The Lure and Legacy of Music at Versailles: Louis XIV and the Aix School
Cambridge University Press, 11/6/2014
EAN 9780521519885, ISBN10: 0521519888
Hardcover, 299 pages, 24.7 x 17.4 x 2 cm
Language: English
Louis XIV and his court at Versailles had a profound influence on music in France and throughout Europe. In 1660 Louis visited Aix-en-Provence, a trip that resulted in political and cultural transformations throughout the region. Soon thereafter Aix became an important center of sacred music composition, eventually rivaling Paris for the quality of the composers it produced. John Hajdu Heyer documents the young king's visit and examines how he and his court deployed sacred music to enhance the royal image and secure the loyalty of the populace. Exploring the circle of composers at Aix, Heyer provides the most up-to-date and complete biographies in English of nine key figures, including Guillaume Poitevin, André Campra, Jean Gilles, François Estienne, and Antoine Blanchard. The book goes on to reveal how the history of political power in the region was reflected through church music, and how musicians were affected by contemporary events.
Foreword Lionel Sawkins
Prologue
General introduction
Part I. Rendezvous in Provence
1. The winter of 1660
Louis XIV and the royal court visit Provence
2. A choirboy and his king
the early life of Guillaume Poitevin
Part II. The Aix School
A Legacy of Maîtres
3. Guillaume Poitevin
maître of Saint-Sauveur
4. André Campra
an extraordinary career
5. Jean Gilles
an independent spirit
6. The 'petits maîtres'
7. Antoine Blanchard
the eighteenth-century master
Part III. The Lure and Legacy
8. The lure of music at Versailles and the ÃŽle-de-France
9. Patronage and the Provençal networks
10. The legacy of the Aix School
Conclusion
Epilogue
Appendix I
Appendix II.