AUBERT, Jacques (1689-1753) - Concerto a quatre violons (1740)

Jacques Aubert (1689-1753) - Concerto (en mi mineur) a quatre violons, violoncello et basse-continue... IIe livre, gravé par De Gland..., oeuvre XXVI (1740)

Performers: Les Cyclοpеs ensemble

Painting: Attriubé à Louis-Michel Van Loo (1707-1771) - Portrait d'un violoniste (possibly Jacques Aubert)

Further info: Jacques Aubert (1689-1753) - Concertos a 4 Violons

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Jacques Aubert [le vieux, le père]

(Paris, 30 September 1689 - Belleville, nr Paris, 17/18 May 1753)

French violinist and composer. He was probably a son of Jean Aubert, a member of the 24 Violons du Roi until his death in 1710. He was a student of Jean Baptiste Senaillé. In 1717 he is known to have been working in the Théâtres de la Foire, as a violinist and dancing-master, and had composed at least five ballets and comedies. In 1719, the year in which he married Marie Louise Lecat and published his first book of violin sonatas, he was appointed to the service of Louis-Henri, Duke of Bourbon and Prince of Condé. In 1727 he succeeded Noël Converset in the 24 Violons du Roi, remaining a member until 1746, and in the next year he accepted a position with the Académie Royale de Musique and was named first violinist of the Opéra orchestra, with which he performed for the next 24 years. As a composer, his output includes ballet and dance music, opéras comiques, concertos, sonatas for violin and continuo and what he called ‘concerts de simphonie’. His son, the painter Louis Aubert Aubert (1720-c.1800), was also a violinist and composer. Another son, Jean-Louis Aubert (1731-1814) was a dramatist, poet and journalist, also known as the Abbé Aubert.

PUNTO, Giovanni (1746-1803) - Concerto [E] a Cor Principal (1777)

Giovanni Punto (1746-1803) - Concerto [E] a Cor Principal (1777)

Previously attributed to Carl Stamitz (1745-1801)

Performers: Peter Arnοld (horn); Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonie; Ernst Wеdаm (conductor)

Painting: Joseph de Landerset (1753-1824) - The attack (1795)

Further info: Giovanni Punto (1746-1803) - Horn Concerto, No.7 (c.1797)

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(Jan Václav Stic) Giovanni Punto

(Zehušice, 28 September 1746 - Praha, 16 February 1803)

Bohemian horn player and composer. Born into a poor family on the estate of Count Joseph Johann von Thun, Stich was sent to Prague by his patron to study horn with Joseph Matiegka and composition with Johann Schindlarz. In 1764 he became a student of Anton Joseph Hampel in Dresden, where he perfected his technique of hand-stopping. His return to and service in the court ensemble of Count Thun, however, was marked by charges of insubordination, and he escaped to Italy pursued by the count’s thugs who were charged with either bringing him back to Bohemia or knocking out his front teeth. He made his way to Italy, where he “Italianized” his name to Giovanni Punto, winning approbation for his performance and obtaining a post as a violinist at the court of Joseph Friedrich Wilhelm von Hohenzollern- Heuchingen. In 1769 he moved to Mainz to perform for Elector-Archbishop Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach zu Bürresheim. In 1772 he began a career as a touring soloist, centering his activities in Paris and London, although he maintained a post with Archbishop Adam von Seinsheim in Würzburg and with the private orchestra of George III of England. Settling in Paris in 1788 he was appointed conductor of the Théâtre des Variétés Amusantes a year later, riding out the Revolution as a popular conductor. Refusal to appoint him to the faculty of the new Conservatoire in 1798, however, led him to return to touring in Bohemia and Austria, where his performance ability was noted by composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven. As a performer, he concentrated on second or low horn, perfecting the art of hand-stopping to produce notes outside the natural harmonic series. Charles Burney noted the “astounding execution” of his performances. As a composer, he concentrated on his own instrument, writing 16 horn concertos (plus another for two horns), 103 horn duets, 47 horn trios, 21 horn quartets, and a horn sextet; in addition he composed a clarinet concerto, three flute quartets, three flute quintets (with horn), and a large number of trios for flute and strings.

