Hélène-Louise Demars (1736–1778) was a French

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and music teacher. Demars wrote several

cantatas A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of t ...

dedicated to nobles such as Mademoiselle de Soubise of th
Rohan family
and Madame La Marquise de Villeroy. She went on to become a teacher of several instruments such as the harpsichord and the violin.

Early life

Demars was born in 1736 in France, probably in Paris. Her father,

Jean-Odéo Demars Jean-Odéo Demars, born in Sézanne (France), 2 February 1695, died in Paris, 7 November 1756, was an 18th-century French organist, composer and harpsichordist. In 1726, he became organist at the Saint-Jacques-la-Boucherie church in Paris. Later, ...

was a musician at two churches in Paris. After her father died in 1756, she lived with her mother and siblings in the Rue St. Thomas du Louvre. Rue St

Personal life

In 1759, Demars married Jean-Baptiste Vernier, a violinist and music dealer specializing in foreign editions. It is unknown if she and her husband had any children.

Career and works

Demars' most cited-work, "L'Horoscope" is dedicated to Mademoiselle de Soubise of the Rohan family. It was performed for de Soubise as early as 21 November 1748, when Demars was about 12 years old. It was published in the ''

Mercure de France The was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group. The gazette was published f ...

'' in 1749. Demars dedicated her work "Hercule et Omphale" to Madame La Marquise de Villeroy. She composed several other works. Demars became a member of a literary circle run by

Alexandre Le Riche de La Poupelinière Alexandre Jean Joseph Le Riche de La Pouplinière, sometimes also written Popelinière ou Poupelinière (Paris, 1693 – 5 December 1762) was an immensely wealthy '' fermier général'', the only son of his father, Alexandre Le Riche (1663-17 ...

, an influential patron of the

Enlightenment Era The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

. De La Poupelinière circle's may have provided Demars with introductions to artists and potential patrons. Demars also taught the violin and the

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

. She was advertised in the "Tableau de Paris pour l'annee 1759," as a "maîtresse" or "teacher" of the harpsichord.

Bibliography

*Brain, Corisha. ''A social, literary and musical study of Julie Pinel's Nouveau recueil d'airs serieux et à boire. A social, literary and musical study of Julie Pinel's Nouveau recueil d'airs serieux et à boire'' 1. N.p.: New Zealand School of Music, 2008. *Curtis, Alan S. ''Jean-Philippe Rameau.'' http://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Philippe-Rameau. Accessed May 4, 2016. *Demars, Hélène-Louise. ''Hercule et Omphale, 1re cantatille à voix seule et simphonie''. *Demars, Hélène-Louise. ''L'horoscope Cantate, du Meme" he Horoscope Song, of the same'. Mercure de France, March 1749, 40-41. *David Fuller and Bruce Gustafson. ''Demars, Jean Odéo.'' Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed April 1, 2016, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/07526 . *Hoffmann, Freia. ''Mars, Hélène-Louise de, verh. Vernier, Venier, Vernieri.'' http://www.sophie-drinker-institut.de/cms/index.php/mars-helene-louise. Last modified 2007. Accessed May 4, 2016. *Jackson, Barbara Garvey. ''Say Can You Deny Me: A Guide to Surviving Music by Women from the 16th through the 18th Centuries''. N.p.: University of Arkansas Press, 1994. *M. Brenet: 'La librairie musical en France de 1653 à 1790 d'après les registres de privilèges'. SIMG, viii (1906-7), 447 *van Boer, Bertil. ''Historical Dictionary of Music of the Classical Period (Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts).'' N.p.: Scarecrow Press, 2-12. *''Demars, Hélène-Louise.'' In The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers, edited by Julie Anne Sadie and Rhian Samuel, 139-40. N.p.: W. W. Norton & Company, 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demars, Helene-Louise 1736 births French music educators French Baroque composers French women classical composers French women music educators 18th-century French musicians 1778 deaths