Michel Blavet (March 13, 1700 – October 28, 1768) was a French composer and
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
virtuoso
A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...
. Although Blavet taught himself to play almost every instrument, he specialized in the
bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...
and the flute which he held to the left, the opposite of how most flutists hold theirs today.
Quantz
Johann Joachim Quantz (; 30 January 1697 – 12 July 1773) was a German composer, flutist and flute maker of the late Baroque period. Much of his professional career was spent in the court of Frederick the Great. Quantz composed hundreds of flute ...
wrote of Blavet: "His amiable disposition and engaging manner gives rise to a lasting friendship between us and I am much indebted to him for his numerous acts of kindness."
Life
Born on March 13, 1700 in
Besançon
Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerl ...
as the son of wood turner Jean-Baptiste Blavet,
(though one source says he was baptised, rather than born on March 13)
a profession which he followed for some time, he accidentally became the possessor of a flute and soon became the finest player in France. Blavet was famous for maintaining impeccable
intonation, even when he played in difficult
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
s, and for the beauty of his tone.
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...
expressed his admiration for his playing and
Marpurg
Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (21 November 1718 – 22 May 1795) was a German music critic, music theorist and composer. He was friendly and active with many figures of the Enlightenment of the 18th century.
Life
Little is known of Marpurg's ear ...
spoke of him as a virtuoso of the highest excellence who preserved his innate modesty despite his unbroken popularity.
In 1726 he joined the Duke of
Carignan
Carignan (also known as Mazuelo, Bovale Grande, Cariñena, Carinyena, Samsó, Carignane, and Carignano) is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Mediterra ...
and took part in the newly formed ''
Concert Spirituel
The Concert Spirituel ( en, Spiritual Concert) was one of the first public concert series in existence. The concerts began in Paris in 1725 and ended in 1790. Later, concerts or series of concerts of the same name occurred in Paris, Vienna, Londo ...
'' for the first time.
On 1 October 1728 Louis XV granted Blavet a
privilege to publish flute sonatas for a period of six years, but by 1731 he had transferred to the service of
Louis, Count of Clermont
Louis de Bourbon (15 June 1709 – 16 June 1771) was a member of the cadet branch of the then reigning House of Bourbon. He is known for leading French forces in Germany during the Seven Years' War where he took command in 1758 following the ...
[Neal Zaslaw, "Blavet, Michel", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by ]Stanley Sadie
Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...
and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001). and became his
steward of music.
[ In 1728 he published his first book of flute music, containing six sonatas for two flutes without bass.][ From 1731 to 1735, he performed at the Concert Spirituel with ]Jean-Marie Leclair
Jean-Marie Leclair l'aîné (Jean-Marie Leclair the Elder) (10 May 1697 – 22 October 1764) was a French Baroque violinist and composer. He is considered to have founded the French violin school. His brothers, the lesser-known Jean-Marie ...
, Jean-Pierre Guignon
Jean-Pierre Guignon, ''né'' Giovanni Pietro Ghignone (10 February 1702 – 30 January 1774) was an 18th-century Franco-Italian composer and violinist.
Life
Born in Turin, Guignon was the son of a merchant from this city and a disciple of Giov ...
, 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 succe ...
, Jean-Baptiste Senaillé, and Jacques Aubert
Jacques Aubert (30 September 1689 – 19 May 1753), also known as Jacques Aubert le Vieux (Jacques Aubert the Elder), was a French composer and violinist of the Baroque period. From 1727 to 1746, he was a member of the Vingt-quatre Violons du Ro ...
.[
In 1738, Blavet became the principal flute in ]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 ...
's personal musical ensemble, the "Musique du Roi", and in 1740 at the Paris Opera
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 ...
orchestra.[ He played in the quartet (flute – Blavet, violin – Guignon, viola da gamba – Forqueray the younger, cello – Édouard) that played the premiere performance of the ]Paris quartets
The Paris quartets is a collective designation for two sets of Chamber music compositions, each consisting of six works for flute, violin, viola da gamba (or cello), and continuo, by Georg Philipp Telemann, first published in 1730 and 1738, respe ...
by Telemann
Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesh ...
. Blavet turned down a post in Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
's court, which Quantz eventually accepted after the pay had been increased significantly. In 1752 Blavet modeled on Italian interludes the first French comic opera, ''Le Jaloux corrigé.''[ He also wrote a march for the Grande-Loge, having joined the Masons under the influence of the Comte de Clermont who was Grand Master of the Order in France.][ Blavet's three Recueils for two flutes are undated, but internal evidence suggests that they come from the early 1750s. The breathing marks (h, for ''haliene'') indicated in the Recueils and his op. 2 remain an invaluable aid in understanding eighteenth-century French musical phrasing.] He died in Paris in 1768.[
]
Musical works
Blavet wrote primarily for the transverse flute, in the so-called 'Italian' as well as the French style. His surviving works include a concerto
A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...
and three books of sonatas
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 ''canta ...
(1740).[A selection of Blavet's sonatas was published in 1908 in New England. Several arrangements have appeared in Blavet's works for the recorder (soprano and alto).]
His surviving works are written only in the easiest keys, since he published them for amateurs to play.
Compositions
*''Six sonatas for two flutes without bass,'' Opus 1 (1728)
*''Six sonatas for flute and continuo,'' Op 2 (1732)
**Nr. 1 in G major ''L'Henriette''
**Nr. 2 in D minor ''La Vibray''
**Nr. 3 in e minor ''La Dherouville''
**Nr. 4 in g minor ''La Lumagne''
**Nr. 5 in D major ''La Chauvet''
**Nr. 6 in a minor ''Le Bouget''
*''Concerto in A minor'' for flute and strings (without viola) (1745, 1954 rediscovered).[It has some of the composer's elaborate cadences, sounding over a pedal point.]
*Four operas, of which only ''Le Jaloux Corrige'' (1752) survived.[Blavet was the first composer of a French comic opera.]
**''Le jaloux corrigé'' (1752)
**''Floriane ou la grotte des Spectacles'' (1752)
**''Les Jeux olympiques'' (1753)
**''La Fête de Cythère'' (1753)
*Arrangements and original compositions for two flutes
**Premier recueil de pièces accomodé pour les flûtes traversières; Deuxième recueil de pièces accomodé pour les flûtes traversières; Troisième recueil de pièces accomodé pour les flûtes traversières. Paris s.d.
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blavet, Michel
1700 births
1768 deaths
French Baroque composers
French opera composers
Male opera composers
French male classical composers
French classical flautists
Musicians from Besançon
18th-century classical composers
18th-century French composers
18th-century French male musicians
17th-century male musicians