PICHL, Václav (1741-1805) - Sinfonia in B-Dur 'Melpomene'

Václav Pichl (1741-1805) - Sinfonia in B-Dur 'Melpomene', ZakP 14

Performers: Tοrοntο Chamber Orchestra; Kevin Mаllοn (conductor)

Painting: Bernardo Bellotto (1722-1780) - The Liechtenstein Garden Palace in Vienna, seen from the East

Further info: Václav Pichl (1741-1805) - Sinfonia & Pastoral Concertino

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Václav (Venceslaus; Wenzel) Pichl [Pichel]

(Bechyně, nr Tábor, 25 September 1741 - Vienna, 23 January 1805)

Bohemian composer and violinist. His earliest education was at the Jesuit school in his hometown with the cantor Jan Pokorny, followed thereafter by study at St. Václav in Prague. In 1762 he was appointed first violin at the Týn Church, even as he studied law at Prague University. He was appointed concertmaster at the court of the Archbishop of Grosswardein (now Oradea, Romania), serving under Michael Haydn, and when that orchestra dissolved in 1769 he returned to Prague to serve as music director with Count Ludwig Hartig. At the same time he began regularly visiting Vienna, where he also performed at the court theatre there. In 1777 his reputation was such that he was appointed music director in Milan for Archduke Ferdinand, a position he retained until the French invasion in 1796. While there he became a member of the Accademia filarmonica, as well as serving occasionally in cities such as Monza and Padua. The remainder of his life was spent commuting between Prague and Vienna. As a composer, Pichl was extremely prolific, with over 900 compositions. His style was similar to colleagues in Vienna, such as Michael Haydn, Jan Křtitel Vanhal, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with clear contrasting themes, interesting harmonies, colorful orchestration, and solid formal structures. He left over 14 operas or Singspiels; 30 Masses; 100 sacred works such as Psalms, motets, and offertories; 90 symphonies; 20 serenades; 30 concertos (for most instruments, but mainly violin); 18 string quartets; 45 string trios; 12 trios for flute and strings; two trio sonatas; over 200 exercises for solo violin; 15 duets for two violins; 18 duets for violin and viola; three flute and three clarinet quartets; and over 180 chamber pieces, including works for the baryton. He must be regarded as one of the major composers of the last half of the 18th century.

LEVENS, Charles (1689-1764) - Messe des morts

Charles Levens (1689-1764) - Messe des morts (en fa majeur)

Performers: Ensemble Sagittarius; Michel Laplénie (conductor)

Painting: Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (1591-1666) - Angels Weeping over the Dead Christ

Further info: Charles Levens (1689-1764) - Te Deum

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Charles Levens

(Marseille, 24 September 1689 - Bordeaux, 11 March 1764)

French composer. He received early formation as a choirboy. He later settled in Vannes before traveling to Toulouse where he took over the post of 'maître de musique' of the Saint-Étienne Cathedral. Also there he was under the musical direction of the city music schools. In 1738 he was appointed 'maître de musique' of the Saint-André Cathedral in Bordeaux in a post he held the rest of his life. His authority as director of music was now based on a maturity as a teacher and composer, a maturity evidenced not only by the esteem in which his patrons held him but also by the influence of his notoriety as a musician and theoretician. His output was exclusively sacred and most of his 'Grands Motets' were performed in the Concert Spirituel in Paris.

