Pierre du Mage (also ''Dumage'') (

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 ...

23 November 1674 – 2 October 1751) was a French

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 ...

organist 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 ...

. His first music teacher was most likely his father, organist of Beauvais Cathedral. At some point during his youth Dumage moved to Paris and studied under

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 ...

. He also befriended Nicolas Lebègue, who in 1703 procured for Dumage a position of organist of the Saint-Quentin collegiate church.Apel 1972, 744. In 1710 he was appointed titular organist of the Laon Cathedral. Due to strained relations with his superiors in the cathedral chapter, du Mage left on 30 March 1719, at the age of 45, and became a civil servant.Higginbottom, Grove. He apparently neither played nor composed music professionally until his death. Du Mage's only surviving work is ''Premier livre d'orgue'', published in 1708. This collection is dedicated to the chapter of Saint Quentin. It contains a single ''Suite du premier ton'': eight pieces in the traditional French forms: ''Plein jeu'', ''Fugue'', ''Trio'', ''Tierce en taille'', ''Basse de Trompette'', ''Récit'', ''Duo'' and ''Grand jeu''. In the brief preface du Mage explains that these are his first works, and that he modelled them after the music of his former teacher Marchand. His music is, however, of very high quality, and entirely representative of French organ music of the period. Musicologists

Félix Raugel Félix Alphonse Raugel (27 November 1881 – 30 December 1975) was a French musician, conductor and musicologist. After studying at the conservatory of Lille where he obtained the first prize for viola, he continued in Paris where he worked in h ...

and

Willi Apel Willi Apel (10 October 1893 – 14 March 1988) was a German-American musicologist and noted author of a number of books devoted to music. Among his most important publications are the 1944 edition of '' The Harvard Dictionary of Music'' and ''Fre ...

both singled out Dumage's ''Récit'' for its "delicate and gentle lyricism", and Apel also praised the ''Tierce en taille'' and the ''Grand jeu'' as particularly striking. A second ''livre d'orgue'' was presented in 1712 to the chapter of Laon Cathedral, but has never been found.

Notes

References

* Apel, Willi. 1972. ''The History of Keyboard Music to 1700''. Translated by Hans Tischler. Indiana University Press. . Originally published as ''Geschichte der Orgel- und Klaviermusik bis 1700'' by Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel. *

External links

* *Media
''Plein jeu''''Récit sur le nasard avec tremblant''''Grand jeu''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dumage, Pierre 1674 births 1751 deaths People from Beauvais French Baroque composers French classical organists French male organists French male classical composers 18th-century keyboardists 18th-century classical composers 18th-century French composers 18th-century French male musicians 17th-century male musicians Male classical organists