Machy, known as Le Sieur de Machy ( fl. 1655–1700) was a French

viol The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...

player,

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 ...

, and teacher remembered principally for his ''Pièces de Violle en Musique et en Tablature'' (1685), a valuable source of information on the performance practices of his time. "The publication of the Pièces de Violle (..) unleashed a veritable polemic or querelle with Jean Rousseau concerning the “true manner of playing the viol”, which had been described by Machy with a wealth of details in the prologue to his work (..)". As a reply to Machy's 1685 prologue, Rousseau in 1688 published ''Réponce de Monsieur Rousseau''. This polemic and a general discussion of Machy was treated by Ng in 2008.Shaun Ng, Le Sieur de Machy and the French solo viol tradition. Conservatorium of Music, University of Western Australia Master's thesis 2008. Abstract and full pdf: https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/publications/le-sieur-de-machy-and-the-french-solo-viol-tradition Machy studied with Nicolas Hotman. He resided in Paris from at least 1692. He described himself as the first composer whose

viola da gamba The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitch ...

works were published. This is not technically correct, as the collection ''Fantaisies pour les violles'' by Nicolas Metrus had already been published in 1642. These and other earlier pieces were, however, written as

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

s for treble and bass viol, while Machy, in his ''Pièces de violle'' (1685), preferred polyphonic playing for solo gamba in the tradition of Nicolas Hotman,

André Maugars André Maugars (c. 1580 – c. 1645) was a French viola da gamba player. Marin Mersenne described him, along with Nicolas Hotman, as the most excellent French viola da gamba virtuoso, in particular, improviser of diminutions. He is first iden ...

and

Jean de Sainte-Colombe Jean (?) de Sainte-Colombe () was a French composer and violist. Sainte-Colombe was a celebrated master of the viola da gamba. He is credited (by Jean Rousseau in his ''Traité de la viole'' (1687)) with adding the seventh string, tuned to the no ...

. The eight surviving suites by Machy are printed half in notation and half in tablature. He preceded these suites with a technical introduction that has high historic value, as it lists the most important

ornaments An ornament is something used for decoration. Ornament may also refer to: Decoration *Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts *Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve on ...

along with the methods of playing those instruments.

References

External links

*
Tablatures for Suites nos. 1 - 4
French musicians French male classical composers French Baroque composers French Baroque viol players 17th-century French people People from Abbeville Year of birth missing Year of death missing 17th-century French musicians 17th-century male musicians {{bowed-musician-stub