Michel Lambert (1610 – 29 June 1696) was a French singer, theorbist, and composer.

Career

Lambert was born at

Champigny-sur-Veude Champigny-sur-Veude () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. The castle features in Madame de Lafayette's short novel ''Histoire de la Princesse de Montpensier'' (1662). Population See also *Communes of the Indre- ...

, France. He received his musical education as an altar boy at the Chapel of Gaston d'Orléans, a brother of king

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

. He studied also with

Pierre de Nyert Pierre de Nyert (1597 in Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlanti ...

in Paris. Since 1636, he was known as a singing teacher. In 1641, he married singer Gabrielle Dupuis who died suddenly a year later. Their daughter Madeleine (1643–1720) married

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 ...

in 1662. After his marriage, Lambert's career became closely linked to his sister-in-law and famous singer Hilaire Dupuis (1625–1709). In 1651, he appears as a ballet dancer at the court of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

. Beginning in 1656, his reputation as a composer was established and his compositions were regularly printed by Ballard. They consist mainly of airs on poems of Benserade and

Quinault Quinault may refer to: * Quinault people, an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast **Quinault Indian Nation, a federally recognized tribe ** Quinault language, their language People * Quinault family of actors, including: * Jean-Bapt ...

. He was the most prolific composer of airs in the second half of the 17th century. In 1661, he succeeded

Jean de Cambefort Jean de Cambefort ( – 4 May 1661) was a French Baroque music, Baroque singer and composer of ballets and liturgical music. He died in Paris, France. He is now mostly remembered for composing six Air de cour, airs (''recits'') for the ''Ballet ...

as a "Maître de musique de la chambre du roi" and kept this position until his death. In that time, Lully was the "Surintendant de la musique de la chambre du roi" (from 1661) and Master of Music of the royal family (from 1662). Lambert's role as a singing master ("Maître de chant") and composer of dramatic airs contributed to the creation of French

tragédie lyrique This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most co ...

. As a singing master, he enjoyed a reputation attested by many testimonies of his time (including singers

Anne de La Barre Anne Chabanceau de La Barre, sometimes given as Anne de La Barre, (July 3, 1628 – March 7, 1688) was a French soprano of the Baroque era. Life and career Anne Chabanceau de La Barre was born in Paris, France on July 3, 1628. She was the da ...

Pierre Perrin Pierre Perrin ( – 24 April 1675) was a French poet and librettist. Perrin, sometimes known as L'Abbé Perrin although he never belonged to the clergy, was born in Lyon. He founded the Académie d'Opéra, which later was renamed the Académie ...

, and La Cerf of Viéville). Titon du Tillet mentions concerts given at his house in

Puteaux Puteaux () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the heart of the Hauts-de-Seine department, from the centre of Paris. La Défense, Paris's business district hosting the tallest buildings in the metropolitan ...

, during which Lambert accompanied himself on the

theorbo The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck that houses the second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box with a flat top, typically with one or three sound holes decorated with rose ...

. He also collaborated with Lully in the creation of several ballets (e.g. ''Ballet des amours déguisés''). He died 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 ...

, France.

Works

* ''Airs du sieur Lambert'', Paris, Charles de Sercy (1658) * ''Les Airs de Monsineur Lambert'', 19 airs with doubles, for two voices and basso continuo, Paris (1660) * ''Airs de Monsieur Lambert non imprimez'', manuscript, Paris (c. 1692) * ''Pièces en trio pour les violons, flûtes ou hautbois'', Amsterdam,

Estienne Roger Estienne Roger (1664 or 1665 in Caen, France – 7 July 1722 in Amsterdam) was a francophone printer, bookseller and publisher of sheet music working in the Netherlands. Life Roger was born a French Huguenot. The revocation of Edict of Nantes in ...

(1700) * ''75 airs de Monsieur Lambert'' (manuscript) (50 with doubles), for a voice and basso continuo (c. 1710) * ''Leçons de ténèbres pour voix et basse continue'' manuscript (1662-1663) - recorded by Marc Mauillon 2017 * ''Leçons de ténèbres pour voix et basse continue'' manuscript (1689) - recorded by Piveteau * ''60 airs'' for 1-5 voices, two instruments and basso continuo, Paris (1689) * ''Miserere mei Deus'' for 2-3 voices and basso continuo, manuscript

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Michel 1610 births 1696 deaths 17th-century French classical composers French Baroque composers French ballet composers French male classical composers People from Indre-et-Loire Theorbists 17th-century French male musicians