Charles Piroye (c. 1668–16721724) was a French

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Biography

Very little is known about his life, and even the dates of his birth and death have not yet been determined. He may have been born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. His teachers were

Jean-Baptiste Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( – 22 March 1687) was a French composer, dancer and instrumentalist of Italian birth, who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he spent most of his life working in the court o ...

and

Michel Lambert Michel Lambert (1610 – 29 June 1696) was a French singer, theorbist, and composer. Career Lambert was born at Champigny-sur-Veude, France. He received his musical education as an altar boy at the Chapel of Gaston d'Orléans, a brother of kin ...

, but some of the surviving music suggests not their influence, but that of

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'' ''H.146, Marche en rondeau''. This theme is st ...

. From 1690 to 1712 Piroye was organist of the Jacobins Church at Rue Sainte-Honoré, and from 1708 to 1712 organist at Saint-Honoré. He started publishing his music at least as early as 1695; a tax register from that year lists him among the organists of the second rank (the "first rank" included

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Louis Marchand Louis Marchand (2 February 1669 – 17 February 1732) was a French organist, harpsichordist and composer. Born into an organist's family, Marchand was a child prodigy and quickly established himself as one of the best known French virtuosos of ...

, and others). By 1712 he was evidently very well known, for the publisher of Piroye's ''Pièces choisies'' mentioned the composer's exceptionally high reputation ("each day renewed applause") in the preface.

Évrard Titon du Tillet Évrard Titon du Tillet (January 1677 – 26 December 1762) is best known for his important biographical chronicle, ''Le Parnasse françois'', composed of brief anecdotal lives of famous French poets and musicians of his time, under the reign of Lo ...

, writing in 1732, referred to Piroye as one of the "most able organists recently deceased", providing the only clue as to when the composer died. Another clue of the composer's death can be found in the archives of the church Sainte-Catherine of Lille, indicating a "Dnus Carolus piroÿt organicus cantor expertissimus hujus Ecclesie" (Master Charles Piroÿt organist ndexpert church musician) dead on March 3rd of 1724. Piroye's organ works from ''Pièces choisies'' (Paris, 1712) cover much more ground than the

French organ school The French organ school formed in the first half of the 17th century. It progressed from the strict polyphonic music of Jean Titelouze (c. 1563–1633) to a unique, richly ornamented style with its own characteristic forms that made full use of ...

tradition of the period. Most of his works are not fugues, hymn settings, trios, etc., but dialogues between different choirs of the organ. They all have descriptive titles: ''La Béatitude'', ''La Paix'', ''L'Allégresse'', ''L'Immortelle'', ''La Brillante'', ''La Royal''. Other works by Piroye also show a distinct, individual style.

List of works

*''3 livres d'airs sérieux et à boire'' (Paris, 1695–1697) *9 airs in ''Recueil d'airs sérieux et à boire de différents auteurs'' (Paris, 1695–1724) *''Cantique pour le temps de noël'', for soprano and basso continuo (Paris, 1703) *''Jephté'', tragedy (1703) *''Le retour d'Eurydice aux enfers'', for soprano, 2 violins or 2 flutes, and basso continuo (after 1710; an afterpiece for

Louis-Nicolas Clérambault Louis-Nicolas Clérambault (19 December 1676 – 26 October 1749) was a French musician, best known as an organist and composer. He was born, and died, in Paris. Biography Clérambault came from a musical family (his father and two of his sons w ...

's ''Orphée'' (1710, from the first book of cantatas)) *''Pièces choisies ..tant pour l'orgue et le clavecin, que pour toutes sortes d'instruments de musique'' (Paris, 1712): 5 large organ pieces (''Simphonies'') *''Premier livre de clavecin'' (lost) *''Messe de M. Biroat''

References

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* Organ pieces. {{DEFAULTSORT:Piroye, Charles Composers for pipe organ French male classical composers French Baroque composers French composers of sacred music French harpsichordists French classical organists 17th-century births 1730s deaths 18th-century French keyboardists 18th-century French classical composers 18th-century French male musicians 17th-century French male musicians French male classical organists