Jacques-Martin Hotteterre (29 September 1674 ? 16 July 1763), also known as Jacques Martin or Jacques Hotteterre, was a French composer and flautist. Jacques-Martin Hotteterre was the most celebrated of a family of wind instrument makers and wind performers.
Born in Paris, he was the son of Martin Hotteterre (d. 1712) and Marie Crespy.[citation needed] As early as 1689 or 1692, Jacques-Martin Hotteterre may have held a post as basse de hautbois et basse de violon in the royal court, but it is possible that the Jacques Hotteterre in this post was an older relative of Jacques-Martin's, who had been earlier employed as a musician in the English Royal court.[citation needed]
Hotteterre lived and studied in Rome early in his career, and his nickname le Romain (the Roman) came from this period. He spent two years (1698-1700) employed by Prince Francesco Ruspoli in Rome,[1] before adopting the nickname of 'Le Romain' at some point between 1705 and 1707. By 1708, he became a musician to the king of France, in the king's 'Grande Écurie, and in 1717, he inherited René Pignon Descoteaux's post as Jouëur de Fluste de la musique de chambre.[citation needed] By 1743, he was listed among the most famous musicians in France.[citation needed]
Hotteterre owed his fame largely to his talent playing the flute, an instrument for which he wrote a number of pieces, significantly extending the repertory for the instrument.[citation needed] In addition, he played the bassoon, oboe, and musette.[citation needed] Jacque-Martin Hotteterre was also an internationally celebrated teacher to aristocratic patrons, and he wrote a few methods for the transverse flute. His L'Art de préluder sur la flûte traversière (1719) is an excellent source on ornamentation and improvisational practices during this period.[citation needed] It underscores his highly developed technique and includes pieces in nineteen keys.[citation needed]
In addition to performance and teaching, Hotteterre continued his family's tradition of wind instrument making.[citation needed] It may have been Hotteterre who made a number of changes in the design of the transverse flute, though there is little concrete evidence for this. Most notably, the flute, which had previously been made in one cylindrical piece, was cut in three pieces: the head (with the mouthpiece), the body (with most of the holes) and the foot (with several holes).[citation needed]
He died in Paris in 1763. Text source : Wikipedia (Hide extended text) ... (Read all)
