André-Joseph Exaudet (1710–1762) was a French

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ist and

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, best known for composing the influential 1751

minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form that accompa ...

bearing his name. The January 1744 issue of the

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announced the publication of six violin sonatas, mentioning that Exaudet was then first violinist of the

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de Rouen. He is also listed in the Paris Opéra archives as a violinist at the Foire St Laurent and the Foire St Germain that year. His name is among the Opéra orchestra in 1749 and the Concert Spirituel orchestra in 1751, and he remained a violinist in both until his death. In 1758 he became an ordinaire de la musique de la chambre du roi. Exaudet also served as maître de violon in the court of the

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. As a composer, Exaudet is best remembered by a celebrated minuet (op.2 no.1, finale). Within a year of its publication Vadé had added a text and incorporated it into his opera Suffisant. On 1 October 1763 the

announced an orchestral arrangement by

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and a year later another appeared by L'Abbé le fils. Its popularity was kept alive with a variety of texts; it even became the tune for a revolutionary song, Arbre heureux. It appeared in innumerable collections of airs and instrumental method books, often with variations.

Selected recordings

''Concerto à cinq instruments en Mi bémol majeur'', Ensemble Diderot. CD Audax 2021

Bibliography

* Copied fro
"André-Joseph_Exaudet"

Choral Public Domain Library The Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL) is a sheet music archive which focuses on choral and vocal music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing (such as via permission from the copyright holder). It is a ...

. * Marcelle Benoît (dir.), ''Dictionnaire de la musique en France aux xvii^e et xviii^e siècles'', Paris, Fayard, 1992, pp. 280–281. {{DEFAULTSORT:Exaudet, Andre-Joseph French male composers 1710 births 1762 deaths Musicians from Rouen 18th-century French composers 18th-century French male classical violinists French classical composers French male classical composers