Pierre du Mage (also ''Dumage'') ( baptized 23 November 1674 – 2 October 1751) was a French Baroque

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...

and composer. His first music teacher was most likely his father, organist of

Beauvais Cathedral The Cathedral of Saint Peter of Beauvais (french: Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Beauvais) is a Roman Catholic church in the northern town of Beauvais, Oise, France. It is the seat of the Bishop of Beauvais, Noyon and Senlis. The cathedral is in ...

. At some point during his youth Dumage moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

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 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 in 1703 procured for Dumage a position of organist of the

Saint-Quentin collegiate church The Basilica of Saint-Quentin (french: Basilique Saint-Quentin), formerly the Collegiate Church of Saint-Quentin (french: Collégiale Saint-Quentin) is a Catholic church in the town of Saint-Quentin, Aisne, France. There have been religious bui ...

.Apel 1972, 744. In 1710 he was appointed titular organist of the

Laon Cathedral Laon Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Laon) is a Roman Catholic church located in Laon, Aisne, Hauts-de-France, France. Built in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it is one of the most important and stylistically unified exampl ...

. 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