The

abbé ''Abbé'' (from Latin , in turn from Greek , , from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is also the title used for lower-ranki ...

Simon-Joseph Pellegrin (1663 – 5 September 1745) was a French poet and playwright, a

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

who collaborated with

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; ; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of ...

and other composers.

Biography

He was born at

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, the son of a ''conseiller'' to the

Siège Présidial The presidial courts (; singular ) were judicial courts of the Kingdom of France set up in January 1551 by Henry II of France with jurisdiction between the ''parlements'' and the bailiwick A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a ba ...

of the city. He was at first designated for an ecclesiastical career, from which he retained the courtesy title ''

''. Though he was for a time a novice of the

Servites The Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary (; abbreviation: OSM), is one of the five original mendicant orders in the Roman Catholic Church. It includes several branches of friars (priests and brothers), contemplative nun ...

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie Moustiers-Sainte-Marie (; ), or simply Moustiers, is a Communes of France, commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of Southeastern France. It is a membe ...

, he soon embarked on a career as a ship's bursar. Returning to France in 1703, he settled in Paris and composed his earliest poems, among them an ''Epître à Louis XIV'', praising the Sun King's military successes, which gained the king's attention and the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

prize in 1704. Probably thanks to

Madame de Maintenon Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ( ...

, Pellegrin succeeded in escaping the urging of his superiors that he become more fully integrated with his order; instead a papal dispensation enabled him to enter the

Cluniac Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter, Saints Peter and Saint Paul, Paul. The abbey was constructed ...

order, whereupon he was at the service of various schools, such as Saint-Cyr, for which he provided numerous pious ''cantiques spirituelles'', in which he translated

psalm The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of H ...

s and

canticle In the context of Christian liturgy, a canticle (from the Latin ''canticulum'', a diminutive of ''canticum'', "song") is a psalm-like song with biblical lyrics taken from elsewhere than the Book of Psalms, but included in psalters and books su ...

s and set them to familiar tunes from the

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

, at the same time that his services were retained for the theatres and the opera, which permitted an otherwise unknown poet Rémi the epigram:

Antoine de Léris Antoine de Léris (Mont-Louis, Roussillon, 28 February 1723 — 1795) was a French journalist and drama critic of the 18th century and a historian of the French theatre, author of the ''Dictionnaire portatif historique et littéraire des théâtre ...

esteemed him "an excellent grammarian and a most fecund author, to which he joined great goodness of heart and a grand simplicity of manner. Out of respect for his character as an abbé, he published most of his dramatic works under the name of his brother Jacques Pellegrin, styled the ''Chevalier Pellegrin''". From 1705 onward he wrote four tragedies with Greek and Roman settings, ''Polydore'', ''La Mort d'Ulisse'', ''Pelopée'' and ''Catilina'', and six comedies, with modern aristocratic settings, ''Le Pere intéressé, ou la Fausse inconstance'', ''Le Nouveau monde'', ''Le Divorce de l'Amour et de la Raison'', ''Le Pastor fido'', ''L'Inconstant'' and ''L'Ecole de l'hymen''. At least seven of his libretti were set to music and presented at the Opéra: ''Télémaque'' with music by

André Cardinal Destouches André Cardinal Destouches (sometimes called des Touches) (baptised 6 April 1672 – 7 February 1749) was a French composer best known for the ''opéra-ballet'' ''Les élémens''. Biography Born in Paris, the son of Étienne Cardinal, a ...

(20 November 1714), ''Renaud, ou la suite d'Armide'' with music by

Henri Desmarest Henri Desmarets (February 1661 – 7 September 1741) was a French composer of the Baroque period primarily known for his stage works, although he also composed sacred music as well as secular cantatas, songs and instrumental works. Biogr ...

, (5 March 1722), ''Télégone'' with music by a certain La Coste, ''Orion'' (in collaboration, music by La Coste), ''La Princesse d'Elide'', '' Jephté'' with music by

Michel Pignolet de Montéclair Michel Pignolet de Montéclair (4 December 1667 – 22 September 1737) was a French composer of the baroque period. He was born Michel Pignolet in Andelot, Haute-Marne, France, and only later added "Montéclair" (the name of a fortress in h ...

(1732), and ''

Hippolyte et Aricie ('' Hippolytus and Aricia'') was the first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was premiered to great controversy by the Académie Royale de Musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris on October 1, 1733. The French libretto, by Abbé ...

