Louis Grabu, Grabut, Grabue, or Grebus ( fl. 1665 – 1690, died after 1693) was a

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

-born, French-trained

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

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist who was mainly active in England. While he was probably born in Catalonia – he was later referred to as 'Lodovicus Grabeu of Shalon in Catalunnia'Peter Holman, Grove Music Online – details of his early life are lacking. Sometime in his youth he moved to Paris, where he was most likely trained by

Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he ...

. At the time of the Restoration he went to England, where French music, especially

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

, was much in vogue.

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

appointed him as a composer for his own private music in 1665, and with the death of Nicholas Lanier in 1666 he became the second person to hold the title

Master of the King's Musick Master of the King's Music (or Master of the Queen's Music, or earlier Master of the King's Musick) is a post in the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. The holder of the post originally served the monarch of England, directing the court orch ...

. He adapted

Robert Cambert Robert Cambert (c. 1628–1677) was a French composer principally of opera. His opera '' Pomone'' was the first actual opera in French. Biography Under Mazarin Born in Paris c. 1628, he studied music under Chambonnières. His first position was ...

''Ariadne'' for a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

performance in 1674, and wrote music for

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

's ''

Albion and Albanius ''Albion and Albanius'' is an opera, closely resembling a French ''tragédie en musique'', by Louis Grabu with an English libretto by John Dryden. The words were written by Dryden in 1680. It was initially intended as a prologue to his opera ' ...

'' in 1685. In 1693 he left England, the only land where he had achieved any fame, and completely disappeared from the historical record.

Notes

References

* Peter Holman. "Grabu, Luis." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/11564 (accessed August 3, 2009). Baroque composers from Catalonia French male classical composers French Baroque composers 17th-century French people 17th-century English composers English male composers Masters of the King's Music Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown Spanish male musicians 17th-century male musicians {{France-composer-stub