André Maugars (c. 1580 – c. 1645) was a French
viola da gamba
The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitch ...
player.
Marin Mersenne described him, along with
Nicolas Hotman, as the most excellent French viola da gamba virtuoso, in particular, improviser of
diminution
In Western music and music theory, diminution (from Medieval Latin ''diminutio'', alteration of Latin ''deminutio'', decrease) has four distinct meanings. Diminution may be a form of embellishment in which a long note is divided into a series ...
s.
He is first identified as a musician attached to
Henriette Marie de France, and follows her to London after her marriage to
Charles I of England
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...
in 1625.
[Ian Spink, "The Musicians of Queen Henrietta-Maria : some notes and references in the English State Papers", Acta Musicologica 36/2/3 (1964), p. 177-182.] He stayed there until about 1627 and was probably in the service of
James I of England
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...
in his court orchestra. After his return, he published a French translation of
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
's letter ''Advancement of learning''. He worked first as a translator at the French court, later for the
Cardinal Richelieu. This gained him in 1630 the office of prior of
Saint-Pierre-Eynac in
Le Puy-en-Velay
Le Puy-en-Velay (, literally ''Le Puy in Velay''; oc, Lo Puèi de Velai ) is the prefecture of the Haute-Loire department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France.
Located near the river Loire, the city is famous for its c ...
. In 1634, he published a translation of another of Bacon's letters, ''Considerations Touching on a War with Spain''. In 1637 or in the next years, he travelled to Rome. Following this journey, he wrote the account in the form of a letter ' (''Response to an Inquisitive Person on the Italian Feeling about Music, wrote in Rome on 1st October 1639'') about his experiences from his Italian journey, which was published posthumously in 1672. This account is a valuable historical musical testimony about the contemporary Italian church music,
oratorio
An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...
and instrumental music in comparison with the French music of his time.
References
External links
A. Maugars: ''Response to an Inquisitive Person on the Italian Feeling about Music''from C. MacClinton: ''Readings in the history of music in performance'' on Google Books
*Ernest Thoinan, ''Maugars, célèbre joueur de viole, musicien du Cardinal de Richelieu... : sa biographie, suivie de sa "Response faite a un curieux sur le sentiment de la musique d'Italie, escrite à Rome le premier octobre 1639" : avec notes et éclaircissements''. Paris : A. Claudin, 186
Google books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maugars, Andre
French Baroque composers
French Baroque viol players
French expatriates in the Kingdom of England
1580s births
1645 deaths