference person, died.

After completing his apprenticeship, no data on Bressan's life have survived for ten years until he reappeared in London in 1690 . Under the name Brezong / Brazong he was one of five oboists who made the journey of King Williams III. accompanied to Holland , noted.

In 1706 he married Mary Margaret Mignon and fathered ten children with her, four of whom reached adulthood. They lived in Somerset House , the estate of their father, Claude Mignon. After his death, Bressan was appointed home owner. He lived and worked here in a French Catholic environment.

On April 21, 1731 he died of illness while traveling through the Netherlands.

vocation

It is believed that Bressan learned his trade together with Jean Jacques Rippert from members of the Hotteterre family in Paris .

In London he worked as an instrument maker and music dealer. He was involved in the publication of Pietro Castrucci's violin sonatas (1718) and Francesco Barsanti's flute sonatas (1724) and financed Jean-Claude Gillier's Recueil d'airs François (1723) and Johann Ernst Galliard's Hymn of Adam and Eve (1728).

In 1722 Bressan and a group of 29 other people applied to the king asking for their naturalization. With the receipt of the Letter of Denization, Bressan received the right to own land and buy goods a year later.

There are entries about Bressan in the Talbot Manuscript from the period between 1692 and 1695 . It is associated here with the French oboe , tenor oboe , flute d'allemagne, tenor and bass recorders. In the report of his death in a newspaper article on May 6, 1731, he was called "that celebratet artist in making flutes". An inventory list of his estate makes it clear that he made all kinds of common woodwind instruments. Furthermore, 76 pictures, prints, portraits and busts demonstrate his dedication to the visual arts, which he celebrated with a series of exhibitions in his house during his lifetime.

plant

Today there are still three transverse flutes and 48 recorders from Bressan's workshop. The Dutch woodwind instrument maker Jan Bouterse examined the sound properties of some surviving instruments and came to the conclusion that no clear consensus could be found. Nevertheless, there is the opinion among experts that Bressan instruments are particularly characterized by their full, low register, while they sound more tender in the middle and high registers.

bibliography

• Byrne, Maurice, “Bressan, P (eter)”, in: Stanley Sadie / John Tyrrell (eds.), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , Oxford, Brighton et al. 2001, pp. 326–327
• Byrne, Maurice, "Pierre Jalliard, Peter Bressan", in: Galpin Society (ed.), "The Galpin Society Journal, Volume 36" , 1983, pp. 2-28
• Bouterse, Jan, “Bressan alto recorders: pitch and sound; and some tips to make a copy ", in: The Fellowship of Makers and Researchers of Historic Instruments, Communication 1910 , 2010

Web links

• Wikipedia page on the "Letter of Denization"
• Wikipedia page for the "Talbot Manuscript" (English)
• Examples of some of Bressan's flutes in the Library of Congress

See also

• List of recorder makers