François Francoeur (1698-1787)
- Simphonie (Suite) in F (1773)
Performers: La symphonie du Marais
Further info: François Francoeur (1698-1787) - Le Trophee Suite
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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. The privilege he acquired on 22 August 1720 preceded the
publication of his first set of violin sonatas in the same year. Also in
that year, he took part in Lalande's ballet Les folies de Cardenio. In
1723 Francoeur and François Rebel left France in the retinue of General
Bonneval, travelling to Vienna and Prague. Marpurg commented on the
importance of his exposure to the operatic music of those two centres to
the composer’s later development: ‘The arias of his composition clearly
indicate that their composer had ventured beyond the borders of France’
(Historisch-kritische Beyträge, i/3, p.237). In 1726 the professional
collaboration between Francoeur and Rebel, to last about 45 years, began
in earnest with the production of Pyrame et Thisbé, the first of many
such joint creations. So close was their association that it is
virtually impossible to differentiate the two men's contributions; it is
no wonder that the public regarded them as one dual personality. They
remained inseparable until Rebel's death in 1775, an event that greatly
saddened Francoeur's last years. In 1727 Francoeur acquired the
succession to the position of compositeur de la chambre du roi from
Jean-François de la Porte, and in 1729 was admitted to the royal
military orders of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Lazare of Jerusalem,
honours rarely granted to a musician.
In 1730 he replaced Senaillé in the 24 Violons du Roi, joining his
father and brother. Among these successes two incidents occurred that
were later to cause him problems: his ill-fated marriage to Elisabeth
Adrienne le Roy (daughter of the playwright Adrienne Lecouvreur), which
ended in an ugly legal struggle in 1746, and the Francoeur-Pélissier-du
Lys scandal (discussed with zest by La Laurencie), which raised public
resentment against Francoeur and may have accounted for the failure of
Scanderberg in 1735. In February 1739 Francoeur was promoted to maître
de musique at the Opéra, and on 15 August 1743 he became inspecteur
général (musical director) with Rebel. On 27 February 1744 he was
granted the succession to the seat of Collin de Blamont as surintendant
de la musique de la chambre. A new stage in Francoeur's career began in
the mid-1750s. In 1753 he retired from the Opéra on a pension and in
1756 freed himself from the duties of the Chambre du Roi. This left him
free to tackle a far larger project with Rebel, the direction of the
Opéra. On 13 March 1757 they were engaged with a 30-year contract,
beginning 1 April 1757. From the beginning they were plagued with
difficulties: a large deficit, personnel problems, lack of discipline,
the controversy surrounding the Querelle des Bouffons, culminating in
the destruction by fire of the Opéra on 6 April 1763. Public opinion
rose against them and they were forced to resign as from 1 April 1767.
But in May 1764, at the height of these problems, Louis XV raised
Francoeur to the nobility in recognition of his loyal service. After
leaving the Opéra in 1753 Francoeur retained his position as
surintendant de la musique de la chambre until his retirement in 1776.
Antoine Dauvergne, his successor, had described Francoeur in his Etat
des personnes qui composent le comité de l'Opéra (1770) as ‘Homme
honnête, plein d'intelligence, de zèle et d'activité’.
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