Jacques Duphly

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Jacques Duphly (January 12, 1715July 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, in an apartment in the Hôtel de Juigné, lonely, forgotten, with his library - and without a harpsichord.

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. The titles of the work refer to well-known protectors of art (e.g. la de Sartine) or other composers (e.g. La Forqueray). His late music contains elements typical of the early classical movement - e.g. the use of Alberti bass, quite dissimilar to Jean-Philippe Rameau or François Couperin.

[edit] See also

[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

[edit] External links

  • Pièces pour clavecin Complete scores (Book I, II, III and IV) freely downloadable (modern edition), Discography.