BOCCHERINI, Luigi (1743-1805) - Sinfonia a piu Stromenti (1771)

Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) - Sinfonia (C-Dur) 'SINFONIE | A | Plusieurs Instruments récitants |

COMPOSÉES | Pour S.A.R. L'Infant dom Louis d'Espagne ... Œuvre 16' (1771)

Performers: New Philharmonia Orchestra; Raymond Lеppаrd (1927-2019, conductor)

Painting: Fernando Brambila (1763-1834) - La Granja. Vista de la fachada principal del Real Palacio

Further info: Boccherini - Complete Symphonies Op. 12

---

(Ridolfo) Luigi Boccherini

(Lucca, 19 February 1743 - Madrid, 28 May 1805)

Italian composer and cellist. He was the third child of the musician Leopoldo Boccherini (1712-1766) and his wife Maria Santa, née Prosperi (?-1776). When he reached the age of 13, he was sent to Rome to study with the renowned cellist Giovanni Battista Costanzi, musical director at Saint Peter’s Basilica. In Rome Boccherini was influenced by the polyphonic tradition (i.e., music with two or more interweaving melodic parts) stemming from the works of Giovanni da Palestrina and from the instrumental music of Arcangelo Corelli. In 1757 Boccherini and his father were invited to play in the Imperial Theatre orchestra in Vienna. On his second journey to Vienna (1760), Boccherini, at 17, made his debut as a composer with his Six Trios for Two Violins and Cello, G 77–82. During his third stay in that city (1764), a public concert by Boccherini was enthusiastically received. In August 1764 he obtained a permanent position in Lucca with the local church and theatre orchestras. He was in Lombardy in 1765, in the orchestra of Giovanni Battista Sammartini. Through his association with this Milanese composer, the 22-year-old Boccherini strengthened the new “conversational” style of the quartet: the cello’s line was now as important as the counterpoint (i.e., the intertwining of independent melodic lines) of the violin and viola. Boccherini put together the first public string quartet performance, with an extraordinary string quartet made up of outstanding Tuscan virtuosos, including himself, Pietro Nardini, Nardini’s pupil Filippo Manfredi, and Giuseppe Cambini. After the death of his father (1766), Boccherini left Lucca for Paris, which was at that time particularly hospitable to Italian musicians. 

According to tradition, it was the Spanish ambassador to Paris who persuaded Boccherini to move (probably in 1768 or early 1769) to Madrid, where he began his long sojourn at the intrigue-ridden court of Charles III. The king’s brother, the infante Don Luis, conferred on him a yearly endowment of 30,000 reals as a cellist and composer. Boccherini first began writing string quintets during this period, and he also wrote his well-known Six String Quartets (1772). At about the same time, he married Clementina Pelicho, with whom he had five children. In 1785, when both Clementina and the infante died, the king granted him a pension of 12,000 reals, after which he was free to accept the patronage of (among others) Frederick William II of Prussia, who was an amateur cellist and well acquainted with Boccherini’s music. Boccherini married Joaquina Porreti in 1787. From 1787 to 1797 he may have been in Berlin, at a post provided by Frederick William II, although this position has not been adequately documented; it seems equally likely that he remained in Spain. In 1798 the new king of Prussia refused to extend Boccherini’s pension, the duchess of Osuna (another important source of income) moved to Paris, and Boccherini’s financial distress was aggravated by poor health. His life was further saddened by the death of two of his daughters in 1802 and the death of his second wife and a third daughter in 1804. Reportedly, he was by then living in near poverty, although his financial plight may have been exaggerated. Certainly, however, his own health suffered from his personal losses, and he died in 1805 of a long-standing respiratory ailment. 

SCHAFFRATH, Christoph (1709-1763) - Concerto con Cembalo Obligato

Christoph Schaffrath (1709-1763) - CONCERTO (Es-Dur) | con | Cembalo Obligato

| 1. Violino | 2. Violino | Viola | et | Violoncello

Performers: Armin Thаlhеim (harpsichord); Händеlfеstspiеlorchester Des Opernhauses Halle;

Howard Armаn (conductor)

Painting: Franz Xaver Wagenschön (1726-1790) - Erzherzogin Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) am Spinett

Further info: Christoph Schaffrath - Orchestral works

---

Christoph Schaffrath [Schafrath, Schafrat, Schaffroth et al.]

