Henry Desmarets [or Desmarest] (1661 - 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. He was born into a modest Paris
household in February 1661. His mother, Madeleine née
Frottier, came from a bourgeois Parisian family. His
father, Hugues Desmarets was a huissier in the cavalry
at the Grand Châtelet. Desmarets' childhood was marked
by his father's death whe...(+)
Henry Desmarets [or Desmarest] (1661 - 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. He was born into a modest Paris
household in February 1661. His mother, Madeleine née
Frottier, came from a bourgeois Parisian family. His
father, Hugues Desmarets was a huissier in the cavalry
at the Grand Châtelet. Desmarets' childhood was marked
by his father's death when he was eight years old, his
mother's subsequent remarriage in 1670, and the death
of his two siblings. In 1674, he entered into the
service of King Louis XIV as a page and choir singer in
the Chapelle Royale (Chapel Royal). According to Duron
and Ferraton, he may have also previously sung as a
choir boy in Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois which was the
parish church of the kings of France. While in the
service of the king, he received a general education as
well as music training from Pierre Robert and Henry Du
Mont. He is also thought to have received training from
the court composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, who used the
chapel pages as performers in his operas. By 1680 he
had become an "ordinaire de la musique du roi" (court
musician) and had composed the first of his grand
motets (Te Deum 1678). The idyll-ballet which he
composed in August 1682 to celebrate the birth of the
king's grandson, the Duke of Burgundy, found great
favour at court and the following year he entered the
competition to select four maîtres (masters) of the
Chapelle Royale. He was only 22 at the time and
according to some accounts, the King had vetoed his
selection after he had passed the first round on
account of his youth.
After the competition, Desmarets petitioned the king to
allow him to leave France for study with Italian
composers, but Lully objected on the grounds that it
would diminish his command of the French style.
Desmarets remained at the court and made money by
"ghost-writing" works for one of the composers who had
won the competition, Nicolas Goupillet. Goupillet was
dismissed from his post ten years later when the
deception came to light. In the meantime, Desmarets
continued to find favour with his own compositions,
most notably his motet Beati quorum (1683); his
divertissement, La Diane de Fontainebleau (1686) and
his first full-length opera, Endymion (1686). The first
performance of Endymion was in the king's private
apartments at Versailles, performed in parts over six
days. The Dauphine was so pleased with it that at her
request it was performed again in its entirety at the
court theatre ten days later. Desmarets was
increasingly gravitating towards stage works, but
Lully's monopoly of the Académie Royale de Musique in
Paris (granted by the king) meant that operas by other
composers were not presented there until after his
death in 1687.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Desmarets)
Although originally written for Baroque soloists &
choir (G2, C3, C4, F4) or French Orchestra (G1, C1, C2,
C3, F4), I created this arrangement of the Passacaille
from the opera "Théagčne et Cariclée" for Oboe &
Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).