Jacques Aubert

Jacques Aubert (September 30, 1689 – May 19, 1753), also known as Jacques Aubert le Vieux (Jacques Aubert the Elder), was a French composer and violinist.

Aubert was born in Paris and became a student of Jean-Baptiste Senaillé. His first position was as violinist in the service of the Prince of Condé. Thereafter he was a member of the "Vingt-quatre Violons du Roy" (Twenty-four Violins of the King). From 1728 to 1752, he was the first violinist at the Paris Opéra.

He regularly and successfully appeared for a dozen years beginning in 1729 at the Concert Spirituel with, among other works, concertos for violin and orchestra of his own composition.

Together with Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville and Jean-Marie Leclair, Aubert brought the zest of Italian violin virtuosity into the French musical fare of their time. He died in Belleville.

His son Jean-Louis Aubert (1731 - 1814) was a dramatist, poet and journalist, also known as the Abbé Aubert (the Abbot Aubert).

Works

Instrumental

* Pieces for two violins
* Trio sonatas
* Five books of sonatas for violin and basso continuo
* Twelve Suites of "concerts de Symphonie" (1730)
* Concertos for 4 violins and bass, (the first in this genre by a French composer)

Operas and ballets

*Arlequin gentilhomme malgré lui or L'Amant supposé, opéra comique (1716 Paris)
*Arlequin Hulla ou La Femme répudiée, opéra comique (1716 Paris)
*Les Animaux raisonnables (Louis Fuzelier/Marc-Antoine LeGrand), opéra comique (1718 Paris)
*Diane (Antoine Danchet), divertissement (1721 Chantilly)
*Le Regiment de la calotte (Fuzelier/LeSage/d'Orneval), opéra comique (1721 Paris)
*La Fête royale divertissement (1722 Chantilly)
*Le Ballett de Chantilly, Le Ballet des vingt-quatre heures (LeGrand), comedy (1722 Chantilly)
*La Reine des Péris (Fuzelier), Persian comedy (1725 Paris)

ource

* Jacques Aubert, entry in the French Wikipedia