François Dufault (or Dufaut) (before 1604 (?)ca. 1672?) was a French

lutenist A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" commonly r ...

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 ...

. Dufault was born in

Bourges Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...

, France. As a student of

Denis Gaultier Denis Gaultier (''Gautier'', ''Gaulthier''; also known as Gaultier le jeune and Gaultier de Paris) (1597 or 1602/3 – 1672) was a French lutenist and composer. He was a cousin of Ennemond Gaultier. Life Gaultier was born in Paris; two conflict ...

, he enjoyed an excellent reputation as an instrumentalist, which is demonstrated in many contemporary sources where he was described as one of the greatest lutenists of his time. Almost no information is preserved about his life. He died, probably during the end of the 1660s or early 1670s, in England. From his works has survived a collection of twelve

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

compositions in

tablature Tablature (or tab for short) is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering or the location of the played notes rather than musical pitches. Tablature is common for fretted stringed instruments such as the guitar, lute or vihuel ...

besides a few individual works in manuscript or other compilations. His works are written with a lot of

harmonic In physics, acoustics, and telecommunications, a harmonic is a sinusoidal wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'' of a periodic signal. The fundamental frequency is also called the ''1st har ...

freedom and nearly in an improvisatory style.

Life

* François Dufaut composed music for the lute. His rhythmic sensitivity is remarkable. He left: * twelve pieces of tablature in the collection entitled ''Tablature de luth de différents autheurs sur des accords nouveaux'''','' published by P. Ballard in 1631, * a certain number of other

pieces Piece or Pieces (not to be confused with peace) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Piece (chess), pieces deployed on a chessboard for playing the game of chess * ''Pieces'' (video game), a 1994 puzzle game for the Super NES * ...

which remained in manuscript, scattered in the libraries of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Paris,

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

, borrowing the form of dances with subtitles, which made the fortune of French

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

s, * but also "

tombeau A tombeau (plural tombeaux) is a musical composition (earlier, in the early 16th century, a poem) commemorating the death of a notable individual. The term derives from the French word for "tomb" or "tombstone". The vast majority of tombeaux date f ...

x" in the

Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Classical music, Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance music, Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Class ...

, dedicated to the memory of a fellow musician, a poet or a simple friend. He seems to have traveled a lot, especially in England. He trained as a lutenist with

, of whom he was a pupil around 1630, and whose manner is reflected many times in his own artistic expression. Like most of the great composers of his time, Dufaut showed a certain inclination for

harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

, without departing from the discretion and refinement that characterized his art.

Works

Here are some of Dufaut's lute works, out of about 165 pieces: * Suite en sol mineur : ** Prélude ** Allemande ** Sarabande & Double ** Courante suedoise ** Gigue ** Tombeau de Monsieur Blancrocher * Suite en ut mineur : ** Prélude ** Allemande ** Courent ** Sarabande ** Guigue * Suite en la mineur : ** Prélude ** Allemande ** Gigue ** Courante ** Courante ** Sarabande * Suite en ut majeur : ** Allemande ** Sarabande ** Gavotte ** Sauterelle * Pavane en mi mineur

Sources

* Article "François Dufaut" in Silvo Riolfo Marengo, ''Encyclopédie de la musique'', Paris, LGF, coll. La Pochothèque, 2000 * Article "François Dufaut" in

Marc Vignal Marc Vignal (born 21 December 1933 in Nogent-sur-Marne) is a noted French musicologist, writer and radio producer for France Musique and program manager at Radio France (1975–99), a journalist for ''Harmony'' (1964–84), '' Le Monde de la musiqu ...

, ''Dictionnaire de la musique'', volume 1, Paris, Larousse, 1999 *Notice du disque ''François Dufaut, Jacques Gallot Pièces pour luth'' (interprète Pascal Montheilhet) written by François-Pierre Goy.

Discography

* En 1976, Hopkinson Smith a enregistré un disque entier sous le label Astrée/Auvidis, (réf. As 15), réédité en CD en 1989 (réf. E 7735) * Dufaut: 5 suites for lute by

Louis Pernot Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also * ...

at Accord (Musidisc) (Ref: 200262 MU 750) recorded in 1988 * ''François Dufaut, Jacques Gallot Pièces pour luth'' Pascal Montheilhet, disque Virgin * In 2006, André Henrich dedicated an entire record to the composer, disque Aeolus. * ''Les Accords Nouveaux II'', record by Sigrun Richter devoted to suites by René Mézangeau, Nicolas Bouvier, Mr Dubuisson (Étienne Houselot), Nicolas Chevalier and François Dufaut.

References

External links

T. Crawford: The historical importance of François Dufault and his influence on musicians outside France
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dufault, Francois 17th-century deaths French Baroque composers French male classical composers French lutenists Musicians from Bourges Year of birth unknown 17th-century French classical composers 17th-century French male musicians