(Hohenstein, 1709 - Berlin, 17 February 1763)

German theoretician, keyboardist and composer. According to early biographical information, he received his earliest training on the harpsichord at the age of 9, probably in Dresden, which was close to his birthplace. By 1730 he was a keyboardist in the Polish Kapelle of August II, and when this was dissolved he moved briefly to Slawuta in Poland (now in Ukraine) to become a musician at the court of Prince Sangusko-Lubatowicz of Lithuania. By 1733 he unsuccessfully sought the position of organist at the Frauenkirche in Dresden but accepted a position with Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia at Rheinsberg. He was made principal accompanist in 1740 upon his patron ascending the Prussian throne, and in 1744 he accepted a lifelong position as musician to Frederick II’s sister, Princess Anna Amalia, to whom he dedicated his first published set of keyboard sonatas (Op.1) in 1746. Schaffrath was a competent and prolific composer who focused almost entirely upon instrumental works. His music includes 20 overtures or symphonies (all for strings, but with a few woodwinds on occasion); 72 concertos for the harpsichord; eight concertos for two harpsichords, violin, flute, and oboe (and others for flute, oboe, bassoon, and viola da gamba that have been lost); 30 trio sonatas, 40 sonatas for a single instrument and keyboard; and around 40 sonatas for keyboard alone. As a member of the Berlin School, he wrote in a mixture of galant and the older contrapuntal styles, though his formats often use contrasting themes and triplet figurations.

EICHNER, Ernst (1740-1777) - Sinfonia in D-Dur (1772)

Ernst Eichner (1740-1777) - Sinfonia in D-Dur des 'Trois simphonies à huit parties obligées ... œuvre VI' (1772)

Performers: KurpfäIzisches Kammerorchester; Hаns Oskаr Kοch (conductor)

Drawing: Robert Dighton (1752-1814) - The Travelling Musicians

Further info: Ernst Eichner (1740-1777) - Sinfonia in D-Dur (1775)

---

Ernst (Ernest, Ernesto) (Dieterich Adolph) Eichner [Eicher, Eichler, Eigner, Eihner, Euchner, Fichner, Richner]

(Arolsen, bap. 15 February 1740 - Potsdam, early 1777)

German bassoonist, violinist and composer. The son of a musician, Johann Andreas Eichner (1694-1768), he studied under his father before becoming, on 1 September 1762, Kapellmeister at the court of Duke Christian IV in Zweibrücken. After his symphonies were published in Paris, he obtained a position as violinist with the Mannheim orchestra in 1768, winning a prestigious award in Paris in 1772 for his compositions after tours there and in London. In 1773 he accepted a position in Potsdam with the musical ensemble of Crown Prince Friedrich (later Friedrich Wilhelm). He interrupted his service there only once, to visit Arolsen and Leipzig (1775). His early death passed unnoticed by the musical public. Despite so, he was one of the most significant and progressive composers of the mid-century German symphony, though he often chose to retain the three-movement format. Eichner, no doubt consciously, sought a synthesis of the forms and idioms of his time; he fits into none of the important 18th-century ‘schools’, but was a solitary figure who, like so many of his contemporaries, aimed to give structure and substance to the new genre of the ‘concert symphony’. His music is known for its colorful and sensitive orchestration. His output includes 30 symphonies, 18 concertos (mostly for winds), 14 quartets, a quintet, two wind divertimentos, 12 trios for strings, seven sonatas, six duos, and six keyboard sonatas. He married Maria Magdelena Ritter and his daughter, Adelheid Eichner (c.1761-?), was a singer and composer with a precocious talent. 