FRANCOEUR, François (1698-1787) - Simphonie (Suite) in D (1773)

François Francoeur (1698-1787) - Simphonie (Suite) in D (1773)

Performers: La symphonie du Mаrаis; Hugo Rеynе (conductor)

Painting: Anonyme - Le Roman des chevaliers de la gloire, grand carrousel donné du 5 au 7 avril 1612

Further info: François Francoeur (1698-1787) - Simphonie (Suite) in F (1773)

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François Francoeur [le cadet]

(Paris, 21 September 1698 - Paris, 5 August 1787)

French composer and violinist, son of Joseph Francoeur (c.1662-1741). A violin pupil of his father, he began his long association with the Paris Opéra at the age of 12 as a dessus de violon in the Grand Choeur; shortly afterwards he became a member of the Musique de la Chambre du Roi. After touring Europe as a musician, he returned to Paris as a member of the Concert Spirituel. In 1730 he was appointed to the 24 violons du roy and 'maître de musique' to the Opera in 1739. In 1744, he and François Rebel, his lifelong colleague and friend, were appointed 'inspecteurs musicaux' of the Paris Opéra becoming responsible of its management in 1757. Rebel and Francœur faced numerous challenges in their joint roles, including a large deficit, personnel problems, lack of discipline and the controversy surrounding the Querelle des Bouffons, culminating in the destruction by fire of the Opéra on 6 April 1763. King Louis XV appointed him as his Music Master in 1760, ennobling Rebel in the same year and Francœur himself in May 1764. Disaster struck when the Paris Opéra was consumed in flames on 6 April 1763, and the two directors were forced to resign in 1767 in its aftermath. However, Louis XV asked Rebel to return to the Opéra as Administrateur général in 1772, a position he held until shortly before his death three years later. 

JADIN, Louis Emmanuel (1768-1853) - Simphonie concertante (c.1804)

Louis Emmanuel Jadin (1768-1853) - Simphonie concertante (en fa majeur) pour clarinette, cor et basson, deux violons, alto et basse, 2 flûtes, 2 cors et 2 bassons (c.1804)

Performers: Egils Sеfеrs (clarinet); Niels Andеrs Vеdstеn Larsеn (bassoon); David Pаlmquіst (horn);

Sinfonietta Rigа; Clаus Eflаnd (conductor)

Painting: Carle Vernet (1758-1836) - The Triumph of Aemilius Paulus (1789)

Further info: Louis-Emmanuel Jadin (1768-1853) - Fantaisie Concertante en Sol mineur

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Louis-Emmanuel Jadin

(Versailles, 21 September 1768 - Paris, 11 April 1853)

Composer and teacher, son of the bassoonist and oboist François Jadin (1731-1790) and brother of the composer and pianist Hyacinthe Jadin (1776-1800). He received his early training under Niccolò Piccinni in Paris and became a member of the Montansieur theatre company in 1783, performing at the various fair theatres throughout France. During the French Revolution he was a member of the Garde Nationale, and in 1796 he was appointed as teacher of Solfège at the Conservatoire. He retired from the Conservatoire on 1 January 1816. In June 1804 he took over the Théâtre Molière, which had a repertory consisting of opéras comiques and vaudevilles, and conducted its orchestra himself. He was appointed gouverneur des pages of the royal chapel on 1 January 1815, and held the post until 1 January 1830. On 1 May 1821 he was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur. He retired to Montfort-l'Amaury in 1830, but returned to Versailles four years later and moved to Paris in 1844. His output, very large, has been little studied but includes more than 30 operas, six sinfonia concertantes, two symphonies for wind band, two Revolutionary odes, a Requiem, numerous songs and large amount of chamber music.

SAMMARTINI, Pietro (1636-1701) - Sinfonia à 4 (1688)

Pietro Sammartini (1636-1701) - Sinfonia (VI) a due violini, e liuto, e basso di viola ... opera seconda (1688)

Performers: Ensemble Alаmіré

Painting: Bartolomeo Bettera (1639-c.1688) - Natura morta con strumenti musicali

Further info: Sinfonie A Due Violini, E Liuto, E Basso Di Viola Op. 2

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Pietro Sammartini [San Martino, Sanmartini]

(Florence, 18 September 1636 - Florence, 1 January 1701)

Italian composer, organist and teacher. He firstly studied in a Florence music school before being ordained a priest. Then he traveled to Rome, Bologna and Arezzo where he worked as a musician. In 1659 he came back to Florence as vicemaestro di cappella of the cathedral, tooking over the official maestro di cappella post in 1686. He remained there the rest of his life. Also in Florence he served the Medici court as a musician, mainly as a lutenist and keyboard player. In 1692 he was appointed member of the prestigious Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna. As a composer, his extant output is mainly sacred but currently he is known by his 'Sinfonie a due violini, e liuto, e basso di viola ... opera seconda (1688)'. Among his lost works is documented at least seven operas, an oratorio, a mass entitled 'Veni sponsa Christi’ and much more sacred and instrumental music. He was not related to brothers Giuseppe and Giovanni Battista Sammartini.

NIESTRAWSKI, Piotr (1788-c.1825) - Missa (solemnis) in G-Dur

Piotr Niestrawski (1788-c.1825) - Missa (solemnis) in G-Dur

Performers: Anna Mikolajczyk-Niewiedzial (soprano); Anna Krasinska (soprano);

Sinfonia Viva; Tomasz Radziwonowicz (conductor)

Painting: Jean-Baptiste-Marie Pierre (1714-1789) - Le Triomphe de Diane

Further info: Musica Sacromontana

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Piotr Niestrawski

(Gostynia, 1788 - Borku Wielkopolskim?, c.1825)

Polish organist and composer. Almost nothing is known about his life. He was active as a composer and organist at Sanktuarium Matki Bożej Pocieszenia in Borku Wielkopolskim in a post he probably held until his death. There he wrote several religious works; solemn and long masses, among them his Mass in G-Dur scored for two sopranos and orchestra, offertories and other sacred pieces, most of them in a classical viennese style.

CHERUBINI, Luigi (1760-1842) - Ouverture zu Lodoïska (1791)

Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842) - Ouverture zu Lodoïska (1791)

Performers: Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo; Piero Bellugi (1924-2012, conductor)

Painting: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) - Luigi Cherubini

Further info: Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842) - Messa Solenne Breve

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(Maria) Luigi (Carlo Zenobio Salvatore) Cherubini

(Florence, 14 September 1760 - Paris, 15 March 1842)

Italian composer and teacher. He first studied music with his father, the maestro al cembalo at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence, and then composition with Bartolomeo Felici, and his son Alessandro Felici, and with Bizarri and Castrucci. In 1778 he received a grant from the Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany, which enabled him to continue his studies with Giuseppe Sarti in Milan. While studying with Sarti, he wrote arias for his teacher's operas as well as exercises in the early contrapuntal style. His first operatic success came with Armida abbandonata (1782). In the autumn of 1784 he set out for London, where he was commissioned to write an opera for the King's Theatre. La finta principessa (1785), followed by Il Giulio Sabino (1786), which brought him public acceptance and the admiration of the Prince of Wales. He made his first visit to Paris in the summer of 1785, where he was introduced to Marie Antoinette by the court musician Giovanni Battista Viotti; in the spring of 1786 he made Paris his home. He made one last visit to Italy to oversee the production of his opera Ifigenia in Aulide (1788). His first opera for Paris, Demophon (1788), was a failure. In 1789, Leonard, a member of the Queen's household, assisted by Viotti, obtained a license to establish an Italian opera company at the Tuileries (Theatre de Monsieur); Cherubini became its music director and conductor. After the company moved to a new theater in the rue Feydeau, he produced his opera Lodoiska (1791), with notable success; he effectively developed a new dramatic style, destined to have profound impact on the course of French opera. With the French Revolution in full swing, the Italian Opera was disbanded (1792). Cherubini then went to Normandy, but returned to Paris in 1793 to become an inspector at the new Institute National de Musique (later the Conservatory). His opera Medee (1797), noteworthy for its startling characterization of Medea and for the mastery of its orchestration, proved a major step in his development as a dramatic composer. 

