Boismortier, Joseph Bodin de

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Boismortier, Joseph Bodin de

Boismortier, Joseph Bodin de, French composer; b. Thionville, Moselle, Dec. 23, 1689; d. Roissy-en-Brie, Oct. 28, 1755. He lived in Metz and Perpignan before settling in Paris in 1724. A prolific composer of instrumental music, he wrote more than 100 opus numbers; of these there are several for block flutes (i.e., recorders) and transverse flutes; 2 suites for clavecin; trio sonatas, among them one with the viola da gamba (1732; modern ed., Mainz, 1967); collections of pieces designed for amateurs, scored with a drone instrument, either the musette or the vielle, and publ, under such coaxing titles as “Gentillesses,” or “Divertissements de campagne.” He also wrote 3 ballet-operas: Les Voyages de l’Amour (1736), Don Quichotte (1743), and Daphnis et Chloé (1747), and a number of cantatas.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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