Biography
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier distinguished himself among eighteenth-century composers by amassing personal wealth exclusively from his compositions, establishing himself as the first Frenchman to offer his abilities directly on the commercial market. Around 1700, the expansion of music printing and publishing across Europe, together with increased amateur participation in performance, opened the way for significant distribution of fresh works, and Boismortier responded by satisfying the demand for melodious, accessible pieces written for numerous vocal and instrumental groupings.
His earliest editions reached the market within a year of his arrival in Paris in 1723, and 102 further works had appeared by 1747. This readiness to meet public taste produced both financial reward and widespread appeal, though it also provoked resentment among the French cultural elite, who regarded composers as ill-suited to commerce. In Essay on Music, Early and Modern (1750), Jean-Benjamin de La Borde, a contemporary, remarked on Boismortier’s success in transforming composition into a profitable undertaking. The composer’s reply was succinct: “I make money.”
Following the conventions of his day, Boismortier frequently indicated alternative instruments—recorder, flute, oboe, or violin among them—thereby enlarging his potential sales. He devoted particular energy to flute compositions and issued a method for the instrument. Because the flute enjoyed such favor in France, the simple notation “suitable for flute” on a title page almost ensured a publisher’s success. Rustic instruments then in fashion, among them the musette (bagpipes) and vielle (hurdy-gurdy), likewise received easy pieces from his pen.
His catalogue included secular cantatas, motets, songs, and four stage works, one of which was the opera Daphnis et Chloé. He also broke new ground: the first French composer to employ the Italian designation concerto, he produced the earliest French solo concerto for any instrument (the cello) as well as numerous flute sonatas and a series of unaccompanied concertos scored for three, four, and five flutes. Although extremely prolific, much of Boismortier’s output, while agreeable, carried limited weight; its strongest examples remain tuneful and refined without being unsophisticated. La Borde observed in the Essay on Music: “Although [his works] have long been forgotten, anyone who desires to take the trouble to excavate them will find enough grains of gold dust there to make an ingot.” Present-day judgment might prove more generous, as many of his compositions continue to be published and performed on both modern and period instruments.
His earliest editions reached the market within a year of his arrival in Paris in 1723, and 102 further works had appeared by 1747. This readiness to meet public taste produced both financial reward and widespread appeal, though it also provoked resentment among the French cultural elite, who regarded composers as ill-suited to commerce. In Essay on Music, Early and Modern (1750), Jean-Benjamin de La Borde, a contemporary, remarked on Boismortier’s success in transforming composition into a profitable undertaking. The composer’s reply was succinct: “I make money.”
Following the conventions of his day, Boismortier frequently indicated alternative instruments—recorder, flute, oboe, or violin among them—thereby enlarging his potential sales. He devoted particular energy to flute compositions and issued a method for the instrument. Because the flute enjoyed such favor in France, the simple notation “suitable for flute” on a title page almost ensured a publisher’s success. Rustic instruments then in fashion, among them the musette (bagpipes) and vielle (hurdy-gurdy), likewise received easy pieces from his pen.
His catalogue included secular cantatas, motets, songs, and four stage works, one of which was the opera Daphnis et Chloé. He also broke new ground: the first French composer to employ the Italian designation concerto, he produced the earliest French solo concerto for any instrument (the cello) as well as numerous flute sonatas and a series of unaccompanied concertos scored for three, four, and five flutes. Although extremely prolific, much of Boismortier’s output, while agreeable, carried limited weight; its strongest examples remain tuneful and refined without being unsophisticated. La Borde observed in the Essay on Music: “Although [his works] have long been forgotten, anyone who desires to take the trouble to excavate them will find enough grains of gold dust there to make an ingot.” Present-day judgment might prove more generous, as many of his compositions continue to be published and performed on both modern and period instruments.