Ennemond Gaultier (Gaultier le Vieux, Gaultier de Lyon; also spelled ''Gautier'' or ''Gauthier'')
(c. 157517 December 1651) was a French
lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
nist and composer. He was one of the masters of the 17th century French lute school.
Gaultier was born in
Villette,
Dauphiné
The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois.
In the 12th centu ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. He worked first in
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
and in 1620, he became valet of the Queen Mother
Marie de' Medici
Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...
and court lutenist in Paris. It is possible that he was a pupil of
René Mezangeau. In 1631, he retired to Nèves and spent the rest of his life there.
Works
His cousin
Denis Gaultier
Denis Gaultier (''Gautier'', ''Gaulthier''; also known as Gaultier le jeune and Gaultier de Paris) (1597 or 1602/3 – 1672) was a French lutenist and composer. He was a cousin of Ennemond Gaultier.
Life
Gaultier was born in Paris; two conflict ...
published a printed lute book in 1669, which contained compositions by Ennemond as well. However, assignment of the authorship to one of them is difficult. This is similar also for other collections where works appear under name Gaultier. However, these works had a great influence on the development of lute music of the following years.
Among his most famous works are ''Le Tombeau de Mezangeau'' (Allemande), ''La Belle Homicide'' (Courante) or ''Les Canaries du Vieux Gaultier'', which became cornerstones of the repertoire of the French Baroque lute. His piece ''Le Tombeau de Mezangeau'' (1638) may be the earliest example of the ''
tombeau
A tombeau (plural tombeaux) is a musical composition (earlier, in the early 16th century, a poem) commemorating the death of a notable individual. The term derives from the French word for "tomb" or "tombstone". The vast majority of tombeaux date ...
.''
References
External links
*
Biography of E. GaultierPieces by Ennemond "Vieux Gaultier", Barbe ManuscriptPerformance of Le Tombeau de Mesangeau, Allemande
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaultier, Ennemond
1570s births
1651 deaths
17th-century classical composers
French Baroque composers
Composers for lute
French lutenists
French male classical composers
17th-century male musicians