With Les Deux Journees, ou Le Porteur d'eau (1800), he scored his greatest triumph with the public as a composer for the theater; the opera was soon performed throughout Europe to much acclaim. In 1805 he received an invitation to visit Vienna, where he was honored at the court. He composed the opera Faniska, which was successfully premiered at the Karnthnertortheater (1806). After Napoleon captured Vienna, he was extended royal favor by the French emperor, who expressed his desire that Cherubini return to Paris. When Cherubini's opera Pimmalione (1809) failed to please the Parisians, he retired to the chateau of the Prince of Chimay, occupying himself with botanizing and painting. At the request to compose a Mass for the church of Chimay, he produced the celebrated three-part Mass. He subsequently devoted much time to composing sacred music. In 1815 he was commissioned by the Philharmonic Society of London to compose a symphony, a cantata, and an overture. In 1816 he was appointed co-superintendent (with Le Sueur) of the Royal Chapel, and in 1822 became director of the Paris Conservatory a position he held until a month before his death. In 1814 he was made a member of the Institute and a Chevalier of the Legion d'honneur, and in 1841 he was made a Commander of the Legion d'honneur, the first musician to be so honored. He was accorded a state funeral, during which ceremony his Requiem in d (1836) was performed. He was an important figure in the transitional period from the Classical to the Romantic eras in music. His influence on the development of French opera was of great historical significance. He also played a predominant role in music education in France during his long directorship of the Paris Conservatory. As the all-powerful director of the Paris Conservatory he established an authoritarian regimen; in most of his instruction of the faculty he pursued the Italian type of composition. He rejected any novel deviations from strict form, harmony, counterpoint, or orchestration, regarding Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as an aberration of a great composer's mind.

BREHY, Petrus Hercules (1673-1737) - Usquequo Domine oblivisceris me

Petrus Hercules Brehy (1673-1737) - Usquequo Domine oblivisceris me (e-moll)

Performers: Greta de Rеyghеrе (soprano); Collegium Instrumentale Brugеnsе; Patrick Pеirе (conductor)

Engraving: Reynier Blokhuysen (1651-1724) - Gezicht op de Jezuïetenkerk en het Jezuïtencollege, te Brussel

Further info: Petrus Bréhy (1673-1737) - Motets

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Petrus Hercules (Pierre-Hercule) Brehy [Breÿ]

(Brussels, bap. 13 September 1673 - Brussels, 27 February 1737)

Flemish composer and organist. Very few details of his life are known. He received his musical education as a choirboy at a church in Brussels, likely the chapter of St-Michiels and St-Goedele. He was 13 years of age when he became organist of St Nicolas (1687), where he remained until at least March 1702. On 16 November 1705 he became 'zangmeester' of the collegiate church of St Michel and Ste Gudule, serving there exclusively until his death. As a composer he mainly wrote religious music and paid tribute to the French musical tradition. Mostly his vocal pieces for church have been preserved, at least 7 masses and many motets. Most of his surviving motets for solo voice are scored for two violins and continuo; several, however, are scored for an obbligato wind or string instrument, violin and continuo. Almost whole his production was written within 1699 to 1729 and most of them only survive in manuscript form.

KUHLAU, Friedrich (1786-1832) - Incidental Music from 'Elverhøj' (1828)

Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832) - Incidental Music from 'Elverhøj' (1828)

Performers: Royal Danish Orchestra; Johan Hye-Knudsen (1896-1975, conductor)

Painting: Charles Meynier (1768-1832) - Entrée de Napoléon à Berlin. 27 octobre 1806

Further info: Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832) - Elverhøj (1828)

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Friedrich (Daniel Rudolph) Kuhlau

(Uelzen, 11 September 1786 - Copenhagen, 12 March 1832)

