Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre
Born: March 17, 1665, Paris, France
Died: June 27, 1729, Paris, France
BIOGRAPHY MUSIC RECORDINGS SOURCES
The court of King Louis XIV fostered an abundance of musical and cultural activities, many suitable for young females like Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, a child prodigy who is now known as the first French woman to compose an opera. Royal court patrons of the arts such as Madames de Montespan (King Louis XIV’s mistress) and Madame de Maintenon (the Queen), after hearing de la Guerre at Versailles, made certain she continued her musical education begun by her father, a musician and organist at Saint-Louis-en-Ille, when she was only 7 years old.
De la Guerre’s talent, a gift from both her parents, was later recognized in the journal Mercure galant in 1677 which raved, “She sings at sight the most difficult music… she accompanies herself and others who wish to sing, at the harpsichord which she plays in a manner that cannot be imitated. She composes pieces, and plays them in all the keys asked…. and she is still only 10 years old” (Pendle, 72 and Norton Grove).
Considered the “marvel of the century,” de la Guerre, before her 20th birthday, married the organist Martin de la Guerre, after which she continued her career as a professional musician. She received a stipend from King Louis XIV, a lifelong commitment, and had permission to dedicate all her compositions to him.
De la Guerre continued her career by concertizing, improvising, and composing, writing a ballet (Les jeux a l’honneur de la victoire), opera, cantatas, and several books of harpsichord pieces. Her opera, a tragedy with a prologue and 5 acts entitled, Céphale et Procris, was eventually performed at the Académie Royale de Musique and published in 1694, seven years after Lully’s death. It was revived after de la Guerre’s death to great success. Though funds for the opera came from the King, Lully held the political power to determine which productions were performed for the King until Lully’s death, which ultimately delayed de la Guerre’s opera premiere.
When sonata compositions, similar to Italian cantatas, became popular in France, de la Guerre wrote violin solos and trios and published 2 volumes of cantatas for voice in a similar style. Cantatas generally called for one singer but de la Guerre chose the French form of alternating music between 2 voices, a narrator and a protagonist, employing additional instruments for dramatic purposes. Her recitatives often contained both Italian recitativo secco and French recitatif, filling them with a variety of texture and style and making them very popular at that time.
De la Guerre published volumes of sacred cantatas using biblical stories as texts making her the first French woman to do so. Volume one included the story of The Crossing of the Red Sea, Jacob et Rachel, and Jonas while three of the twelve stories were about women, Esther, Susanne, and Judith. It is possible that the death of both her husband and son in 1704 influenced her decision to tell the stories of these women in 1708 even as de la Guerre continued her public performances and composing. Another 3 cantatas with mythological texts, a 3rd book, was published in 1715. She retired from performing in 1717 and settled in the parish of St. Eustache. After her death a commemorative medal was engraved in her honor.
As a pioneer in composition in France, de la Guerre received tremendous praise for the accomplishments she made during her lifetime. Part of biographer, Titon du Tillet’s, tribute to her reads, “de la Guerre had a very great genius for composition and excelled in vocal music as well as instrumental…Surely one can say that never has anyone of her sex had such great talents for composing music and for performing it…”