René Pignon Descoteaux
René Pignon Descoteaux (* around 1645 ; † December 22, 1728 in Paris ) was a French flautist .
Life
René Pignon Descoteaux is associated with the introduction of the flute with a flap and conical drilled holes ( flûte d'allemagne ) at the French court. He was the son of François Pignon († 1699), a merchant from Laval , whose musical talent helped him to work as a recorder and oboist at the court of Louis XIV . The king had a fifth position created for him at the hautbois et musette de Poitou , and his son inherited the post. Fifteen-year René already represented him occasionally what the problem entails using old livrets not always be able to clearly clarify today that Descoteaux a bet had. Most likely he began his career like his father on the recorder, but René, who first appeared in the accounts of the Menus Plaisirs in 1677 , made his fortune on the Traverso .
He lived in the Saint-Antoine district on rue de Charonne in Paris, not far from Philbert Rebille , whose friend he was. In 1688 François handed over all his duties as a court musician to René, who was now allowed to call himself musicien du roi à part entière . Michel de La Barre became his student. Unlike an exceptional musician, Descoteaux was never noticed in the following years and the best people were around him. He seldom appeared in an instrumentation with more than four instruments, often the accompaniment of Robert de Visée on theorbe or guitar was enough for him . From 1704 onwards he appeared less frequently, and it was not until 1710 that he was seen again with de Visée in typical line-up in Versailles : Jean Buterne on the harpsichord and Antoine Forqueray with the viol. Descoteaux received an office in that year in the supervision of the ballets and in 1714 resolved his obligation with the hautbois et musette de Poitou . Jacques Hotteterre took over Descoteaux's position in 1717 as a flautist in the king's chamber music.
Descoteaux was granted an apartment in the Palais Luxembourg and a garden in which he could pursue his hobby of growing tulips. He died 83 years old - an old age at a time when the average life expectancy was around 30 years. Although known as a woodwind instrument maker, no instrument from his hand and no composition has come down to us.
Individual evidence
- ^ Ardal Powell: The Flute , Yale University Press, New Haven and London 2002, ISBN 0-300-09341-1 , p. 61
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pignon Descoteaux, René |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Descoteaux |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French flautist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1645 |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 22, 1728 |
| Place of death | Paris |