Danish composer of German birth. He was the son of a poor military bandsman and moved with his family to Lüneburg about 1793. In 1796 he lost an eye in a childhood accident, and studied piano during his recovery. Later studied theory and composition with Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke, Kantor of Hamburg's Catherinenkirche. He gave several piano recitals from 1804 and the same year his earliest known compositions were published. When Hamburg was invaded by Napoleon's troops in 1810 he went to Copenhagen to avoid conscription into Napoleon's army. There he began to earn his living as a piano teacher and composer, and in 1813 was appointed court chamber musician. That year he eventually became a Danish citizen. Following the success of his singspiel, The Robber's Castle, he gained a high-paying position as a singing teacher at the Royal Theater in 1816. Kuhlau's works between 1817 and 1820 failed to gain much prominence. His opera, The Magic Harp, was said to have failed due to a controversial libretto. In 1821 and 1825, he travelled to Vienna where he befriended Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven's influence is evidential in Kuhlau's later works such as his singspiel, Elverhøj or Elves' Hill, a work widely regarded as a tribute to the Danish Monarchy and an inspiring piece from the Danish Golden Age. In 1828, he was awarded an honorary professorship. As a result of a fire that swept his house in 1831 he suffered a chest ailment from which he never recovered, and died the following year. Together with Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse he was the foremost representative of the late Classical and early Romantic periods in Denmark.

BALZANO, Giuseppe (1616-1700) - Ego Ille a otto

Giuseppe Balzano (1616-1700) - Ego Ille a otto

Performers: Soloists and choir 'Laudate Pueri'; Joseph Vеlla (conductor)

Painting: Jan Weenix (1642-1719) - Der verlorene Sohn

Further info: Giuseppe Balzano (1616-1700) - Motets & Cantatas

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Giuseppe Balzano

(Valletta, 9 September 1616 - Mdina, 23 February 1700)

Maltese composer, probably the first one documented in Malta. His first years are unknown. In 1640 he was ordained priest in Catania. In 1661 he was appointed chapel master of the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Mdina in a post he held until 1699. Between the years 1665-1669 and 1673-1674 he travel to Naples where he received further music lessons. It is said his Beatus Vir (1652) was the first music composed in Malta. Regarding his music, he was very prolific with more than 200 works, most of them sacred (18 masses, 64 psalms and 32 motets). His younger brother Domenico Balzano (1632-1707) was also a composer and succeded him at Mdina Cathedral in 1699.

PEZ, Johann Christoph (1664-1716) - Concert pastorella

Johann Christoph Pez (1664-1716) - Concert (F-Dur) pastorella

Performers: Austrian Tοnkuenstler orchestra; Zlatko Tοpοlski (conductor)

Painting: Circle of Marco Marcola (1740-1793) - A street scene with commedia dellarte performers

Further info: Johann Christoph Pez (1664-1716) - Concerto Grosso & Passacaglia

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Johann Christoph Pez [Petz]

(Munich, 9 September 1664 - Stuttgart, 25 September 1716)

German singer, instrumentalist, and composer. His family had long been connected with music at the Peterskirche, Munich. He first studied at the choir school there and then pursued studies at that city's Jesuit school, where he sang in its choir and played in its orchestra. After singing tenor at Peterskirche, he served as its choirmaster (1687-88). He then was made a chamber musician at the court of the Elector Max Emanuel, who provided for the completion of his studies in Rome (1689-92). Following a brief return to the Munich court, he was called to Bonn by Joseph Clemens, Archbishop-Elector of Cologne and Bishop of Liege, to reorganize its music establishment in 1694. In 1696 he became Kapellmeister there. With the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, he returned to the almost moribund Munich court in 1701, where he led its church music. From 1706 he served as Kapellmeister at the Wiittemberg court in Stuttgart, where he remained until his death. Pez’s music shows strong Italian influence, the result not only of his visit to Italy but also of his contacts with other Italian-trained musicians in Munich, especially Kerll, who was one of the first composers to bring the Italian concertato style of church music there. He composed various dramatic scores, school operas, instrumental music, and sacred vocal pieces. He published a set of 12 sonatas (Augsburg, 1696) under the title 'Duplex Genius sive Gallo-italus Instrumentorum Concentus'; also a Psalm. Two of his operas were produced in Bonn. 

