Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer (12 May 1703 – 11 January 1755) 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 ...

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,

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

, and administrator.Lionel Sawkins and David Fuller
"Royer, Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace"

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

Biography

Born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, Royer went to Paris in 1725, and in 1734 became ''maître de musique des enfants de France'', responsible for the musical education of the children of the king,

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

. Together with the violinist

Jean-Joseph de Mondonville Jean-Joseph de Mondonville (, 25 December 1711 (baptised) – 8 October 1772), also known as Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville, was a French violinist and composer. He was a younger contemporary of Jean-Philippe Rameau and enjoyed great succes ...

, Royer directed the Concerts Spirituels, starting in 1748. Royer was at the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

during the 1730s and the 1750s, writing six operas himself, of which the best known is the

ballet héroïque This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most ...

'' Zaïde, reine de Grenade''. In 1753 he acquired the prestigious position of music director of the ''chambre du roi'' (the king's chamber), and in the same year was named director of the Royal Opera orchestra. He died in Paris.

Works

Royer is particularly known for his often extravagant and virtuosic harpsichord music, especially "La Marche des Scythes" which ends his first book of harpsichord pieces.

Operas

Other works

1746 Events January–March * January 8 – The Young Pretender Charles Edward Stuart occupies Stirling, Scotland. * January 17 – Battle of Falkirk Muir: British Government forces are defeated by Jacobite forces. * February 1 ...

: ''Premier livre de pièces de clavecin'' (1746) # La Majestueuse, courante # La Zaïde, rondeau (Tendrement) # Les Matelots (Modérément) # Premier et deuxième tambourins, suite des Matelots # L'Incertaine (Marqué) # L'Aimable (Gracieux) # La Bagatelle # Suitte de la Bagatelle # La Remouleuse, rondeau (Modérément) # Les tendre Sentiments, rondeau # Le Vertigo, rondeau (Modérément) # Allemande # La Sensible, rondeau # La marche des Scythes (Fièrement) *La chasse de Zaïde (1739) *1746: ''Ode à la fortune'', text by

Jean-Baptiste Rousseau Jean-Baptiste Rousseau (6 April 1671 – 17 March 1741) was a French playwright and poet, particularly noted for his cynical epigrams. Biography Rousseau was born in Paris, the son of a shoemaker, and was well educated. As a young man, he ga ...

, (first performance 25 December 1746, Concert Spirituel) *

1751 In Britain and its colonies (except Scotland), 1751 only had 282 days due to the British Calendar Act of 1751, which ended the year on 31 December (rather than nearly three months later according to its previous rule). Events January&nd ...

: ''Venite exultemus'', motet (first performance 18 December 1751, Concert Spirituel)

Recordings

*Complete Harpsichord Music – Yago Mahugo (harpsichord),

OnClassical OnClassical is an Italian independent record label. It features classical music mostly for single instrument or chamber ensemble. History Founded in April 2003 by Alessandro Simonetto, harpsichordist, producer and sound engineer, it enlist ...

(OC67B) licensed for

Brilliant Classics Brilliant Classics is a classical music label based in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden. It is renowned for releasing super-budget-priced editions on CD of the complete works of J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and many other composers. The label also sp ...

(BC 94479), 2013 *''Pièces de Clavecin'' – William Christie (harpsichord), Harmonia Mundi France (HM1901037), recorded 1979, CD-release 1992 (out of print)

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Royer, Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace 1705 births 1755 deaths Musicians from Turin French Baroque composers French classical composers French male classical composers French harpsichordists French opera composers Male opera composers Opera managers Directors of the Paris Opera 18th-century classical composers 18th-century keyboardists 18th-century French composers 18th-century Italian male musicians Italian emigrants to France 17th-century male musicians