Josse Boutmy (1 February 1697 – 27 November 1779) was a composer, organist and
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 ...
ist of the
Austrian Netherlands
The Austrian Netherlands nl, Oostenrijkse Nederlanden; french: Pays-Bas Autrichiens; german: Österreichische Niederlande; la, Belgium Austriacum. was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The p ...
who established himself in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
.
Background
Boutmy was born in
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...
. He was born into a musical family; his grandfather, father, brother and sons were all musicians, also called the Boutmy Dynasty.
He worked with
Anselm Franz, 2nd Prince of Thurn and Taxis
, image = Anselm Franz von Thurn und Taxis.jpg
, caption =
, succession = Prince of Thurn and Taxis
, reign = 21 February 1714 – 8 November 1739
, reign-type = Period
, coronation =
, predecessor = Eugen Alexand ...
(1736) and at the chapel royal of
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
(1744-1777). Boutmy married a woman named Katrina from
Westphalia
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regio ...
.
Although Boutmy was a court organist and famous in his day, he was reduced at the age of eighty to appeals for charity and petitioned the court for retirement. He died in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, without receiving a pension, leaving his wife and twelve children, who also petitioned the court for charity.
Works
Boutmy composed three collections of pieces for the harpsichord:
* First book (1738)
* Second book (1738)
* Third book, dedicated to governor
Charles of Lorraine (ca. 1749)
His style incorporates multiple European influences: French (
Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera an ...
,
Duphly), Italian (
Domenico Scarlatti
Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, also known as Domingo or Doménico Scarlatti (26 October 1685-23 July 1757), was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the deve ...
), German (
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...
) and his harpsichord books mix dance pieces belonging to the
suite form, character pieces and
sonata
Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...
elements, as did another Brussels musician of the same period,
Joseph-Hector Fiocco
Joseph-Hector Fiocco (20 January 1703 – 21 June 1741), born in Brussels, was a composer and harpsichordist of the late Baroque period.
His father, the Italian composer Pietro Antonio Fiocco, and one of his older step-brother Jean-Joseph Fiocc ...
.
Argentine harpsichordist
Mario Raskin
Mario Raskin (born 1952) is an Argentine harpsichordist. He was born in Buenos Aires and lives in Paris, France.
Background
Raskin was born in Buenos Aires, and studied music at the National Conservatory of Buenos Aires. He developed an inter ...
discovered the lost first book of Boutmy's harpsichord pieces in a friend's collection. He later recorded it for the label Follia Madrigal.
[ DÉCOUVERTE D'UN MANUSCRIT INEDIT
JOSSE BOUTMY]
References
External links
Sheetmusic of Boutmy at IMSLP
Belgian classical composers
Belgian male classical composers
Classical-period composers
Belgian Baroque composers
1697 births
1779 deaths
18th-century classical composers
18th-century male musicians
18th-century musicians
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