Scan 24
Groves Dictionary Of Music And Musicians,vol.5 L-m, 1900
32 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1is a short pastoral in one act, there are two editions in quarto, and both appear to have been published by the composer. The first is of 1654; the other, undated, seems to be of 1661, and it contains also a little collection of verses by various authors which La Guerre is stated to have set to music. This second edition was made with the object of claiming priority in the invention of the comédie francoise en musique, which Perrin, in the libretto of his 'Pastorale', had attributed to himself, in 1659 and once more in 1661; this 'Pastorale', with music by Cambert, had been first performed in Apr. 1659, more than four years after La Guerre's work.
3During those years almost all the composers of court airs tried to compose dramatic music, in imitation of the Italian operas presented under the ægis of Mazarin. They are written as dialogues with music, sometimes on fairly extended lines linked with airs and duets where the employment of recitatives was more or less shunned; and both 'Le Triomphe de l'Amour' and the 'Pastorale d'Issy' are nothing more than dialogues of this kind. However, they were not sung singly, but as scenes, and they were in fact the first attempts at French opera; unfortunately no trace of the music of either remains.
5Michel de La Guerre had, by his wife Marguerite Trespagne, ten children, of whom two became organists.
7(2) Jérôme de La Guerre (b. Paris, c. 1654; d. ?), organist, son of the preceding. He was admitted in 1675 as substitute for the "recette du temporel de la Sainte-Chapelle". He replaced Michel in this post from 26 Mar. 1678 and took charge of the organ likewise from 1679. But on 20 Sept. 1698, with the object of devoting himself entirely to business, he appointed in his place as organist his brother Marin. In the following years, although he had associated in his management his wife, Claude Marguerite de Saizy, and her sister-in-law, Catherine de Saizy, his affairs became imperilled, and he had to abandon the "recette du temporel" in 1716, with a debt of 11,000 livres, which he had to repay at once. The Chapter registers mention him often at this time and also the subject of the various dwellings which he occupied in the precincts of the palace. Probably he had taken up the organ again in 1704 at the death of his brother. He had as his successor Pierre Février, author of a book of harpsichord pieces.
9(3) Marin de La Guerre (b. Paris, 1 Dec. 1658; d. Paris, 16 July 1704), organist, brother of the preceding. He was, in 1686 until the death of his mother, whose certificate he signed, organist of the Jesuit Church in the rue Saint-Antoine. In 1690 he was also organist of Saint-Séverin, and in 1698 he took his brother Jérôme's place at the Sainte-Chapelle.
11He died in the palace and was buried the day after his death in the lower chapel. He had married, probably in 1687, Élisabeth Jacquet, the celebrated clavecinist and composer. They had a son who showed great musical gifts and appeared as an infant prodigy, but who died in his tenth year.
13As in the case of Michel, the works of his two sons have not been preserved.
15A. T., adds. A. L.
17BIBL.—BRENET, MICHEL, 'Les Musiciens de la Sainte-Chapelle du Palais' (Paris, 1910).
18PIRRO, ANDRÉ, Preface to the works of Le Bègue and Daquin ("Archives des maîtres de l'orgue"). one of two readings
19PIRRO, ANDRÉ, Preface to the works of Le Bègue and Daquin ('Archives des maîtres de l'orgue'). one of two readings
20QUITTARD, HENRI, 'La Première Comédie française en musique' (Bull. franç. S.I.M., Apr. & May 1908).
21See also Bibl. of the article LA GUERRE, ÉLISABETH.
23LA GUERRE, Élisabeth Jacquet de (b. Paris, 1659; d. Paris, 27 June 1729).
24(no line here) one of two readings
26French composer. She belonged to a family of professional musicians; her father was an organist and teacher of the harpsichord; her brother, Pierre Jacquet, played the organ of Saint-Louis-en-l'Île. A precocious child, she gave, from the age of five years, it appears, "des marques d'une science infuse pour le clavecin".1 She was presented at court and Louis XIV interested himself in the gifted girl. He always treated her with benevolence, and the majority of her works were dedicated to the king. Some years later, about her fifteenth year, Mme de Montespan took control of her, and charged herself with completing Élisabeth's education. When she was eighteen the 'Mercure de France' in 16772 announced her compositions, and during her sojourn at Versailles a pastoral of hers was played (1685) in the Dauphin's apartments which Louis XIV wished to hear repeated several times.
28She left the court only to be married to Marin de La Guerre, organist of Saint-Louis des Jésuites, Saint-Séverin, and later of the Sainte-Chapelle. Soon after her marriage (1687) she published her first book, a collection of harpsichord pieces, of which, unhappily, not a single copy appears to exist to-day. The year 1691 appears to be the date of her ballet, 'Les Jeux à l'honneur de la victoire', prepared to celebrate the taking of Mons, and which does not seem to have been produced. She composed an opera for the Académie de Musique, 'Céphale et Procris', with a libretto by Duché. This work, which the 'Mercure' announced in 1691, was played in 1694, but with only moderate success. Leaving dramatic music, she (still called "Mademoiselle" de La Guerre, the title of Madame [then equivalent to "My Lady"] being reserved for women of quality) was smitten, like Couperin, by the Italian sonatas, the introduction of which into France had at that time excited the musicians
301 'Mercure de France.'
312 The 'Mercure' said she was aged ten that year, and in Mar. 1687 remembered to be consistent and gave her age as twenty.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.