Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer (ca. 1705 – 1755) was a
French composer and harpsichordist. Born in Turin,
Royer went to Paris in 1725, and in 1734 became maître
de musique des enfants de France, responsible for the
musical education of the children of the king, Louis
XV. Together with the violinist Jean-Joseph Cassanéa
de Mondonville, Royer directed the Concert Spirituel,
starting in 1748. Royer was at the Paris Opéra during
the 1730s and the 1750s, writing six operas himself, of
which the b...(+)
Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer (ca. 1705 – 1755) was a
French composer and harpsichordist. Born in Turin,
Royer went to Paris in 1725, and in 1734 became maître
de musique des enfants de France, responsible for the
musical education of the children of the king, Louis
XV. Together with the violinist Jean-Joseph Cassanéa
de Mondonville, Royer directed the Concert Spirituel,
starting in 1748. Royer was at the Paris Opéra during
the 1730s and the 1750s, writing six operas himself, of
which the best known is the ballet-héroïque Zaïde,
reine de Grenade. In 1753 he acquired the prestigious
position of music director of the chambre du roi (the
king's chamber), and in the same year was named
director of the Royal Opera orchestra. He died in
Paris.
Royer is particularly known for his often extravagant
and virtuosic harpsichord music, especially "La Marche
des Scythes," which ends his first book of harpsichord
pieces. Why the harpsichord works of Pancrace Royer are
not performed more often is a mystery. His one book of
Pièces de clavecin, published in 1746, is full of
spark and variety, ranging from the dulcet “La
Zaïde” to the robust jollity of “Les matelots”,
and from the eloquence of “La Sensible” to the
dizzyingly quirky virtuosity of “Le vertigo”. And
while it is Rameau who rightly dominates our knowledge
of the musical times in which Royer lived as
harpsichord teacher to Louis XV’s daughters, composer
of operas and director of Paris’s prestigious Concert
Spirituel, as a keyboard composer in the imaginative,
full-bodied mould of someone like Forqueray, Royer need
not be considered as totally blotted out by the more
famous composer’s shadow.
In general, it can be said that Royer gives a greater
place than his predecessors in singing in his plays,
which is not a coincidence in view of his vocal
production. The success of adaptations, more than
transcriptions, as La Zaïde (Act V, scene 5, prelude
to the quartet "Ah! What a supreme good" of the ballet
Zaïde, queen of Grenade) is not surprising, especially
if the we look at the numerous collections of tunes by
different authors for other popular instruments, such
as the flute by the famous Michel Blavet: the themes
from Royer's books are legion!
Source: Wikipedia
(https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancrace_Royer).
Although originally scored for Harpsichord, I created
this Interpretation of the "La Zaïde" from "Pièces de
Clavecin" for String Quartet (2 Violins, Viola &
Cello).
SHEET MUSIC