The

abbé ''Abbé'' (from Latin ''abbas'', in turn from Greek , ''abbas'', from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is the title for low ...

Simon-Joseph Pellegrin (1663 – 5 September 1745) was a French poet and playwright, a

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

who collaborated with

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and ...

and other composers.

Biography

He was born at

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, the son of a ''conseiller'' to the Siège Présidial of the city. He was at first designated for an ecclesiastical career, from which he retained the courtesy title ''

''. Though he was for a time a

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

of the Servites at

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie Moustiers-Sainte-Marie (; oc, Mostiers Santa Maria), or simply Moustiers, is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. In 2017, it had a population of 709. It considered ...

, he soon embarked on a career as a ship's bursar. Returning to France in 1703, he settled in Paris and composed his earliest poems, among them an ''Epître à Louis XIV'', praising the Sun King's military successes, which gained the king's attention and the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

prize in 1704. Probably thanks to

Madame de Maintenon Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ( ...

, Pellegrin succeeded in escaping the urging of his superiors that he become more fully integrated with his order; instead a papal dispensation enabled him to enter the

Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began ...

order, whereupon he was at the service of various schools, such as Saint-Cyr, for which he provided numerous pious ''cantiques spirituelles'', in which he translated

psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

s and

canticle A canticle (from the Latin ''canticulum'', a diminutive of ''canticum'', "song") is a hymn, psalm or other Christian song of praise with lyrics usually taken from biblical or holy texts. Canticles are used in Christian liturgy. Catholic Church ...

s and set them to familiar tunes from the

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

, at the same time that his services were retained for the theatres and the opera, which permitted an otherwise unknown poet Rémi the epigram: Antoine de Léris esteemed him "an excellent grammarian and a most fecund author, to which he joined great goodness of heart and a grand simplicity of manner. Out of respect for his character as an abbé, he published most of his dramatic works under the name of his brother Jacques Pellegrin, styled the ''Chevalier Pellegrin''". From 1705 onward he wrote four tragedies with Greek and Roman settings, ''Polydore'', ''La Mort d'Ulisse'', ''Pelopée'' and ''Catilina'', and six comedies, with modern aristocratic settings, ''Le Pere intéressé, ou la Fausse inconstance'', ''Le Nouveau monde'', ''Le Divorce de l'Amour et de la Raison'', ''Le Pastor fido'', ''L'Inconstant'' and ''L'Ecole de l'hymen''. At least seven of his libretti were set to music and presented at the Opéra: ''Télémaque'' with music by André Cardinal Destouches (20 November 1714), ''Renaud, ou la suite d'Armide'' with music by Henri Desmarest, (5 March 1722), ''Télégone'' with music by a certain La Coste, ''Orion'' (in collaboration, music by La Coste), ''La Princesse d'Elide'', ''

Jephté ''Jephté'' (''Jephtha'') is an opera by the French composer Michel Pignolet de Montéclair. It takes the form of a ''tragédie en musique'' in a prologue and five acts (because of its subject matter it was also styled a ''tragédie biblique''). The ...

'' with music by

Michel Pignolet de Montéclair Michel Pignolet de Montéclair (4 December 1667 – 22 September 1737) was a French composer of the baroque period. He was born Michel Pignolet in Andelot, Haute-Marne, France, and only later added "Montéclair" (the name of a fortress in his ...

(1732), and ''

Hippolyte et Aricie ('' Hippolytus and Aricia'') was the first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was premiered to great controversy by the Académie Royale de Musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris on October 1, 1733. The French libretto, by Abbé Sim ...

'' with music by

(1 October 1733), Rameau's first opera. The theatre anecdote would have the seasoned Pellegrin, who had demanded 500 ''livres'' for his poem, regardless of the work's success, tear up the promissory note on hearing the young Rameau's music, arguing that such a genius did not require such a stringent guarantee. Pellegrin collaborated on at least one ballet-opera with the dramatist

Marie-Anne Barbier Marie-Anne Barbier (1670 or 21 January 1664 – 1745) was a French writer. The daughter of Jacques Barbier and Marie Sinson, she was born in Orléans. She later left there for Paris. Barbier wrote in collaboration with the abbé Simon-Joseph ...

