Biography
From an early age Mondonville displayed prodigious skill on the violin and received warm acclaim at every concert he gave. Building on an already thriving performing career, he appeared at the Concert Spirituel in Paris in 1739; contemporary accounts singled out the event for its novelty and distinction, noting it as the earliest known use of harmonics on the instrument. During the 1730s and 1740s his circle of collaborators included flutist Michel Blavet, singer Marie Fel, the royal chapel, and the Academie Royale de Musique. Although posterity remembers him chiefly for his technical brilliance, his modest output of compositions earned admiration, especially the popular operas and grand motets he modeled on Lalande. Two collections stand as his most significant achievements: "Pieces de clavecin en sonates" and "Pieces de clavecin avec voix ou violon." In them he examined the interplay of harpsichord, violin, and voice while testing the full technical resources of the harpsichord player. The works combined drive and transparency, yet they are chiefly valued for their novel, heterogeneous designs that created the impression of dialogue between the harpsichord’s left hand and the violin—an original conception brought to fruition in these scores.