CAVALLI, Francesco (1602-1676) - Messa concertata a 8

Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676) - Messa concertata a 8 'Musiche sacre concernenti messa, e salmi concertati con istromenti, imni, antifone & sonate, a due, 3. 4. 5. 6. 8. 10. e 12. voci' (1656)

Performers: I Concertanti; Roberto Solci (conductor)

Painting: Unknown artist (17th Century) - Saint Cecilia surrounded by angels playing music

Further info: Cavalli - Messa e Magnificat

---

(Pietro, Pier) Francesco Cavalli [Caletti, Caletto, Bruni, Caletti-Bruni, Caletto Bruni]

(Crema, 14 February 1602 - Venice, 14 January 1676)

Italian composer, organist and singer. Born to Italian composer and organist Giovanni Battista Caletti (1577-c.1642), he attracted the attention of the Venetian governor of Crema, Federico Cavalli, who brought this remarkable boy soprano to Venice and placed him in the chapel choir at San Marco on 18 December 1616. Francesco adopted his patron’s surname. On 18 May 1620, he was appointed organist at the Church of San Giovanni e Paolo. He resigned on 4 November 1630. Apparently, he no longer needed the position because he had married Maria Sozomeno on 7 January 1630, the widow of a wealthy Venetian, Alvise Schiavina. In 1647, they rented a palazzo on the Grand Canal. She died in 1652, leaving no children but most of her property to him, and Cavalli remained in the house until his death. Her landholdings and dowry of 1,200 ducats allowed the composer to invest early in the nascent public operas of Venice, beginning on 14 April 1638, when he signed an agreement to produce operas at the first public opera house, Teatro San Cassiano. The first Cavalli opera, Le Nozze di Teti e di Peleo, opened on 24 January 1639. At San Marco, Claudio Monteverdi had been Cavalli’s maestro di cappella since the boy’s arrival in 1616. Whether Cavalli studied formally with the master is unknown, but it seems clear that Cavalli assisted with the composition of some details of Monteverdi’s final opera L’Incoronazione di Poppea (1642). Earlier, Cavalli had competed for the post of second organist at the basilica and was appointed on 23 January 1639. Although his salary rose from 140 ducats to the maximum of 200 by 1653, higher than the first organist, Massimiliano Neri, and in practice, he played the role of first organist, he was not officially appointed first organist until 11 January 1665, after Neri’s departure. 

By that point, Cavalli’s fame as an opera composer had been spread across Europe by traveling opera companies performing his works. Egisto provided Paris with one of its first experiences of music drama in 1646, and it may have also reached Vienna. From 1652, he attracted commissions from opera houses in other cities: Naples, Milan, and Florence. His 1648 opera Giasone became so popular that it remained in the traveling repertory until the end of the 17th century. Xerse and Erismena were also staples of Venetian opera, all characterized by faster, more complex, and more comic plots than were typical of the court and academic operas earlier in the century. In April or May 1660, Cavalli, who generally traveled little, went to Paris at the invitation of Cardinal Mazarin to compose Ercole Amante. Preparations for the spectacle delayed production, and in the interim, Cavalli’s 1654 opera Xerse was given in the Louvre with the title role changed from soprano to baritone, the original three acts redistributed to five, and with new entrées de ballet composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully. Cavalli returned to Venice in summer 1662. On 28 November 1668, he succeeded Giovanni Rovetta as maestro di cappella at San Marco and spent his last years concentrating on sacred music, publishing his Vesperi in 1675. He was buried in the church of San Lorenzo in Venice. As a composer, his more than 30 operas dominated the Venetian musical theater from 1639 to 1669 and defined more than anyone what is meant by “Venetian opera.” He also published collections of sacred music. Francesco Cavalli was the most performed, and perhaps the most representative, composer of opera in the quarter-century after Monteverdi and was a leading figure, as both composer and performer, in Venetian musical life.

