Nicolas Chédeville - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Nicolas Chédeville was a French composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, musette

Musette de cour

The musette de cour or baroque musette is a musical instrument of the bagpipe family. Visually, the musette is characterised by the short, cylindrical shuttle-drone and the two chalumeaux. Both the chanters and the drones have a cylindrical bore and use a double reed, giving a quiet tone similar to...

player and musette maker.

Biography

He was born in Serez, Eure

Serez, Eure

Serez is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France.-Population:...

; musicians Pierre Chédeville (1694-1725) and Esprit Philippe Chédeville (1696-1762) were his brothers. Louis Hotteterre was his great uncle and godfather

Godparent

A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...

, and may have given him instruction in music and turning

Turning

Turning is the process whereby a single point cutting tool is parallel to the surface. It can be done manually, in a traditional form of lathe, which frequently requires continuous supervision by the operator, or by using a computer controlled and automated lathe which does not. This type of...

instruments. He began playing the oboe

Oboe

The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...

and musette

Musette de cour

(a bagpipe-like instrument commonly used in French baroque music

Baroque music

Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...

) in the Paris Opera

Académie Royale de Musique

The Salle Le Peletier was the home of the Paris Opera from 1821 until the building was destroyed by fire in 1873. The theatre was designed and constructed by the architect François Debret on the site of the former Hôtel de Choiseul...

orchestra in the 1720s. After Jean Hotteterre

Jean Hotteterre

Jean Hotteterre was a composer and musician of the Hotteterre family in the court of Louis XIV of France. He and his brothers Jacques-Martin and Nicolas made many enhancements to the hautbois, creating an "indoor" version similar to the shawm. Jean and Michel Philidore created the oboe.-References:...

's death in 1732, he took over his post in Les Grands Hautbois, the royal oboe

Oboe

band. He retired from the opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

in July 1748, though returned occasionally to play the musette there. When he was nearly 70, he married the younger daughter of a valet

Valet

Valet and varlet are terms for male servants who serve as personal attendants to their employer.- Word origins :In the Middle Ages, the valet de chambre to a ruler was a prestigious appointment for young men...

who had once worked for the Duc d'Orléans

Duc d'Orléans

Duke of Orléans was one of the highest ranking titles of the French peerage and dates back to the 14th century. Known as princes of the blood , the title of Duke of Orléans was exclusive to princes of the nearest collateral line of the royal family; thus they constituted a junior branch of the...

, and was still describing himself as musette player to the king. In his last years he experienced financial difficulties. His ten houses were signed over to creditors in 1774, following which he separated from his wife. He resigned from Les Grands Hautbois in 1777, petitioned for bankruptcy in 1778 and died in Paris four years later. Lawyers were still trying to settle his affairs in 1790.

La Borde

La Borde

La Borde is a psychiatric clinic that opened in 1951, near the town of Cour-Cheverny in the Loire Valley of France. The clinic was established with the goal of becoming everything the word "asylum" once meant: a shelter, a place of refuge, a sanctuary. Still in operation today, La Borde has been a...

called him "the most celebrated musette player France had ever had", though he mistakenly held the opinion that he was dead by 1780, two years before he met his end. He taught the musette to Princess Victoire from about 1750, and became a popular teacher among the aristocracy, eventually attaining the title of maître de musette de Mesdames de France. He was also a musette maker, and extended the instrument's compass in the bass down to c' (middle C

Middle C

C or Do is the first note of the fixed-Do solfège scale. Its enharmonic is B.-Middle C:Middle C is designated C4 in scientific pitch notation because of the note's position as the fourth C key on a standard 88-key piano keyboard...

Works

His compositions were intended for the amusement and pleasure of wealthy amateur musicians; the French aristocracy of the time found pleasure in playing rustic

Pastoral

The adjective pastoral refers to the lifestyle of pastoralists, such as shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasturage. It also refers to a genre in literature, art or music that depicts such shepherd life in an...

instruments while living a romantic fantasy of peasant

Peasant

A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...

life (before the French revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

presented a rather different perspective).

His first published works were collections of pieces for musette

Musette de cour

or hurdy-gurdy, entitled Amusements champêtres (pastoral

Pastoral

amusements), published in December 1729. He called himself 'Chedeville le jeune', and in later compositions referred to himself as 'Chedeville le cadet'. Another collection of Amusements champêtres followed, which were of a more advanced technical and musical substance. Some variety was found in op.6, with pieces named after battle

Battle

Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, or combatants. In a battle, each combatant will seek to defeat the others, with defeat determined by the conditions of a military campaign...

s and expressing 'war

War

War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...

-like images'; it was inspired by a military campaign he had gone on with the Prince of Conti

Prince of Conti

The title of Prince of Conti was a French noble title, assumed by a cadet branch of the house of Bourbon-Condé. It was taken from Conty, a small town of northern France, c. 35 km southwest of Amiens, which came into the Condé family by the marriage of Louis of Bourbon, first prince of Condé,...

. He turned briefly to more serious music with Italian influences in op.7, which is his only collection written specifically for the flute, oboe

Oboe

or violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

Impersonation of Vivaldi

In 1737 he made a secret agreement with Jean-Noël Marchand to publish a collection of his own compositions as Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...

's op.13, entitled Il pastor fido. Chédeville supplied the money and received the profits, all of which was attested to in a notarial act by Marchand in 1749. This may have been an attempt to give his instrument, the musette

Musette de cour

, the endorsement of a great composer which it lacked.

