Chevalier de Meude-Monpas
Cevalier de Meude-Monpas | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Nationality | French |
| Notable work | Concerto in D (1876) |
| Style | Classical |
The Chevalier de Meude-Monpas was a French 18th-century musician, author and royalist of mixed African and European descent.[1] Meude-Monpas was otherwise known as J.J.O. de Meude-Monpas (possibly Josse Jean-Olivier). He was a "gentilhomme-servant du roi", meaning he was on the king's payroll, and a composer and violinist,[2] as well as a member of several academies.
Music Career
Meude-Monpas was born in Paris and studied violin with Pierre Lahoussaye (1735-1818), and composition with Giroust, but later he pretended to be one of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's pupils because he shared the man's opinions and purported to be extremely sensitive. In 1786 Meude-Monpas published six concertos for violin, with 2 violins, viola, double bass, 2 oboes and 2 horns. Like many other members of the court, he left the country during the French Revolution and served for a time in a corps under the orders of the Prince de Condé. Later, Mme de Genlis met him in Berlin where he was writing and publishing poetry. She gave the poetry a bad review, an opinion shared by Framery, who criticized it as ignorant and absurd in the Mercure de France (ann. 1788, n.26).
On May 5, 1790, Meude-Monpas had an impromptu published in which he suggested that the Duke of Aiguillon had dressed as a woman to take part in the Women's March on Versailles (this was a preexisting legend) : "We have been transported to miraculous times. / While d'Aiguil ... disguises himself as a woman, / Antoinette becomes a brave man, / Worthy of honouring the noble blood of the House of Guise."[3] Meude-Monpas denied that he had been referring to the duke and on May 23, the Marquis de Condorcet's Chronique de Paris jeered at him and reminded the public that Meude-Monpas was a self-styled "chevalier" - in fact the son of a master goldsmith in Paris, a Mr. Josse "who would be amazed to see his youngest son has become a gentleman-servant and a chevalier (knight) in spite of his ancestors, and the Don Quixote of dukes, marquis and counts, his noble peers and friends." [4]
An article by Camille Pelletan in Georges Clemenceau's newspaper La Justice published on April 29, 1889, describes a counter-revolutionary newspaper called "Le petit Gautier" or, more officially, Le Journal de la cour et de la ville. François Jourgniac de Saint-Méard (1745-1827) and Jean-Olivier de Meude-Moupas were notable contributors.
Personal Life
Meude-Monpas was known as a staunch supporter of Louis XVI and had a public reputation. Nearly a century later, he became a character in a play by Edmond de Goncourt, La Patrie en Danger, drame en cinq actes, en prose, premiered on March 19, 1889 at the Théâtre Libre, salle des Menus-Plaisirs. (see Journal des débats politiques et littéraires, March 19, 1889). Meude-Monpas is mentioned in François-Joseph Fétis's Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique.[5] The author notes that Meude-Monpas was a "black musketeer" (which means that he belonged to a company riding black horses, not to the other company having grey ones).
Publications
- A Dictionary of Music (Dictionnaire de musique dans lequel on simplifie les expressions et les définitions mathématiques et physiques qui ont rapport à cet art , avec des remarques impartiales sur les poètes lyriques, les vérificateurs, les compositeurs, acteurs, exécutans), 1787. Minkoff Reprint, Genève, 1981. Wentworth Press (2018).
- Réponse à la question proposée par M. l'abbé Raynal, adressée à l'Académie de Lyon : "Les Richesses toujours ont causé nos malheurs", 1788 https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb30935898h.public
- Quelques réflexions par le Chevalier J.-J.-O. de Meude-Monpas, 1789
- De l'influence de l'amour et de la musique sur les moeurs, avec des réflexions sur l'utilité que les gouvernements peuvent tirer de ces deux importantes passions, 1789
- Éloge de J. J. Rousseau: avec des anecdotes très-intéressantes relatives à ce grand homme, qui n'ont point encore été publiées, 1790. Wentworth Press (2018)
- Panthéon Littéraire, 1790
Recordings
One of his concerti was recorded by Rachel Barton Pine – Cedille Records, 1997: CDR 90000 035.
A recording of his Concerto in D (1876) was included as part of a compilation of violin concertos of 18th and 19th century French composers in 1998.[6]
References
- ^ "Violin Concertos by Black Composers of the 18th and 19th Centuries". Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- ^ Gazette du commerce (Paris. 1763)13 novembre 1783 : "M. de Monpas exécuta son concerto de tête & en improvisant : il fut fort applaudi." https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9782811w/f5.image.r=%22meude-monpas%22?rk=21459;2
- ^ "Nous sommes transportés aux temps miraculeux./ Tandis que d'Aiguil,.. en femme se déguise,/ Antoinette devient un homme courageux / Et digne d'honorer le noble sang des Guise".
- ^ "La Justice / dir. G. Clemenceau ; réd. Camille Pelletan". Retrieved 31 October 2020.
- ^ Deuxième édition, entièrement refondue et augmentée de plus de moitié... Tome premier [- supplément]. Tome 6. 1833-1844 http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb42986517h
- ^ [https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/22/arts/classical-briefs-650609.html "Classical Briefs" New York Times (Feb. 22, 1998), "None of the works is an outright masterpiece, but the Chevalier de Saint-Georges's A major Concerto (1775) is utterly charming. Mozartean in sensibility, with sunny ostinatos, the piece possesses an infectious spirit despite its obviously derivative nature. The Chevalier J. J. O. de Meude-Monpas's Concerto in D (1786) is even more interesting, with Rococo accents brushing up against French Baroque elements."
- 18th-century French musicians
- 18th-century classical composers
- 18th-century French composers
- 18th-century male musicians
- French classical musicians
- French classical composers
- French male classical composers
- Male classical violinists
- French classical violinists
- French male violinists
- French people of African descent
- Black composers