FUX, Johann Joseph (1660-1741) - Serenata in C-Dur (1701)

Johann Joseph Fux (1660-1741) - Serenata in C-Dur aus 'Concentus | musico-instrumen- | talis | in septem partittas, | ut vulgo dicimus, divisus | dedicatus | Iosepho Primo | Romanorum Regi.' (1701)

Performers: Les Passions de l'Âmе; Mеrеt Lüthі (conductor)

Painting: Filippo Gagliardi (c.1607-1659) & Filippo Lauri (1623-1694) - Carousel in the courtyard of the Palazzo Barberini in honour of Christina of Sweden on 28 February 1656

Further info: Missa pro Gratiarum Actione

---

Johann (Johannes, John, Giovanni) Joseph (Giuseppe, Gioseffo) Fux [Feux, Fuchs]

(Hirtenfeld, 1660 - Vienna, 13 February 1741)

Austrian composer and music theorist. His exact date of birth is unknown. According to his death certificate he was 81 when he died. His father, Andreas Fux (c.1618-1708), married twice, and Johann Fux may have been his eldest child. Although a peasant, Andreas Fux was a parish official attached to the church at St Marein and came into contact with a number of musicians, among them the Graz organist Johann Hartmann Peintinger and the Kantor Joseph Keller, who probably influenced his son's early musical development. In 1680 he enrolled as a ‘grammatista’ at Graz University, and in 1681 he entered the Jesuit Ferdinandeum as a student of grammar and music. By August 1685 he had taken a position as organist at St Moritz in Ingolstadt. Fux's movements between the beginning of 1689, when a new organist was appointed at St Moritz, and his marriage in 1696 remain uncertain. Although Fux's employment as court composer in Vienna dates officially from April 1698, he himself was ambiguous about his length of service in this capacity. In various documents, he implied that he began to work for the imperial household in 1695, or even 1693. Together with the recently appointed composers Carlo Badia, Giovanni Bononcini and Marc’Antonio Ziani, Fux effectively began to introduce elements of late Baroque style into the sacred and secular genres cultivated at court. After the death of Leopold I in 1705 and the accession of his son Joseph I, he retained the office of court composer. In the same year he was appointed deputy Kapellmeister at the Stephansdom, where in 1712 he succeeded Johann Michael Zacher as first Kapellmeister. He retained this office until the end of 1714, and during the same period he also directed services at the Salvatorkirche. His duties as deputy Kapellmeister at the Stephansdom centred on the music performed before the statue of Our Lady of Pötsch, which the emperor had had placed on the high altar of the cathedral in 1697. After the unexpected death of Joseph I on 17 April 1711, the empress-regent Eleonora dissolved the Hofmusikkapelle, and many of its personnel.

By October 1711 he had been appointed deputy Kapellmeister to the court. In January 1715 Charles VI appointed him as Hofkapellmeister, a position he held for the rest of his life. As a composer who served three emperors, he undertook an especially taxing combination of duties. His coronation opera, 'Costanza e Fortezza', nominally in celebration of the Empress Elisabeth Christine's birthday but effectively written to mark the coronation of Charles VI as King of Bohemia, represents the peak of his public office. The publication of the 'Gradus ad Parnassum' in 1725 has been compared in importance with the publication of Fischer von Erlach's 'Entwurf einer Historischen Architektur' (1721). Both works embody the concept of Habsburg style selfconsciously, and persuasively relate their author's achievements to a coherent past. On 8 June 1731 Fux's wife died, and some seven months later the composer drew up his will (5 January 1732). His activities at court notably decreased, with many of his responsibilities being assigned to Antonio Caldara and others. He had complained of serious illness at the close of the Gradus, and by the late 1720s his rate of composition had sharply declined. His last testimonial is dated 10 March 1740. On 13 February 1741 he developed a ‘raging fever’ and died. He was much mourned at court. The most outstanding of his many students were Gottlieb Muffat, Georg Christoph Wagenseil and Jan Dismas Zelenka. According to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach placed him first among those contemporary composers whom he most admired. Fux represents the culmination of the Austro-Italian Baroque in music. His compositions reflect the imperial and Catholic preoccupations of the Habsburg monarchy no less than does the architecture of Fischer von Erlach or the scenic designs of the Galli-Bibiena family. His 'Gradus ad Parnassum' (1725) has been the most influential composition treatise in European music from the 18th century onwards.