DE LHOYER, Antoine (1768-1852) - Concerto pour la Guitarre (1799)

Antoine de Lhoyer (1768-1852) - Concerto (La majeur) pour la Guitarre, oeuvre 16 (1799)

Performers: Reinbert Evеrs (guitar); Saint Christophеr Orchestra; Donаtаs Kаtkus (conductor)

Drawing: A Cheyère (19th Century) - Le serenade de Jocko (1825)

Further info: Antoine de Lhoyer (1768-1852) - Trio No. 2, Op. 42 (1826)

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Antoine de Lhoyer [L'Hoyer]

(Clermont-Ferrand, 6 September 1768 - Paris, 15 March 1852)

French guitarist and composer. At the age of 20 he embarked upon a military career, but the French Revolution prompted his emigration in 1791. By 1792, in Koblenz he had enlisted with the armée des Princes which joined with an allied army of Prussian and Austrian soldiers led by the Duke of Brunswick in an unsuccessful invasion of France in 1792. The years 1794-97 saw him participating in the campaigns with the Austrian army, and in 1799-1800 he served with counter revolutionary forces in the Army of Condé. He was wounded in battle and lost the use of his right hand for three years. He took refuge in Hamburg where he settled as a guitar teacher, but in 1802 left for St Petersburg where he remained for ten years as a guitarist at the tsar’s court. He returned to France in 1812, and rejoined the army after the Restoration of Louis XVIII in 1814. Between 1820 and 1825, he established his home in nearby Niort where he married and had four children. Possibly due to the decline in popularity of the guitar in salon music, replaced by the increasingly popular pianoforte, no more music of Lhoyer appears to have been published from 1826 onward. In 1831, he established his home in Aix-en-Provence staying there until 1836. Next he took his family to Algeria settling near the capital Algiers and then finally in 1852 to Paris where he died in poverty. 

BACH, Johann Christian (1735-1782) - Concerto a 4 voce (1763)

Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782) - Concerto (B-Dur) a 4 voce, Op.1 (1763), IJB 80

Performers: Maria Kalamkarian (1903-1988, piano); Consortium Musicum

Painting: Jean-Baptiste Charpentier (1728-1806) - The cup of chocolate

Further info: Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782) - Sinfonia (g-moll) a Più Stromenti (1770)

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Johann Christian Bach

(Leipzig, 5 September 1735 - London, 1 January 1782)

German composer. The youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach, he received his earliest musical training from his father and a cousin, Johann Elias Bach. After serving as a secretary to his father the final year of his father’s life, he moved to Berlin in 1750, receiving further instruction from his brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. In 1755 he left for Milan, where he eventually obtained the patronage of Count Agostino Litta. Following study with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini and conversion to Roman Catholicism, he was appointed second organist at the Milan cathedral in 1760. A commission for an opera from the Teatro Regio in Turin the same year, however, altered his fortunes; the work, Cantone in Utica, was a success that led both to commissions throughout Italy and an international reputation as a composer of Italian opera. In 1762 he was invited to London, where he set the opera Orione. Its success and the appointment as Music Master to the Queen allowed him to reside permanently there. A further trip to Paris solidified his ability to publish his music, and, finally, his lodging with compatriot Carl Friedrich Abel resulted in a collaborative concert series beginning in 1764. For the next decade he traveled regularly to Paris where his works were highly esteemed, and in 1772 he was invited to Mannheim to set the opera Temistocle. In 1779 he wrote his first tragédie lyrique for Paris, Amadis de Gaule. Despite the successes, competition with rival concert a difficult economic situation, and ill health led to his early death. Bach can be considered one of the pivotal composers of the age. Unlike his brothers Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, he fully immersed himself in the Italian style, creating works that feature clear period lyrical themes, solid harmonic foundations, and distinct formal structures. His orchestration, often using obbligato instruments, is colorful, and Bach used various Mannheim orchestral devices to great effect. He was one of the most popular composers of the period, whose music had circulation throughout Europe, influencing a later generation of composers, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He was a prolific composer in virtually all genres. His works include 39 operas, three serenatas, an oratorio, seven Mass/Requiem movements, 28 other sacred works, 15 concert arias and cantatas, 45 songs/canzonetts, 34 symphonies, 19 sinfonia concertantes, 28 keyboard concertos, 11 other concertos (violin, flute, oboe, and bassoon), six wind symphonies, 11 marches, a sextet, 13 quintets (string and piano), 20 quartets (string, flute, and piano), 14 trio sonatas, 12 trios (almost all piano trios), 26 violin sonatas, two viola da gamba sonatas, 23 keyboard sonatas (four for keyboard four hands), and numerous miscellaneous pieces for the keyboard and harp. His music has been cataloged according to Terry (T) or Warburton (W or CW) numbers. 

