Clerambault - Cl�rambault: Soprano Cantatas and Sonatas

Louis-Nicolas Clerambault (1676-1749) Soprano Cantatas and SimphoniesParisian Organist to the King, ofthe Royal Church of Saint-Cyr and the Parish Church of Saint-Sulpice, died inParis on 26th October 1749 in the 72nd year of his life, interred at Saint-Sulpice...He left two sons who fill with distinction the positions he held as organist.Evrard Titon du Tillet: Vies desMusiciens et autres Joueurs d' Instrument du r?�gne de Louis le Grand (Livesof Musicians and Instrumentalists of the Reign of Louis the Great) The Abbe Ladvocat, scholar of the first halfof the eighteenth century, did not hesitate, in order to give still furtherdistinction to the character of Louis-Nicolas Clerambault and increase therespect owed both the man and his art, to stress that the family of this famousmusician had been attached to the service of the King since Louis XI(1423-1483). The declaration may rest on slender foundations but shows clearlythe great fame that the musician enjoyed. It is true, all the same, that theClerambault family could pride itself on having been employed as musicians inthe royal service for many years. Dominique Clerambault (1644-1704), hisfather, played in the famous 24 Violins ofthe King, the Bande des Vingt-quatre Violonsalso known as the Grande Bande. Havingtaken over the position of Louis Bruslard in 1670, he kept it until 1681. Whilethis service does not go back to the fifteenth century, it establishes firmlythe background from which Louis- Nicolas Clerambault would benefit, rooted inthe best sources of French music in the seventeenth century. In fact the Grande Bande played a large part in thedevelopment of virtuoso performance in France and was at the forefront ofcontemporary music at the court of Louis XIV. It was there that the first ideaof the suite was conceived, stemming from the linked Airs de Ballet or varied melodies that produced thecelebrated form of the French overture. It was there again that the form of thesonata developed, in 1704, a form that would in turn lead to the birth of thesymphony. Strengthened by this innovative spirit thatinspired French music from the second half of the seventeenth century onwards,even if the relative dullness of the end of the reign of Louis XIV tended tofix certain traditions, but above all strengthened by a repertoire of forms andmethods of performance in which he was brought up by his violinist father,Louis-Nicolas Clerambault completed his musical training with the organistsJean-Baptiste Moreau and Andre Raison. From the former he acquired a severityof style, the origin of which may doubtless be found in the connection ofJean-Baptiste Moreau to Saint-Cyr, founded by the very devout and austereMadame de Maintenon. There he learned both the art of composing serious vocalworks inspired by the work of Racine, then directed towards Jansenism, as wellas divertissements, interm?�des and choruses from tragedies, intended for thegreat Jesuit colleges as well as the Demoiselles de Saint-Cyr. With And