BACHSCHMID, Anton Adam (1728-1797) - Concerto Ex f. Per il Violino Principale (c.1780)

Anton Adam Bachschmid (1728-1797) - Concerto Ex f. | Per il Violino Principale

| con | Due Violini | Due Oboi | Due Corni | Viola è Basso (c.1780)

Performers: Margarete Adοrf (violin); Nοva Strаvаganza; Siegbert Rаmpe (1964-2025, conductor)

Drawing: Anonymus - Ansicht von Stift Melk (c.1835)

Further info: Anton Adam Bachschmid (1728-1797) - Flauto Traverso Concerto: In G (1771)

---

(Johann) Anton (Adam) Bachschmidt [Bachschmid]

(Melk, 11 February 1728 - Eichstätt, 29 December 1797)

German composer and violin virtuoso of Austrian birth. He came from a long line of musicians who emigrated to Melk late in the 17th century from Traunstein, Bavaria. While still a young man he was appointed Thurnermeister (director of instrumental music) in Melk, a post which he held from July 1751 to May 1753. He left his native town for travels as a virtuoso and may have been employed briefly at Würzburg before settling in Eichstätt. There he established himself as a versatile musician in the court orchestra of Prince-Bishop Johann Anton II, using steadily in rank from violinist (September 1753) to Konzertmeister (March 1768) and finally to court Kapellmeister (July 1773). Although he developed a reputation primarily as a church composer, he wrote a number of dramatic works for Eichstätt’s theatres. His turn from Latin school drama to Italian opera reflects the closing of the Jesuit theatre in Eichstätt in 1773.

CARULLI, Ferdinando (1770-1841) - Petit concerto de société (1820)

Ferdinando Carulli (1770-1841) - Petit concerto de société, Op.140 (1820)

Performers: Pepe Romеro (guitar); Academy of St. Martin in the Fields; Iona Brown (1941-2004, conductor)

Painting: Ferenc Balassa (1794-1860) - Sunday afternoon near Naples (1829)

Further info: Guitar concertos

---

Ferdinando (M[aria?] Meinrado Francesco Pascale Rosario) Carulli [Karulli]

(Naples, 9 February 1770 - Paris, 14 February 1841)

Italian guitarist and composer. Son of Michele Carulli, a distinguished literator, secretary to the delegate of the Neapolitan Jurisdiction, he was taught the rudiments of music by his cello teacher, a priest, though around the age of 16 his interest shifted decisively to the guitar. Around 1801 he married a French woman, Marie-Josephine Boyer, and had a son with her. A few years later he started to compose in Milan, where he contributed to local publications. In 1808 he settled in Paris where he was at the centre of the phenomenon known as guitaromanie, establishing himself as a virtuoso, composer and teacher. For years he had practically no serious rival, except for his two fellow Italians Matteo Carcassi and Francesco Molino. His privileged position lasted at least until 1823, when Fernando Sor arrived in Paris. As a composer, his works number nearly 400 items, including concertos, quartets, trios, duos, fantasias, variations, and solos of all descriptions. In 1830 he composed a piece of program music for guitar entitled 'Les Trois Jours', descriptive of the days of the July 1830 revolution. He also published the method 'L'Harmonie appliquee a la guitarre' (Paris, 1825). His son Gustavo Carulli (1801-1876) was also a guitarist, teacher and composer active in Paris, London and Boulogne.

VIOLAND, August (1750-1811) - Offertorium solenne

August Violand (1750-1811) - Offertorium solenne (D-Dur) 'Pro Festo St. Truperti'

Performers: Dorothea Rieger (soprano); Freiburger Domsingknaben; Philarmonic Orchestra Freiburg;

Raimung Hug (conductor)

Painting: Jacob de Wit (1695-1754) - Diana and her companions returning from the hunt (1731)

Further info: Festliche Musik Aus Sudwestdeutschen Benediktinerklostern

---

August (Augustin) Violand [Violland]

(Endingen am Kaiserstuhl, 8 February 1750 - Tunsel, 12 November 1811)

German Benedictine monk, church musician, and composer primarily associated with the St. Trudpert Abbey in the Black Forest. Born in Endingen am Kaiserstuhl, Violand is believed to have studied under the Italian composer Pasquale Anfossi, a collaboration that influenced his own musical output. Throughout his ecclesiastical career, he served as a vicar in Grunern and a pastor in Tunsel, while simultaneously holding the influential roles of choirmaster (Chorregent) and organist at St. Trudpert. His compositional legacy reflects the liturgical music of the era, consisting of a significant body of religious vocal works, including masses, offertories, and vespers.