HUGARD, Pierre (c.1726-c.1761) - Missa 'Redde Mihi Laetitiam'

Pierre Hugard (c.1726-c.1761) - Missa 'Redde Mihi Laetitiam' (1761)

Performers: Ensemble Accеntus; Laurence Equіlbеy (conductor)

Painting: Sebastiano Ricci (1659-1734) - Auffindung des hl Kreuzes durch die Kaiserin Helena

Further info: Hugard - Missa "Redde Mihi Lætitiam"

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Pierre Hugard

(Paris?, c.1725 - Paris?, after 1761)

French composer active in Paris between 1740 and 1770. Almost nothing is known about his life. On the title-page of his Missa ‘Laudate pueri Dominum’ (1744) he is described as a spé in the choir of Notre Dame, Paris, ‘spé’ being a term often used for the head boy of a choir school kept on by the choirmaster after his voice had broken in order to study composition; he would also act as supervisor and coach to the younger pupils. Hugard would thus have been 18 or 19 years old in 1744. In 1761 Pierre-Robert-Christophe Ballard published the Missa 'Redde mihi laetitiam', which he dedicated to ‘the venerable chapter of the cathedral of Paris’. The title-page says nothing about the composer’s function and duties at this date. Apparently he is not related with Pierre Hugard de Saint-Guy (1720?-1789), a composer active in Paris and Nantes and who wrote, at least, several symphonies, ouvertures and chamber music.

SOHIER, Charles-Joseph (1728-1759) - Simphonia a quatre parties (1751)

Charles-Joseph Sohier (1728-1759) - Simphonia (III) a quatre parties, Oeuvre second (1751)

Performers: Orchestre de Chambre Louis de Froment; Louis de Froment (1921-1994, conductor)

Painting: William Hogarth (1697-1764) - Conversation Piece (c.1730-35)

Further info: Musique Francaise Du XVIIIéme

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Charles-Joseph-Balthazar Sohier [Soyez, Soyé, Soyer]

(Lille, bap. 6 January 1728 - Lille, 29 June 1759)

French violinist and composer. He was the son of Jean-Baptiste Sohier and Marie-Joseph Hanot, sister of the violinist François Hanot. In March 1750 he played twice at the Concert Spirituel in Paris with ‘the greatest success’; the Mercure de France mentioned that he was then first violinist at the Concert de Lille. Sohier received a privilège général dated 31 December 1749 and the next year published his Six sonates à violon seul et basse continue op.1 in Paris. He published at least two more sets of works: Simphonies à quatres parties op.2 (1751) and Six sonates à deux violons op.4 (c.1752-54). There appears to be no trace of an op.3. At the time of his death Sohier was organist at St Pierre in Lille. He was called ‘l’aîné’ to distinguish him from a younger brother, also a violinist, who was connected with the Théâtre de Lille and who died in 1786.