About Joseph Bodin de Boismortier

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (1689-1755) was a French baroque composer of instrumental music, cantatas, opera ballets, and vocal music. De Boismortier was born on 23rd December 1689 in Thionville (in Lorraine). His family moved to the town of Metz, where he received his musical education from Joseph Valette de Montigny, a well-known composer of motets. The de Boismortier family then followed Montigny and moved to Perpignan in 1713 where de Boismortier found employment in the Royal Tobacco Control. He married Marie Valette, the daughter of a rich goldsmith and a relative of his teacher Montigny. In 1724 de Boismortier and his wife moved to Paris where he began a prodigious composition career, writing for many instruments and voices. He was prolific: his first works appeared in Paris in 1724, and by 1747 he had published more than 100 works in various vocal and instrumental combinations. His music, particularly for the voice, was extremely popular and he became rich without the aid of patrons. He died on 28th October 1755 in Roissy-en-Brie. De Boismortier was the first French composer to use the Italian concerto form, in his six concertos for five flutes op. 15. (1727). He also wrote the first French solo concerto for any instrument, a concerto for cello, viol, or bassoon (1729). Much of his music is for the flute, for which he also wrote an instruction method (now lost). His op. 91 for harpsichord obbligato and flute derives from Rameau's Pieces de clavecin en concerts, and is dedicated to the flautist Michel Blavet. A notable piece of de Boismortier's that is still often performed is the Deuxieme serenade ou simphonie.