His interest in Italian music

Italian classical music

-Art Music:"Art music" is a somewhat broader term than "classical music" and may be defined for the purposes of this article as "establishment" music that is composed for public or private performance. By definition, it excludes popular musical forms that are based on folk music...

led to his receiving, in August 1739, a privilege to publish arrangements for the musette, hurdy-gurdy or flute of concertos and sonatas by ten specific Italian composers, in addition to Johann Joachim Quantz

Johann Joachim Quantz

Johann Joachim Quantz was a German flutist, flute maker and composer.-Biography:Quantz was born in Oberscheden, near Göttingen, Germany, and died in Potsdam....

and Mahaut

Mahaut

Mahaut may refer to:* Mahaut , Countess of Artois* Mahaut of Châtillon* Mahaut River* Mahaut, Dominica...

. Le printems, ou Les saisons amusantes (1739) is a particularly amusing result of this privilege; it is an arrangement of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons
The Four Seasons (Vivaldi)
The Four Seasons is a set of four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. Composed in 1723, The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music. The texture of each concerto is varied, each resembling its respective season...

for hurdy-gurdy or musette, violin, and flute (though the French flute could also mean the recorder

Recorder

The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...

). He replaced Vivaldi's original Summer with his op.8 no.9 concerto, transferred the middle movement of Winter to Autumn, and replaced Winter op.8 no.12. All this was quite freely arranged and combined with some added Vivaldian material by Chédeville.

Compositions

Published in Paris. All solo works are accompanied by continuo

Figured bass

Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer musical notation used to indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones, in relation to a bass note...

. '/' indicates alternative instrumentation.

Opuses

Op.[1]: Amusements champêtres, livre 1er (1729); for 1 and 2 musettes
Musette de cour
The musette de cour or baroque musette is a musical instrument of the bagpipe family. Visually, the musette is characterised by the short, cylindrical shuttle-drone and the two chalumeaux. Both the chanters and the drones have a cylindrical bore and use a double reed, giving a quiet tone similar to...

/hurdy-gurdies
Hurdy gurdy
The hurdy gurdy or hurdy-gurdy is a stringed musical instrument that produces sound by a crank-turned rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to a violin...

.
Op.[2]: Amusements champêtres, livre 2e (1731); for 1 and 2 musettes/hurdy-gurdies/flutes/oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...

s.
Op.[3]: Troisième livre d'amusements champêtres (1733); for musette/hurdy-gurdy/flute/oboe/violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

.
Op.4: Les danses amuzantes mellées de vaudeville (1733); for 2 musettes/hurdy-gurdies/flutes/oboes/violin.
Op.5: Sonates amusantes (1734); for 1 and 2 musettes/hurdy-gurdies/flutes/oboes/violin.
Op.6: Amusemens de Bellone, ou Les plaisirs de Mars (1736); for 1 and 2 musettes/hurdy-gurdies/flutes/oboes.
Op.7: 6 sonates (1739); for flute/oboe/violin.
Op.8: Les galanteries amusantes (1739); for 2 musettes/hurdy-gurdies/flutes/violins.
Op.9: Les Deffis, ou L'étude amusante; for musette/hurdy-gurdy.
Op.10: Les idées françoises, ou Les délices de Chambray (1750); for 2 musettes/hurdy-gurdies/flutes/oboes/violins.
Op.11: lost
Op.12: Les impromptus de Fontainebleau (1750); for 2 musettes/hurdy-gurdies/violins/pardessus de viole
Viol
The viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...

/flutes/oboes.
Op.13: lost
Op.14: Les variations amusantes: pièces de différents auteurs ornés d'agrémens (includes variations
Variation (music)
In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.-Variation form:...

on Les folies d'Espagne); for 2 musettes/hurdy-gurdies/pardessus de viole/flutes/oboes.

Arrangements and other works

Il pastor fido, sonates ... del sigr Antonio Vivaldi [by Nicolas Chédeville] (1737); for musette/hurdy-gurdy/flute/oboe/violin.
LE PRINTEMS / ou / LES SAISONS / AMUSANTES / concertos / DANTONIO VIVALDY / Mis pour les Musettes et Vielles / avec accompagnement de Violon / Fluste et Basse continue. / PAR M^R CHEDEVILLE LE CADET / Hautbois De la Chambre du Roy / et Muſette ordinaire De l'Academie Royalle / De Muſique. Opera ottava. [arrangement of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons
The Four Seasons (Vivaldi)
The Four Seasons is a set of four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. Composed in 1723, The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music. The texture of each concerto is varied, each resembling its respective season...

by Nicolas Chédeville] (1739); for musette/hurdy-gurdy, violin, flute, and continuo.
La feste d'Iphise [arrangement of airs from Montéclair's Jephté] (1742); for 2 musettes/hurdy-gurdies.
Les pantomimes italiennes dansées à l'Académie royale de musique (1742); for 1 and 2 musettes/hurdy-gurdies/flutes/oboes.
Nouveaux menuets champêtres; for musette/hurdy-gurdy/violin/flute/oboe.
[Dall']Abaco, op.4, arrangement for musette/hurdy-gurdy/flute/oboe.
La feste de Cleopatre (1751); for 2 musettes/hurdy-gurdies.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Biography

Works

Impersonation of Vivaldi

Compositions

Opuses

Arrangements and other works

Further reading

Sources

External links