Jean-François Dandrieu, also spelled D'Andrieu (c. 168217 January 1738) was a French

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

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 def ...

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

ist and

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 ...

Biography

He was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

into a family of artists and musicians. A gifted and precocious child, he gave his first public performances when he was 5 years old, playing the harpsichord for King

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

, and his court. These concerts marked the beginning of Dandrieu's very successful career as harpsichordist and organist. He was a student of Jean-Baptiste Moreau. In 1700, aged 18, he started playing the organ at the

Saint-Merri The Church of Saint-Merri or ''Église Saint-Merry'') is a parish church in Paris, located near the Centre Pompidou along the rue Saint Martin, in the 4th arrondissement on the Rive Droite (Right Bank). It is dedicated to the 7th century abbot o ...

church in Paris (a post previously occupied by

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 c ...

) and became its titular organist in 1705. At some point in 1706 he was a member of the panel of judges who examined

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; ; – ) was a French composer and music theory, 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 ...

's skills to appoint him organist of the Sainte-Madeleine en la Cité church (incidentally, a post Rameau declined). In 1721 he was appointed one of the four organists of the

Chapelle royale The ''chapelle royale'' (chapel royal) was the musical establishment attached to the royal chapel of the French kings. The term may also be applied to the chapel buildings, the Chapelle royale de Versailles. The establishment included a choir, or ...

of France. In 1733, he succeeded his uncle, the organist and

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

Pierre Dandrieu (1664–1733) to become the organist of the (now destroyed) church of St Barthélémy in the

Île de la Cité The Île de la Cité (; English: City Island, "Island of the City") is one of the two natural islands on the Seine River (alongside, Île Saint-Louis) in central Paris. It spans of land. In the 4th century, it was the site of the fortress of ...

, a post he combined with duties at Saint-Merri (also known as Saint-Médéric). He died in Paris in 1738, and was succeeded at the organ of St Barthélemy by his sister, Jeanne-Françoise. The works published during his lifetime include the following collections: *''Livre de sonates en trio'',

trio sonata The trio sonata is a genre, typically consisting of several movements, with two melody instruments and basso continuo. It originated in the early 17th century and was a favorite chamber ensemble combination in the Baroque era. Basic structure T ...

s (1705) *Two ''Livres de sonates à violon seul'', sonatas for solo

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

(1710 and 1720) *''Les caractères de la guerre'', instrumental concerts (1718, a revised version published in 1733) *Three ''little'' harpsichord collections (1705) and three ''great'' ones (1724, 1728 and 1734) A volume of organ noëls, which revised and enlarged a similar book published by his uncle, Pierre Dandrieu in 1714 (rev. in the 1720s). This was published posthumously by sister, Jeanne-Françoise, in 1759. Dandrieu also published an academic treatise on accompaniment (''Principes de l'accompagnement'') in 1718, which now serves as an important source of information on the musical practice of the era. Dandrieu's harpsichord writing is reminiscent of that of

François Couperin François Couperin (; 10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque music, Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as ''Couperin le Grand'' ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musi ...

, but with more effective use of

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

, which reminds the listener of German Baroque music. The strict traditional suite "à la Froberger" is abandoned in his works, many dance movements replaced with the so-called ''pièces de caractère'', pieces with descriptive titles that were common in French music of the 18th century. Dandrieu's harpsichord ''oeuvre'' is, after those of François Couperin and Jean-Nicolas Geoffroy, the most important in terms of sheer quantity of pieces.

Media

External links

Jean-François Dandrieu at Musicologie.org
Biography, catalogue of works, bibliography (French) *Kunst der Fuge

*
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. The music is reproduced from old scores that are in th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dandrieu, Jean-Francois French male classical composers French Baroque composers French classical organists French harpsichordists Composers for pipe organ 18th-century French keyboardists 18th-century French classical composers 1680s births 1738 deaths 18th-century French composers 18th-century French male musicians 17th-century French male musicians French male classical organists

Biography

Media

See also

External links