Louis-Claude Daquin (or D'Aquino, d'Aquin, d'Acquin; July 4, 1694 – June 15, 1772) 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 ...

, writing in the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

and

Galant The galant style was an 18th-century movement in music, visual arts and literature. In Germany a closely related style was called the '' empfindsamer Stil'' (sensitive style). Another close relative is rococo style. The galant style was drawn in ...

styles. He was a virtuoso

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

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.

Life

Louis-Claude Daquin was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

to a family originating from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, where his great-great-grandfather took the name D'Aquino after converting to Catholicism in the town of Aquino. Louis-Claude's parents were Claude Daquin, a painter, and Anne Tiersant, a grand-niece of Rabelais. One of Louis-Claude's grand-uncles was a professor of Hebrew at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...

, and another was the principal physician of

King Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

. Daquin was a musical child prodigy. He performed for the court of Louis XIV at the age of six. He was for a while a pupil of

Louis Marchand Louis Marchand (2 February 1669 – 17 February 1732) was a French Baroque organist, harpsichordist, and composer. Born into an organist's family, Marchand was a child prodigy and quickly established himself as one of the best known French vi ...

. At the age of 12, he became organist at the

Sainte-Chapelle The Sainte-Chapelle (; en, Holy Chapel) is a royal chapel in the Gothic style, within the medieval Palais de la Cité, the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century, on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine in Paris, France. Co ...

, and in the following year took a similar post at the Church of Petit Saint Antoine. In 1722 he married Denise-Thérèse Quirot. Louis-Claude Daquin never lacked for work as an organist. In 1727 he was appointed organist at the Church of Saint Paul in Paris, ahead of

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theory, 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 Fr ...

who was also a candidate. Five years later, Daquin succeeded his teacher Marchand as organist at the Church of the Cordeliers. In 1739 he became organist to

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 reached ...

at the Chapelle Royale. In 1755 he was made titular organist at

Notre-Dame Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

, succeeding Guillaume-Antoine Calvière. By reputation a dazzling performer at the keyboard, Daquin was courted by the aristocracy, and his great expertise at the organ drew large crowds to hear him. He was known for his "unfaltering precision and evenness" at both the harpsichord and organ.

Compositions

At the age of eight, he conducted his own choral work ''Beatus Vir''. Daquin's surviving music includes four harpsichord suites, the c.1757 ''Nouveau livre de noëls'' for organ and harpsichord (settings of Christmas carols, which include some of his harpsichord improvisations), a

cantata 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 ...

, an ''

air à boire ''Air à boire'' is a French language, French term which was used between the mid-17th and mid-18th centuries for a "drinking song". These were generally strophic, syllabic songs to light texts. Its predecessor was ''chanson pour boire'', the differ ...

'', and manuscripts of two ''Masses'', a ''Te Deum'', a ''Miserere'', and ''Leçons de Ténèbres''. Among the most famous of his works are the ''Swiss Noël'' (''Noël Suisse'', No. XII from his ''Nouveau livre'') and ''The Cuckoo'' (''Le coucou'', from his 1735 harpsichord suite, ''Pièces de clavecin, Troisième Suite''). Among technical innovations, his ''Trois cadences'' for harpsichord contains a triple trill.

The Noëls

For Daquin's twelve published Noëls, French organist Jean-Claude Duval has sourced the following old texts: *I. Noel, ''sur les jeux d’Anches sans tremblant'': ''«À la venuë de Noël»'' *II Noel, ''en dialogue, Duo, Trio, sur le cornet de récit, les tierces du positif et la pédalle de Flûte'': ''«Or nous dites Marie»'' *III Noel ''en Musette, en Dialogue, et en Duo'': ''«Une bergère jolie»'' *IV Noel ''en Duo, sur les jeux d’Anches, sans tremblant'': ''«Noël, cette journée»'' *V Noel ''en Duo'': ''«Je me suis levé»'' or ''«Ô jour glorieux»'' *VI Noel, ''sur les jeux d’Anches, sans tremblant, et en Duo'': ''«Qu’Adam fut un pauvre homme»'' *VII Noel, ''en Trio et en Dialogue, le cornet de récit de la main droitte, la Tierce du Positif de la main gauche'': ''«Chrétiens qui suivez l’Église»'' *VIII Noel ''Étranger, sur les jeux d’anches sans tremblant et en Duo'': ''«?»'' (foreign carol, perhaps Italian) *IX Noel, ''sur les Flûtes'': ''«Noël pour l’amour de Marie»'' and ''«Chantons, je vous prie»'' *X Noel, ''Grand jeu et Duo'': ''«Quand Dieu naquit à Noël»'' or ''«Bon Joseph, écoutez-moi»'' *XI Noel, ''en Récit en Taille, sur la Tierce du Positif, avec la Pédalle de Flûte, et en Duo'': ''«Une jeune Pucelle»'' *XII Noel ''Suisse, Grand jeu, et Duo'': ''«Il est un p'tit l’ange»'' or ''«Ô Dieu de clémence»''

Media

Discography

* ''Louis Claude Daquin, l’œuvre intégrale pour orgue / Louis Claude Daquin, Complete organ works''.

Marina Tchebourkina Marina Nikolayevna Tchebourkina (russian: Марина Николаевна Чебуркина) is a French and Russian organist and musicologist. She has a Doktor nauk (the highest post-doctoral) degree in Science of the Arts. Marina Tchebourki ...

at the Great Organ of the Royal Chapel of the Palace of Versailles. — Natives, 2004. (EAN 13 : 3760075340049)

References

External links

* * Click these links to listen to three Noëls on the organ:
Noël sur les anches (No. VI)

Noël sur les flûtes (No. IX)

Noël en sol (No. X)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daquin, Louis-Claude 1694 births 1772 deaths Musicians from Paris French male classical composers French Baroque composers Composers for pipe organ French classical organists French male organists Cathedral organists French harpsichordists Child classical musicians 18th-century keyboardists 18th-century classical composers 18th-century French composers 18th-century French male musicians 17th-century male musicians Male classical organists