Unknown composer (18th Century) - Concerto per il Clarino

Unknown composer (18th Century) - Concerto (D-Dur) per il Clarino

Performers: Wolfgang Basch (trumpet); Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic

Painting: Attributed to John Laguerre (1688-1748) - A fair, with a crowd gathered in a square by the Red Lion Inn, with actors on a balcony, and a recruiting officer and drummer beside a stall

Further info: Trumpet Concertos

MELANI, Alessandro (1639-1703) - Magnificat à 8

Alessandro Melani (1639-1703) - Magnificat à 8

Performers: Concerto Italiano; Rinaldo Alessandrini (conductor)

Painting: Richard Wilson (1713-1782) - St Peters and the Vatican from the Janiculum, Rome

Further info: Melani - Mottetti

---

Alessandro Melani [Milani]

(Pistoia, 4 February 1639 - Rome, 3 October 1703)

Italian composer. Brother of Jacopo Melani (1623-1676) and Atto Melani (1626-1714), he sang at Pistoia Cathedral (1650-60) and then served as maestro di cappella in Orvieto and Ferrara. In 1667 he succeeded his brother Jacopo as maestro di cappella of Pistoia Cathedral, but later that year went to Rome to take up that position at Santa Maria Maggiore; in 1672 he obtained the same position at San Luigi dei Francesi, which he held until his death. In Rome he enjoyed the favourable conditions of the Rospigliosi papacy, who paid for an opera at the 1668 carnival, and the patronage of Ferdinando de’ Medici, his name appearing among 'celebrated professors of music protected by the Prince of Tuscany' in 1695, and of Francesco II d'Este, who in 1690 commissioned an oratorio from him. As a composer, he wrote several operas, oratorios, motets, and cantatas. He also collaborated with Bernardo Pasquini and Alessandro Scarlatti.

VON KRUFFT, Nikolaus (1779-1818) - Sonate Pour le Pianoforte avec Accompagnement de Cor

Nikolaus von Krufft (1779-1818) - Sonate (E-Dur) | Pour le Pianoforte

| avec Accompagnement | de Cor ou Violoncello obligé

Performers: Kristin Pederson Thelander (horn); Carol lei Post (pianoforte)

Painting: Jakob Alt (1789-1872) - Wien von der Rampe des Gartenpalais Schwarzenberg aus gesehen (c.1820)

Further info: Music Of The Early 19th Century

---

(Baron) Nikolaus (Nicolaus, Niclas) Freiherr von Krufft [Kruft, Crufft, Krafft, Krufet]

(Vienna, 1 February 1779 - Vienna, 16 April 1818)

Austrian jurist and composer. Born into the administrative aristocracy as the son of Andreas Adolph Freiherr von Krufft (1721-1793), a Minister of State, he completed advanced studies in philosophy and jurisprudence at the University of Vienna before joining the Imperial State Chancellery (Hof- und Staatskanzlei) in 1801. Rising to the rank of State Secretary, he became a trusted associate of Prince Metternich, accompanying him on pivotal diplomatic missions across Europe; services for which he was knighted by both Russian and Sicilian orders. Despite his decorated political tenure, his intellectual legacy remains rooted in his musical output; initially trained by his mother, Maria Anna von Haan, and later by the theorist and composer Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, he developed a compositional style that bridged the formal rigor of Classicism with burgeoning Romantic sensibilities. His oeuvre, notably his technically demanding works for bassoon and horn and his proto-Schubertian Lieder, reflects the stylistic transition of the Beethovenian generation. Ultimately, the taxing coexistence of his rigorous governmental duties and his nocturnal creative pursuits led to a severe nervous collapse and auditory hypersensitivity, culminating in his untimely death in Vienna at the age of thirty-nine.

