François d'Agincourt (also d'Agincour, Dagincourt, Dagincour) (1684 – 30 April 1758) was a French
harpsichordist
A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...
,
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...
, and composer. He spent most of his life in
Rouen, his native city, where he worked as organist of the
Rouen Cathedral
Rouen Cathedral (french: Cathédrale primatiale Notre-Dame de l'Assomption de Rouen) is a Roman Catholic church in Rouen, Normandy, France. It is the see of the Archbishop of Rouen, Primate of Normandy. It is famous for its three towers, each i ...
and of three smaller churches. Highly regarded during his lifetime, d'Agincourt was one of the organists of the royal chapel. The single surviving book of
harpsichord music by him contains masterful pieces inspired by
François Couperin; also extant are some 40 organ works that survive in manuscript copies.
Biography
D'Agincourt was born in
Rouen and received his early musical training there. He soon left for Paris where he probably studied under
Nicolas Lebègue Nicolas-Antoine Lebègue (also ''Le Bègue''; c. 16316 July 1702) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was born in Laon and in the 1650s settled in Paris, quickly establishing himself as one of the best organists of the ...
. Between 1701 and 1706 he worked as organist of Sainte-Madeleine-en-la-Cité in Paris, and in 1706 he went back to Rouen and became organist of the
Rouen Cathedral
Rouen Cathedral (french: Cathédrale primatiale Notre-Dame de l'Assomption de Rouen) is a Roman Catholic church in Rouen, Normandy, France. It is the see of the Archbishop of Rouen, Primate of Normandy. It is famous for its three towers, each i ...
, succeeding
Jacques Boyvin
Jacques Boyvin (c. 1649 – 30 June 1706) was a French Baroque composer and organist.
He was probably born in Paris, and studied there. One of his first jobs was that of organist of the Parisian church ''des Quinze-Vingts'', and in 1674 he was app ...
. He kept the post until his death some 52 years later. Later he also took jobs at St. Herbland, the
Abbey of Saint-Ouen
Saint-Ouen Abbey, (french: Abbaye Saint-Ouen de Rouen) is a large Gothic Catholic church and former Benedictine monastic church in Rouen. It is named for Audoin (french: Ouen, ), 7th-century bishop of Rouen in modern Normandy, France. The church' ...
(he would hold both of these until his death as well), and at St. Jean, all in Rouen. By 1714 he was sufficiently well-known and respected to be appointed one of the four organists of the royal chapel.
Jacques Duphly studied with d'Agincourt about 1730–31, but his surviving works do not show any considerable influence of his teacher's style.
D'Agincourt only published a single collection of his music, ''1er livre de clavecin'' (Paris, 1733). It contains 43 pieces for harpsichord, clearly influenced by
François Couperin: the pieces are organized into ''ordres'', make good use of ornamentation, and many are character pieces: genre scenes, portraits (sometimes double portraits), etc. D'Agincourt's organ music, which survives in a manuscript copy made by the renegade French priest and scientist
Alexandre Guy Pingré. The manuscript, now conserved in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, consists of 46 pieces for liturgical use. They are more progressive than Couperin's organ works, with frequent use of elements of the ''
style galant
In music, galant refers to the style which was fashionable from the 1720s to the 1770s. This movement featured a return to simplicity and immediacy of appeal after the complexity of the late Baroque era. This meant simpler, more song-like melodie ...
''. The pieces are organized according to mode, as is usual in French organ music, but for unknown reasons d'Agincourt omits the third mode altogether. Suites in the first three modes (i.e., 1, 2, and 4) are less developed than the remaining ones. Apart from keyboard pieces, only three songs for soloist and
basso continuo are known, published in the anthology ''Recueil d'airs sérieux et à boire'' in 1713 and 1716.
A portrait of one
Barthélemy-Jean-Claude Pupil is frequently misidentified as a portrait of d'Agincourt.
See also
*
French organ school The French organ school formed in the first half of the 17th century. It progressed from the strict polyphonic music of Jean Titelouze (c. 1563–1633) to a unique, richly ornamented style with its own characteristic forms that made full use of ...
*
French baroque harpsichordists
References
*
External links
*
Audio files
"Suite du 2e ton" (organ)
''plein jeu''''récit de nasard''''duo''''concert de flûtes''''trio''''grand jeu''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agincourt, Francois d
1684 births
1758 deaths
Musicians from Rouen
French classical organists
French male organists
Cathedral organists
French male classical composers
French Baroque composers
Composers for harpsichord
French harpsichordists
18th-century classical composers
18th-century French composers
18th-century French male musicians
17th-century male musicians
Male classical organists