, co-writing the libretto for ''Les Plaisirs de la campagne'' (1719) Pellegrin died in Paris in 1745.

Works

*1704: ''Télémaque & Calypso'', tragedy by Destouches *1705: ''Renaud ou la Suite d'Armide'', tragedy by Desmarest *1707: "La Mort d'Ulisse, tragédie" publiée chez Pierre Ribou, Paris, selon Privilège du Roy du 17 décembre 1705 cédé à Pierre Ribou et approbation de Fontenelle du 17 décembre 1706 (in-12 de 1 f. de titre, 1 f. non chiffré recto-verso de catalogue du libraire, 2 ff. non chiffrés de privilège du Roy avec la liste des acteurs au verso du 2e feuillet, 71 pp. de texte, approbation de Fontenelle au verso non chiffré de la ) *1708 and 1711: Collections of French carols, including his text for the popular

Advent Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek '' parousia''. ...

hymn "Venez, divin Messie" (O come, divine Messiah) *1713: ''Histoire de l’Ancien et du Nouveau Testament, avec le fruit qu’on en doit tirer, le tout mis en cantiques''. 2e éd. (suivie de) ''Airs notez pour l’histoire de l’Ancien et du Nouveau Testament'', Paris, Le Clerc. *1713: ''Médée & Jason'', tragedy by Joseph François Salomon (1649-1732) *1719: ''Les Plaisirs de la campagne'', opéra-ballet by Toussaint Bertin de La Doué (v.1680-1743) *1722: ''Noël nouveaux sur les chants des Noëls anciens et chansons spirituelles pour tout le cours de l’année. Sur les airs d’opéra et vaudevilles très-connus notez pour en faciliter le chant''. Nouv. éd. Paris, Le Clerc. *1724: ''Polydore'', tragedy by Stuck et

La Serre La Serre (; oc, La Sèrra) is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France. Population The GSSP Golden Spike for the Tournaisian is in La Serre, with the first appearance of the conodont '' Siphonodella sulcata''. In 2006 it w ...

*1725: ''Télégone'', tragedy by Louis de Lacoste (v. 1675 - v. 1753) *1728: ''La Princesse d'Élide'',

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

héroïque by Alexandre de Villeneuve *1729: ''Les Présents des dieux'', in the ballet héroïque ''Le Parnasse'' by Collin de Blamont *1732: ''Jephté'', tragedy by Montéclair *1733: ''Hippolyte & Aricie'', tragedy by Rameau *1739: '' Les Fêtes d'Hébé'', opéra-ballet by Rameau, in collaboration with Gautier de Mondorge, La Pouplinière et Bernard. *1752: Prologue for ''Alphée et Aréthuse'' by Montéclair for the opera ''Aréthuse'' by Campra. In addition to some librettos for opera (''Antigone, Ariane, Loth, Orion''), Léris suggests also several other tragedies : ''La Mort d'Ulysse, Pélopée, Catilina'' ; six comédies : ''Le Père intéressé ou la Fausse inconstance'', ''Le Nouveau monde'', ''Le Divorce de l'Amour & de la Raison'', ''Le Pastor fido'', ''L'Inconstant'', ''L'École de l'hymen''.

External links

Nombreuses références entre Rameau et Pellegrin sur le site officiel Rameau

Ses pièces de théâtre et leurs représentations
sur le sit
CÉSAR

Article « Pellegrin » dans le ''Dictionnaire'' de Léris

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pellerin, Simon Joseph 1663 births 1745 deaths Writers from Marseille Servites 18th-century French poets 18th-century French male writers 18th-century French dramatists and playwrights French opera librettists French ballet librettists