DESMAREST, Henry (1661-1741) - Te Deum Laudamus

Henry Desmarest (1661-1741) - Motet // Te Deum Laudamus // de mons.r Desmarest (c.1707)

Performers: Eugénie Lеfеbvre (soprano); Jehanne Amzаl (soprano); Clément Dеbiеuvre (haute-contre);

François Jοrοn (tenor); David Witczаk (baritone); Etienne Bаzola (baritone);

Ensemble Les Surprisеs; Louis-Noël Bеstion de Cаmboulаs (conductor)

Painting: Louis Laguerre (1663-1721) - Sketch for an oval ceiling

Further info: Henry Desmarest (1661-1741) - Confitebor tibi (1707)

---

Henry Desmarest [Desmarets, Desmaretz, Desmarais]

(Paris, 1661 - Lunéville, 7 September 1741)

French composer. Little is known of his early musical life other than that he was one of the boy pages of Louis XIV’s musical establishment. There, directly under the influence of Pierre Robert and Henry Du Mont at an important period in the development of the grand motet, he probably also encountered Lully, who used the chapel pages to augment his performances. In 1680 he was referred to as an ‘ordinaire de la musique du Roy’. Titon du Tillet mentioned an idylle written by him for the birth of the Duke of Burgundy in 1682; this was a form to which he would regularly return. He was unsuccessful in a contest in 1683 for a post as sous-maître at the royal chapel, but later got himself involved in writing motets for one of the successful competitors, Goupillet, to pass off as his own. The deception was not revealed until 1693 when Desmarest, complaining that he had not been paid sufficiently, exposed Goupillet. He gravitated increasingly towards secular forms of composition. It seems that he wanted to study in Italy but this plan was thwarted by Lully. Some measure of court favour can be inferred from the private performance of his first opera, Endymion, which took place over several days in the king’s apartments, one or two acts at a time, in February 1686, and pleased the dauphine so much that she commanded another performance a few days later. Writing for the stage of the Académie was barred to Desmarest at the time since Lully enjoyed a complete monopoly; the gap left by his untimely death in March 1687 began to be filled only tentatively by the next generation. Du Tralage cynically declared that 'Didon' (1693), one of Desmarest’ earliest surviving tragédies en musique, succeeded with the public because it was copied from Lully, that 'Circé' (1694), less closely modelled on Lully, was less successful, and that 'Théagène' (1695), in which the composer went his own way, was not successful at all. 

When he began work on another opera, 'Vénus et Adonis', in 1695, he was apparently in dispute with Collasse over who should set Duché de Vancy's 'Iphigénie en Tauride'; this was to be left unfinished by Desmarest and completed by André Campra in 1704. Within months of the death of his first wife in August 1696, he had fallen in love with his pupil, the 18-year-old daughter of Jacques de Saint-Gobert, director of taxation for Senlis. The upshot was a long legal battle, at the end of which in August 1699 the couple fled the country, Desmarest being condemned to death in his absence. The composer began his exile in Brussels. His friend and fellow chapel page, the composer Jean-Baptiste Matho, obtained a letter of recommendation for him from the Duke of Burgundy to the new King of Spain, Philip V, and he moved to the Spanish court in 1701 and married Mlle de Saint-Gobert. Six years later, again with support from connections in France, he secured an appointment as surintendant de la musique at the court of Lorraine, which was closely modelled on the court of Louis XIV, his duties encompassing both religious and secular music. Although he mounted a production of his own, Vénus et Adonis for the court at Lunéville in 1707, Desmarest’ operatic activities focussed chiefly on revivals of operas by Lully at both Lunéville and Nancy. During this time he continued to write occasional pieces and motets. However favourable the musical climate in Lorraine, he hoped to be allowed to return to France. A petition to Louis XIV on his behalf by Matho in 1712 was rejected, but he was finally pardoned by the regent in 1720. When Michel-Richard de Lalande died in 1726, he sought his post of sous-maître, but was unsuccessful. His wife died in the following year and he ended his days in Lorraine.