Jacques Duphly

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Jacques Duphly (January 12, 1715 – July 15, 1789) was a French harpsichordist and composer.

He was born in Rouen, France, the son of Jacques-Agathe Duphly and Marie-Louise Boivin. As a boy, he studied the harpsichord and organ, and was employed as organist at the cathedral in Évreux.

His teachers were François d'Agincourt and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Later, Rousseau would ask him to contribute to his dictionary, for articles relating to the art of playing the harpsichord.

In 1742, after the death of his father, Duphly moved to Paris, where he became famous as a performer and teacher.

He published four volumes of harpsichord music in 1744, 1748, 1756 and 1768.

He was considered by Pascal Taskin, the harpsichord maker, to be one of the best teachers in Paris.

He died on July 15, 1789, the day after the storming of the Bastille.

Only fifty-two works by Duphly are known, most of which were published during his lifetime in the four volumes of harpsichord music mentioned above. His music is similar in style to that of Rameau and François Couperin.

[edit] See also

French baroque harpsichordists

[edit] References

David Fuller. "Jacques Duphly", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed August 4, 2005), grovemusic.com (subscription access).
Sleeve notes of vinyl record "Le Clavecin Français" par Pauline Aubert, Vogue MC 20123
Françoise Petit: ‘Sur l’oeuvre de Jacques Duphly’, Courrier musical de France, 23 (1968), pp. 188–90