Yesterday was Bastille Day, France's national holiday that celebrates the storming of the notorious Bastille Day prison in Paris in 1789. So what music for the day after Bastille Day? As it turns out, there's a bit of a mystery surrounding today's composer.
Jacques Duphly was a virtuoso harpsichordist in France under the last of the kings. One of his teachers seems to have been Jean-Jacques Rousseau himself, who later asked Duphly to contribute articles on harpsichord to Rousseau's Dictionary. He published four folios of compositions, and was considered one of the best harpsichord teachers in Paris.
But he disappeared from public life in 1768, when his last folio was published. Students even placed an advertisement in a newspaper asking if anyone knew where he was, but to no avail. Duphly died alone among his music library the day after the Bastille was stormed.
Very nice. The harpsichord is an interesting instrument.
ReplyDeleteHave a look at Couperin if you haven’t already, speaking of French composers.
Here in Maine again. Awaiting your visit!!
Loved that.
ReplyDelete