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, organist and instrumentalists and was separate from the musique du chambre which performed secular music.

Maîtres and sous-maîtres of the Chapelle Royale

During the reign of Louis XII (1498–1515)

In 1511 Louis XII decided the responsibilities of the treasurer of the Sainte-Chapelle and the master of the chapelle royale.[1] The death, and sumptuous 40-day funeral of Louis' wife, Anne of Brittany in 1514 marks the origin of a unified chapelle royale combining the chapels of both Louis and Anne. Though at Anne's funeral the two chapels sang separately for the last time. Louis' Chapelle du Roi led by Antoine de Févin, included Johannes Prioris, Costanzo Festa, and Antoine de Longueval but not Jean Braconnier (died 1512). Anne's Chapelle de la Reine led by Antoine Divitis included Jean Mouton, Jean Richafort, Claudin de Sermisy, and Pierre Moulu.

François I (1515–1547)
  • François I inherited all 29 singers of the combined chapels of Louis and Anne. Claudin de Sermisy, who was earlier noted as clerc musicien of the Sainte-Chapelle in 1508, and in 1515 as a member of the Chapelle Royale under Louis II, from 1532 became sous-maître of the chapelle of François I.

Henri II (1547–1559), François II (1559–1560)

Charles IX (1560–1574), Henri III (1574–1589), Henri IV, Bourbon (1589–1610)

Henri IV was the king whom legend tells said "Paris is worth a Mass."

During the reign of Louis XIII (1610–1643)

During the reign of Louis XIV (1643–1715) "The Sun King"

On the 1683 retirement of Henry Du Mont and Pierre Robert the position of maître of the chapelle was divided into four positions:

  • Pascal Collasse (1649–1709), sous-maître from 1683 to 1704, assistant to Lully until 1683, when he won one of the four seasonal assignments into which the Chapelle Royale directorship had been divided. His later years were devoted to alchemy.
  • Michel Richard Delalande (1657–1726), sous-maître from 1683 to 1723.
  • Nicolas Goupillet (1650–1713), sous-maître from 1683 - but in 1693 dismissed for plagiarism of Henri Desmarest.
  • Guillaume Minoret, sous-maître from 1683 to 1714

Louis XV (1715–1774)

1761 Four posts reduced to two.

During the reign of Louis XVI (1774–1792)

Chapelle de l'Empereur (1804–1814)

Louis XVIII (1815–1824), Charles X (1824–1830), Louis XIX (1830), Henry V (1830)

Louis Philippe I (1830–1848), Second Empire (1852–1870)

Organists

See also

La Chapelle Royale founded in 1977 in Paris by the Belgian conductor Philippe Herreweghe.

References
  1. Christelle Cazaux La musique à la cour de François Ier p343 2002 "Un an auparavant, en 1511, Louis XII avait mis fin au conflit qui opposait le Trésorier de la Sainte-Chapelle au maître de la chapelle royale pour savoir lequel des deux avait juridiction sur le personnel de cette institution"
  2. "Like Claudin, Certon enjoyed the favor of several French monarchs, who conferred upon him the title of chantre de la chapelle du Roy and compositeur de musique de la chapelle du Roy."
  3. Michel Brenet Les musiciens de la Sainte-Chapelle du Palais 1973 "Jacques Blondin, qui avait été reçu enfant de chœur à la S'°-Chapelle, le 9 juillet 1594, y servit ensuite comme clerc, et devint chapelain perpétuel en 1626. Il conserva ce bénéfice jusqu'en 1634 (Arch. Nat. LL 63o, p. 328)."
  4. Julie Anne Sadie Companion to Baroque Music p121 1998 "Gobert, Thomas (died 1672). Composer and from 1654 sous-maitre of the Chapelle Royale. Associated throughout his life with the Sainte Chapelle, Gobert, along with Nicolas Formé and Jean Veillot, did much to develop the French double-chorus .."
  5. Recherches sur la musique française classique, Norbert Dufourcq, Marcelle Benoit - 1985 - p221 "Son quartier d'octobre sera confié à un des plus anciens chantres de la Chapelle, Nicolas Le Prince reçu en 1706 [25], lui-même remplacé après sa mort par Ducros. Ces remplaçants, simples « batteurs de mesure » non compositeurs, "
  6. Signorile, Marc. "Mondonville, Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de". Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  7. Jean Duron Regards sur la musique au temps de Louis XVI, p. 147, Centre de musique baroque de Versailles (2007): "Avec les réformes de 1761, les quatre postes de la Chapelle furent réduits de moitié et confiés à Antoine Blanchard (1696–1770) et à l'abbé Charles Gauzargues (1725–1799).
  8. fut membre de l'Institut, grand officier de la Légion d'honneur, directeur du Conservatoire, maître de chapelle de Louis- Philippe et de l'empereur Napoléon III. Il ne voulut pas quitter
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