Nicolas de Grigny
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Nicolas de Grigny (
baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
8 September 1672 – November 30, 1703) was a French
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
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 ...
. He died young and left behind a single collection of organ music, and an ''Ouverture'' for harpsichord.


Life

Nicolas de Grigny was born in
Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...
in the parish of Saint-Pierre-Le-Vieil.Halbreich. The exact date of his birth is unknown; he was baptized on September 8. He was born into a family of musicians: his father, his grandfather, and his uncle, Robert, were organists at the
Reims Cathedral , image = Reims Kathedrale.jpg , imagealt = Facade, looking northeast , caption = Façade of the cathedral, looking northeast , pushpin map = France , pushpin map alt = Location within France , ...
, the Basilica of St. Pierre and St. Hilaire, respectively.Howell, Sabatier, Grove. Few details about his life are known, nothing at all about his formative years. Between 1693 and 1695 he served as organist of the abbey church of Saint Denis, 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 ...
(where his brother André de Grigny was sub-prior). It was also during that period that Grigny studied with
Nicolas Lebègue Nicolas-Antoine Lebègue (also ''Le Bègue''; c. 16316 July 1702) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was born in Laon and in the 1650s settled in Paris, quickly establishing himself as one of the best organists of the ...
, who was by then one of the most famous French keyboard composers.Higginbottom, Grove. In 1695 Grigny married Marie-Magdeleine de France, daughter of a Parisian merchant. Apparently he returned to his hometown soon afterwards: the record of the birth of his first son indicates that de Grigny was already in Reims in 1696. The couple went on to produce six more children. By late 1697, Grigny was appointed titular organist of
Notre-Dame de Reims , image = Reims Kathedrale.jpg , imagealt = Facade, looking northeast , caption = Façade of the cathedral, looking northeast , pushpin map = France , pushpin map alt = Location within France ...
(the exact date of the appointment is not known), the city's famous cathedral in which French kings were crowned. In 1699 the composer published his ''Premier livre d'orgue ontenant une messe et les hymnes des principalles festes de l'année' in Paris. Grigny died prematurely in 1703, aged 31, shortly after accepting a job offer from Saint Symphorien, a parish church in Reims. His ''Livre d'orgue'' was reissued in 1711 through the efforts of his widow. The collection became known abroad: it was copied in 1713 by
Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
, and later by
Johann Gottfried Walther Johann Gottfried Walther (18 September 1684 – 23 March 1748) was a German music theorist, organist, composer, and lexicographer of the Baroque era. Walther was born at Erfurt. Not only was his life almost exactly contemporaneous to that ...
.


Work

Nicolas de Grigny's only surviving music is a large volume of organ works, ''Premier livre d'orgue'' (Paris, 1699; second edition 1711). The second edition was the only one known until 1949, when the earlier print was discovered—a single surviving copy at
Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...
. This was published by Christophe Ballard using the original plates prepared by Claude Roussel, its engraver, in 1699. The first modern edition, by Alexandre Guilmant, 1904, was based on the 1711 version. Unlike many other French ''livres d'orgue'' of the time, Grigny's publication contains no preface. The collection is in two parts: the first is a mass setting, the second comprises settings of five hymns for the principal feasts of the church year: ''Veni Creator'' (5 versets), ''Pange lingua'' (3 versets), ''Verbum supernum'' (4 versets), ''Ave maris stella'' (4 versets) and '' A solus ortus'' (three versets). There are 42 pieces overall. The plan of the mass is as follows: * 5 Kyrie versets, * 9 Gloria versets, * an Offertory, * 2 Sanctus versets, * 1 Benedictus verset, * an ''Elévation'', * 2 Agnus Dei versets, * a Communion, and * an Ite Missa Est verset. As specified by the ''Caeremoniale Parisiensis'' (1662), Grigny states the chant melodies in the first and last Kyrie, Gloria, and the first Sanctus and Agnus Dei. His publication is based on ''Cunctipotens genitor Deus''. The collection also includes a ''Point d'orgue'', a piece based on a long
pedal point In music, a pedal point (also pedal note, organ point, pedal tone, or pedal) is a sustained tone, typically in the bass, during which at least one foreign (i.e. dissonant) harmony is sounded in the other parts. A pedal point sometimes function ...
.


See also

*
French organ school The French organ school formed in the first half of the 17th century. It progressed from the strict polyphonic music of Jean Titelouze (c. 1563–1633) to a unique, richly ornamented style with its own characteristic forms that made full use of ...


Notes


References

* Apel, Willi. 1972. ''The History of Keyboard Music to 1700''. Translated by Hans Tischler. Indiana University Press, 1972. . Originally published as ''Geschichte der Orgel- und Klaviermusik bis 1700'' by Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel. * * Halbreich, Harry. Liner notes to: Nicolas de Grigny - Premier livre d'orgue, Michel Chapuis (organist). 1976/1987, Auvidis-Astrée E 7725. * * * * * Silbiger, Alexander. 2004. ''Keyboard Music Before 1700'' (in: ''Routledge Studies in Musical Genres''). ,


External links


Biography


Biographie à Musicologie.org
Biography and extended bibliography

Includes partial discography and miscellaneous details about the composer


Scores

*
Free scores
at the
Mutopia Project The Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of free content sheet music, in a way similar to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books. It started in 2000.Portal page at thInternet ArchiveRetrieved January 24, 20 ...

Premier Livre d'Orgue
ed. J Baxendale (Tynset, Lyrebird Music, 2020).


Audio

* Listen to pieces from ''A solis ortus'' in the ''Premier Livre d'Orgue'': **
Plein jeu
' **
Trio
' **
Point d'orgue sur les grands jeux
' **
François-Henri Clicquot François-Henri (also Henry) Clicquot (1732 – 24 May 1790) was a French organ builder and was the grandson of Robert Clicquot and son of Louis-Alexandre Cliquot, who were also noted organ builders. Clicquot was born in Paris, where he later ...
organ from
Souvigny Souvigny () is a commune in the Allier department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in central France. Today the main town of a canton of the Allier department, Souvigny has long been one of the major towns in the Bourbonnais (of which it was once the ca ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grigny, Nicolas de 1672 births 1703 deaths 18th-century classical composers 18th-century keyboardists Composers for pipe organ French Baroque composers French classical organists French male classical composers French male organists Musicians from Reims 17th-century male musicians Male classical organists