'' with music by

(1 October 1733), Rameau's first opera. The theatre anecdote would have the seasoned Pellegrin, who had demanded 500 ''livres'' for his poem, regardless of the work's success, tear up the promissory note on hearing the young Rameau's music, arguing that such a genius did not require such a stringent guarantee. Pellegrin collaborated on at least one ballet-opera with the dramatist Marie-Anne Barbier, co-writing the libretto for ''Les Plaisirs de la campagne'' (1719) Pellegrin died in Paris in 1745.

Works

*1704: ''Télémaque & Calypso'', tragedy by Destouches *1705: ''Renaud ou la Suite d'Armide'', tragedy by Desmarest *1707: "La Mort d'Ulisse, tragédie" publiée chez Pierre Ribou, Paris, selon Privilège du Roy du 17 décembre 1705 cédé à Pierre Ribou et approbation de Fontenelle du 17 décembre 1706 (in-12 de 1 f. de titre, 1 f. non chiffré recto-verso de catalogue du libraire, 2 ff. non chiffrés de privilège du Roy avec la liste des acteurs au verso du 2e feuillet, 71 pp. de texte, approbation de Fontenelle au verso non chiffré de la ) *1708 and 1711: Collections of French carols, including his text for the popular

Advent Advent is a season observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus's birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Chri ...

hymn ''"Venez, divin Messie" (O come, divine Messiah)'' *1713: ''Histoire de l’Ancien et du Nouveau Testament, avec le fruit qu’on en doit tirer, le tout mis en cantiques''. 2e éd. (suivie de) ''Airs notez pour l’histoire de l’Ancien et du Nouveau Testament'', Paris, Le Clerc. *1713: ''Médée & Jason'', tragedy by Joseph François Salomon (1649-1732) *1719: ''Les Plaisirs de la campagne'', opéra-ballet by Toussaint Bertin de La Doué (v.1680-1743) *1722: ''Noël nouveaux sur les chants des Noëls anciens et chansons spirituelles pour tout le cours de l’année. Sur les airs d’opéra et vaudevilles très-connus notez pour en faciliter le chant''. Nouv. éd. Paris, Le Clerc. *1724: ''Polydore'', tragedy by Stuck et

La Serre La Serre (; ) is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France. Population The GSSP Golden Spike for the Tournaisian is in La Serre, with the first appearance of the conodont ''Siphonodella sulcata''. In 2006 it was discovered ...

*1725: ''Télégone'', tragedy by Louis de Lacoste (v. 1675 - v. 1753) *1728: ''La Princesse d'Élide'',

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

héroïque by Alexandre de Villeneuve *1729: ''Les Présents des dieux'', in the ballet héroïque ''Le Parnasse'' by Collin de Blamont *1732: ''Jephté'', tragedy by Montéclair *1733: ''Hippolyte & Aricie'', tragedy by

Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; ; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera a ...

*1739: ''

Les Fêtes d'Hébé ''Les fêtes d'Hébé, ou Les talens lyriques '' (''The Festivities of Hebe, or The Lyric Talents'') is an '' opéra-ballet'' in a prologue and three ''entrées'' (acts) by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. The libretto was written by Ant ...

'', opéra-ballet by

, in collaboration with Gautier de Mondorge, La Pouplinière et Bernard. *1752: Prologue for ''Alphée et Aréthuse'' by Montéclair for the opera ''Aréthuse'' by Campra. In addition to some librettos for opera (''Antigone, Ariane, Loth, Orion''), Léris suggests also several other tragedies : ''La Mort d'Ulysse, Pélopée, Catilina'' ; six comédies : ''Le Père intéressé ou la Fausse inconstance'', ''Le Nouveau monde'', ''Le Divorce de l'Amour & de la Raison'', ''Le Pastor fido'', ''L'Inconstant'', ''L'École de l'hymen''.

External links

Nombreuses références entre Rameau et Pellegrin sur le site officiel Rameau

Ses pièces de théâtre et leurs représentations
sur le sit
CÉSAR

Article « Pellegrin » dans le ''Dictionnaire'' de Léris

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pellerin, Simon Joseph 1663 births 1745 deaths Writers from Marseille Servites 18th-century French poets 18th-century French male writers 18th-century French dramatists and playwrights French opera librettists French ballet librettists