{"id":15023,"date":"2022-05-04T16:22:48","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T14:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=166260"},"modified":"2022-05-04T16:39:14","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T14:39:14","slug":"25-greatest-french-composers-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/25-greatest-french-composers-of-all-time\/","title":{"rendered":"25 greatest French composers of all time"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Daniel Jaff\u00e9\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 04 May 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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If the music is immediately appealing, and uses instrumental colour sensitively in an atmospheric or painterly (rather than expressive) manner, the chances are you are hearing a piece by a French composer. They will rarely attempt to storm the heavens in the manner of Beethoven and Mahler (Berlioz is an obvious exception). Indeed, if any French musician shows an interest in the Austro-German tradition, they tend to prefer the pre-Romantics, particularly the suave and understated expressiveness of Mozart, and the playfulness and wit of his colleague Haydn.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yet a good century before those two composers appeared, French music was the most prestigious in Europe, adorning the court of Louis XIV<\/a><\/strong>, the so-called \u2018Sun King\u2019, who came to the throne aged four in 1643, and reigned until his death in 1715 (making him to date the longest reigning monarch in history). It was at Louis XIV\u2019s behest that the palace and gardens of Versailles were built: there, an Italian composer Jean-Baptiste Lully reigned over all Royal Opera productions and jealously guarded his privileges. We will start with the great, unambiguously French composers who were contemporaries of Lully\u2019s, who managed to survive even under his shadow.<\/p>\n

The best French composers ever<\/h2>\n

Marin Marais (1656-1728)<\/h3>\n

It is only relatively recently that this musician became known to a wider audience through the 1991 biopic Tous les matins du monde, starring G\u00e9rard Depardieu and his son Guillaume. Marin Marais, born in Paris of a humble shoemaker, became a chorister in the Church of Saint-Germain-l\u2019Auxerrois, where his musical gifts were quickly appreciated, and he received his earliest instruction playing viol. Such was the standard he achieved in his playing that when his voice broke Marais was able to take lessons with the great Sainte-Colombe. Sainte-Colombe soon realised that his pupil would soon outstrip his own artistry, and when Marais was discovered spying on Saint-Colombe\u2019s practising \u2013 hoping to discover some secrets of his master\u2019s technical mastery \u2013 he was thrown out. By the age of 23, Marais was employed as a musician at Louis XIV\u2019s court, and in 1679 was appointed joueur de viole de la musique de Chambre, a truly exalted position.\nIt is largely through Marais\u2019 meticulously annotated instruction manuals and manuscripts that we know so much about the Baroque art of viol playing. Whether accompanied or playing solo, Marais\u2019 music for viol is truly glorious.<\/p>\n

Recommended recording: Pi\u00e8ces de Viole, Cinqui\u00e8me livre \u2013 Lei Henrikson (bass viol), Lars-Erik Larsson (theorbo)<\/h3>\n

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