Michel Lambert (1610 – 29 June 1696) was a French singing master,

theorbist The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck and a second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box (a hollow box) with a wooden top, typically with a sound hole, and a neck extending out ...

and composer.

Career

Lambert was born at

Champigny-sur-Veude Champigny-sur-Veude () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department The following is a list of the 272 communes of the Indre-et-Loire department of France. ...

, France. He received his musical education as an altar boy at the Chapel of Gaston d'Orléans, a brother of king

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

. He studied also with Pierre de Nyert in Paris. Since 1636, he was known as a singing teacher. In 1641, he married singer Gabrielle Dupuis who died suddenly a year later. Their daughter Madeleine (1643–1720) married

Jean-Baptiste 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 ...

in 1662. After his marriage, Lambert's career became closely linked to his sister-in-law and famous singer Hilaire Dupuis (1625–1709). In 1651, he appears as a ballet dancer at the court of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

. Beginning in 1656, his reputation as a composer was established and his compositions were regularly printed by Ballard. They consist mainly of airs on poems of Benserade and

Quinault Quinault may refer to: * Quinault people, an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast **Quinault Indian Nation, a federally recognized tribe **Quinault language, their language People * Quinault family of actors, including * Jean-Baptis ...

. He was the most prolific composer of airs in the second half of the 17th century. In 1661, he succeeded

Jean de Cambefort Jean de Cambefort ( – 4 May 1661) was a French Baroque singer and composer of ballets and liturgical music. He died in Paris, France. He is now mostly remembered for composing six airs (''recits'') for the '' Ballet de la Nuit'', performed in ...

as a "Maître de musique de la chambre du roi" and kept this position until his death. In that time, Lully was the "Surintendant de la musique de la chambre du roi" (from 1661) and Master of Music of the royal family (from 1662). Lambert's role as a singing master ("Maître de chant") and composer of dramatic airs contributed to the creation of French

tragédie lyrique 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 c ...

. As a singing master, he enjoyed a reputation attested by many testimonies of his time (including singers Anne de La Barre,

Pierre Perrin Pierre Perrin (c.1620 – 24 April 1675) was a French poet and librettist. Perrin, sometimes known as L'Abbé Perrin although he never belonged to the clergy, was born in Lyon. He founded the Académie d'Opéra, which later was renamed the Acad ...

, and

La Cerf of Viéville LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

). Titon du Tillet mentions concerts given at his house in

Puteaux Puteaux () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the heart of the Hauts-de-Seine department, from the centre of Paris. In 2016, it had a population of 44,941. La Défense, Paris's business district hosting the ...

, during which Lambert accompanied himself on the

theorbo The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck and a second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box (a hollow box) with a wooden top, typically with a sound hole, and a neck extending ou ...

. He also collaborated with Lully in the creation of several ballets (e.g. ''Ballet des amours déguisés''). He died 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 ...

, France.

Works

* ''Airs du sieur Lambert'', Paris, Charles de Sercy (1658) * ''Les Airs de Monsineur Lambert'', 19 airs with doubles, for two voices and basso continuo, Paris (1660) * ''Airs de Monsieur Lambert non imprimez'', manuscript, Paris (c. 1692) * ''Pièces en trio pour les violons, flûtes ou hautbois'', Amsterdam,

Estienne Roger Estienne Roger (1664 or 1665 in Caen, France – 7 July 1722 in Amsterdam) was a francophone printer, bookseller and publisher of sheet music working in the Netherlands. Life Roger was born a French Huguenot. The revocation of Edict of Nantes ...

(1700) * ''75 airs de Monsieur Lambert'' (manuscript) (50 with doubles), for a voice and basso continuo (c. 1710) * ''Leçons de ténèbres pour voix et basse continue'' manuscript (1662-1663) - recorded by Marc Mauillon 2017 * ''Leçons de ténèbres pour voix et basse continue'' manuscript (1689) - recorded by Piveteau * ''60 airs'' for 1-5 voices, two instruments and basso continuo, Paris (1689) * ''Miserere mei Deus'' for 2-3 voices and basso continuo, manuscript

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Michel 1610 births 1696 deaths 17th-century classical composers French Baroque composers French ballet composers French male classical composers People from Indre-et-Loire Theorbists 17th-century male musicians