de BROSSARD (Sébastien)

Sébastien de Brossard (1655-1730)

• The French baroque composer Sébastien de Brossard comes from a Norman aristocratic family (he was born on September 12, 1655 in Dompierre in the Orne). Ordained priest in Caen, he moved to Paris and was appointed vicar in 1687 at the cathedral of Strasbourg.
• His compositions are then signed: M. Br VP. E. MDC. D. L. C. D. STR (Monsieur Brossard Prébendé and Maître de Chapelle De La Cathedrale de Strasbourg). From 1698 he was chapel master at the Cathedral of Meaux, of which Bossuet (1627-1704) had been bishop since 1681. He died there on August 10, 1730.
• Sébastien de Brossard composed motets (little and grands), cantatas and sonatas, as well as 6 collections of serious tunes to drink. Passionate collector, he brings together a unique set of partitions of great value and donates his library in 1724 to Louis the 15th (in return for a pension).
• De Brossard is considered as a musicologist and music theorist. His Music dictionary, published in 1703, has been republished many times.