Jacques champion de chambonnieres biography
Jacques Champion de Chambonnières
French harpsichordist, dancer and composer
Jacques Champion de Chambonnières (Jacques Champion, commonly referred to as Chambonnières) (c. 1601/2 – 1672) was a French harpsichordist, dancer and composer. Born into a musical family, Chambonnières made an illustrious career as court harpsichordist in Paris and was considered by many of his contemporaries to be one of the greatest musicians in Europe. However, late in life Chambonnières gradually fell out of favor at the court and lost his position. He died in poverty, but at an advanced age, and not before publishing a number of his works. Today Chambonnières is considered one of the greatest representatives of the early French harpsichord school.
Life
1601–1631: Early years
Chambonnières was born in Paris, most probably in 1601 or 1602. Very little information survives concerning his childhood and early youth. The Champion family included many musicians, most notably Thomas Champion (also known as Mithou; not to be confused with his English namesake), Chambonnières's grandfather, whom Marin Mersenne described as "the greatest contrapuntist of his time." Chambonnières's father, also named Jacques, was also a keyboard player and a composer. Although he was not as highly regarded as Thomas, Mersenne still praised his keyboard skills, and John Bull dedicated a work to him. The title Chambonnières originally belonged to Chambonnières's maternal grandfather: it was the name of a small manor in the commune of Le Plessis-Feu-Aussoux. Chambonnières must have received early music lessons from his father, but apart from that nothing is known about the young harpsichordist's education. What is known, however, is that Chambonnières was for a long time the only child of an aging father—Jacques Champion was around 50 when Chambonnières was born—and received much attention.
Already by 1611 Chambonnières must have been showing considerable musical talents, for i Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). Within the “Cite this article” tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. Therefore, it’s best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publication’s requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: Chambonnières, Jacques Champion, Sieur de, French harpsichordist, dancer, teacher, and composer; b. Paris, 1601 or 1602; d. there, April or May, 1672. His father was the keyboard player and composer Jacques Champion, known as La Chapelle (b. probably in Paris, before 1555; d. there, 1642), who served in the king’s chamber as a gentilhomme ordinaire. By 1632 Chambonnières was associated with the court, where he became esteemed as both a harpsichordist and dancer. In 1641 he founded a series of private concerts known as the Assemblée des Honnestes Curieux, with which he was active as director and performer. In 1643 he succeeded his father as a gentilhomme ordinaire in the king’s chamber. Chambonnières was an influential teacher, numbering among his pupils the Couperin brothers, D’Anglebert, Hardel, Lebégue, Cambert, and Nivers. In 1662 he retired from his court duties and was succeeded by D’Anglebert. Chambonnières was the founder of the French Classical school of harpsichord playing, and was one of the first to adapt the lute idiom to the composing of harpsichord music. He composed only works for solo harpsichord and publ.. Les Pièces de clavessin (two vols., Paris, 1670). All of his works were ed. by P. Brunold and A. Tessier (Paris, 1925; new ed., 1961). R. Neill, Seventeenth Century French Clavier Style as Found in the Pièces de clavecin of J.C.d. C. (diss., Univ. of Colo., 1965). —Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians Chambonnières, Jacques Champion de
Citation styles
Notes:
musica Dei donum
CD reviews
Jacques CHAMPION DE CHAMBONNI�RES (1601/02 - 1672): "Les Pi�ces de Clavessin"
Karen Flint, harpsichord
rec: [no date, no place]
Plectra - PL 21001 (� 2010) (76'51")
Pieces in C; Pieces in D; Pieces in G; Pieces in A
Jacques Champion de Chambonni�res is considered the father of the French harpsichord school. It is therefore rather strange that his music is largely neglected by modern performers. This year French music of the time of Louis XIV was the theme of the Festival Early Music in Utrecht. It included a series of harpsichord recitals which span a period of about a century. But not a single note by Champion de Chambonni�res was played. And in my collection I have just one disc which is entirely devoted to his oeuvre, recorded by Fran�oise Lengell� (Pan Classics). And as about 90 pieces from his pen have come down to us there is much to choose from.
Let us first have a look at Jacques Champion de Chambonni�res. He was born in a musical family of harpsichordists and organists. His grandfather Thomas Champion was appointed first organist of the royal chapel and chamber in 1578. His son, Jacques Champion, was organist and valet de chambre of Henri III. Jacques junior took the name 'Chambonni�res' from his mother's father, sieur de Chambonni�res. This seems to have been part of his attempts to improve his social status. At some time he called himself baron.
Champion de Chambonni�res was a child prodigy: at the age of 10 he received the reversion of his father's position at the court of Louis XIII as organist, valet de chambre and joueur d'espinette. He played at court and started to compose, but he also danced, first before Louis XIII, later on with Louis XIV and Jean-Baptiste Lully. Interesting is that he was probably the first in France to organise paying concerts, as he established the Assembl�e des honnestes curieux in 1641. Twice a week public performances took place, apparently with two Chambonnières, Jacques Champion, Sieur de
Bibliography