Henry, Michel

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Henry, Michel

Henry, Michel, a member of the 24 “Violons du roi” under Henry IV and Louis XIII; b. Paris, Feb. 1555; d. date and place unknown. He wrote ballets for the court. His younger brother, Jehan Henry, known as Le Jeune, also in the “Violons du roi,” composed some very interesting instrumental music: a Fantaisie for 5 Violins, another Fantaisie, for 5 cornetti, and Pavane for 6 Oboes, some of which this is reproduced by P. Mersenne in his Harmonie universelle (Vol. 3, pp. 186-277). Dolmetsch made a modern arrangement of the Fantaisie for 5 Violins.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire