Paris, 1665
Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre was born in Paris in March 1665 (her baptismal certificate is dated March 17). Her father, Claude Jacquet, was the organist at the church on the Île Saint-Louis in Paris. The Jacquet family included three other children, Nicolas, Anne and Pierre, and it is remarkable that all of them, girls and boys alike, were musicians. Pierre Jacquet was the organist at Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet in Paris, and later took over his father’s position on the Île Saint-Louis. Nicolas Jacquet, also an organist, held a position at the church of Saint-Pierre in Bordeaux, while Anne Jacquet entered into service in the household of Mademoiselle de Guise as a young girl. Mademoiselle de Guise’s manor was the home of around fifteen musicians. There Anne Jacquet met and worked with Marc-Antoine Charpentier, who wrote music for the group and participated in their music making, singing the haute-contra part. Anne Jacquet was the ensemble’s harpsichordist, and also played one of the two treble viola da gamba parts that Charpentier included in the music he composed for the group.
The most gifted of the four Jacquet children was indubitably Élisabeth. Her father taught her to play the keyboard at an early age, and she made such rapid progress that Claude Jacquet, who surely enjoyed protection from lofty sources, presented her at the age of five to Louis XIV. The king encouraged Elisabeth to “cultivate the marvellous talent that Nature has given her”. Inspired by the enthusiastic applause that followed Élisabeth’s court appearances, and by the king’s attachment to the child prodigy, Madame de Montespan, Louis XIV’s mistress, engaged her for “three or four years in order to amuse her agreeably, as well as members of the court who visited her, in which task the young Mademoiselle was highly successful”. Élisabeth Jacquet held vivid memories of her years at court, and never neglected an opportunity to thank the king for his kindness. Until Louis XIV’s death, all her works were prefaced with an emotional and grateful dedication to him. Élisabeth Jacquet married the organist Marin de la Guerre in 1684, and left the gilded environment of Versailles for Paris. She immediately became sought-after for lessons and concerts there: “The honor and reputation of Madame de la Guerre continue to grow in that great city, and all the great musicians and connoisseurs are eager to hear her play the harpsichord”.
The earliest compositions of Élisabeth Jacquet were not for the harpsichord, however. Her first works were short dramatic pieces performed at the king’s court. They include a brief opera sung in July 1685 for the Dauphin in Madame de Montespan’s apartments and a pastorale that was performed several times before Louis XIV. Jacquet mentions a piece played for the Dauphin in these terms:
“I earned a reputation through people talking about this novelty as far away as in foreign countries. All these advantages were undeniable signs of the unhoped-for success I gained from my attempt at composition.” Another of her statements alludes to a divertissement that had been commissioned for the marriage of Mademoiselle de Nantes and the Duc de Bourbon on 24 July, 1685. Jacquet expressed her disappointment about the piece in these terms: “Destiny did not wish that it be used in celebration of this noble event, although it was ready in time.” None of the above-mentioned scores have survived. The only one still in existence is a manuscript entitled Jeux à l’honneur de la victoire, which probably dates from 1691-1692. Its dedication implies that, although it was not the first composition Jacquet had presented to Louis XIV, it was the first of her pieces to be performed in public. “From the tenderest age (this memory will forever be precious to me), when I was presented to your illustrious Court, where I had the honor to serve for several years, I learned, Sire, to devote all my evenings to you. You deigned then to approve my budding genius, and it pleased you to accept several of my works. But these special signs of my zeal did not suffice, and I awaited the happy occasion on which I could present my work to the public. This is what inspired me to write this ballet for the theatre”.
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