Side B of great chess players IV

François-André Danican Philidor
Chess player and musician.
Born: September 7, 1726, Dreux France
Died: August 31, 1795 (aged 68) London England

In 1732 at the age of six, Francois-Andre (he later discarded the Francois) joined the royal choir of King Louis XV, the Chapel-Royal at Versailles. As a pageboy in the royal chapel, he studied music with Andre Campra (1660-1744), one of the leading French opera composers of this period. Philidor's father had died earlier and was living on a royal pension. The young Philidor was recognized as a musical prodigy among the 80 musicians. Philidor's admission was four years earlier than the age prescribed by the rules of the Chapel.

In 1736 at the age of 10, Francois-Andre was exposed to chess by musicians who played chess during spells of inactivity. King Louis XV (1710-1774) wanted to listen to the choir almost every day during Mass). There were about 80 musicians, and all the musicians were obliged to attend daily and had to wait for the king. Cards were forbidden to pass the time, so chess was played on a long table that had 6 inlaid chessboards. He learned the game by watching the band members play. He later visited the Cafe de la Regence in Paris and spent much of his time playing chess there.

In 1737, at the age of 11, his first music composition, a religious piece called a motet, was played before King Louis XV. The king rewarded Philidor with a gift of five louis d'or coins (over $200 in today's currency). This encouraged Philidor to compose four more motets.

In late 1740, Philidor left the Chapel Royal choir when his voice changed. When he left the Chapel, he was reputed to be the most skilled chess player in the band. In Paris, he earned a living by copying music and giving music lessons. He also wrote several motets, a sacred vocal musical composition. They were performed in Paris at the Concert Spirituel, which was favorably received. The Concert Spirituel was established by Philidor's oldest brother, Anne, in 1726, who was its first director.

In the 1740s, Philidor met Denis Diderot (1713-1784), who called him 'Philidor le subtitle in Le Neveu de Rameau (Rameau's Nephew, written in the 1760s). Philidor tutored Diderot's daughter in music.

In August 1743, one of Philidor's motets, musique latine, inaugurated the Concert Spirituel on the Feast of Assumption.

On March 22, 1745, Philidor played chess with Jacques Rousseau and helped Rousseau with his first opera ballet, Les Muses gallants. Philidor's contribution was praised by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century. Philidor's overture was also praised by the art critic Friedrich Melchoir, Baron von Grimm (1723-1807). However, Rousseau's opera was a disaster, and complained that Philidor failed to commit himself to the work.

In December 1745, Philidor went to Rotterdam to assist in presenting concerts with the violinist Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762), and Miss Lanza, a 13-year-old virtuoso harpsichord player. Twelve concerts had been planned and Philidor was to sing (he played no musical instruments). However, Miss Lanza died of smallpox while still in Paris. Later, the concerts were canceled because of the girl's death and he was stranded in the Netherlands with no money and a stranger in a foreign city.

On April 1, 1747, Philidor attended a thanksgiving service at St. Paul's Cathedral in London where the first performance of George Frideric Handel's (1685-1759) oratorio, Judas Maccabeus, took place.

In 1748 Philidor, age 22, returned to Holland from England and started writing L'analyse du jeu des Eschecs (Analysis of the Game of Chess). Philidor went out to find subscribers for the book before it was published to pay for publishing costs.

In 1751, while in Berlin, Philidor met Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788), the German Classical period musician and composer. He was the son of Johann Sebastion Bach. Carl Bach was a member of the royal orchestra under Frederick the Great, and Philidor studied music with Bach while they were together.

On February 23, 1753, Philidor promoted nine of his own works in a concert given in London. It was billed as "Mr. Philidor's Concert." He gave an overture, four arias, a duet, and three choruses at the Great Room at 21 Dean Street in Soho. One of the singer's in Philidor's concerts was Gaetano Guadagni (1728-1792), a famous Italian mezzo-soprano castrato singer.

In December 1753, Philidor set William Congreve's (1670-1729) Ode to Harmony, in honor of St. Cecilia's Day, to music. St. Cecilia is the patroness of musicians.

On January 31, 1754, Philidor's Ode to Harmony was performed at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket. Handel was present at the opening performance. He commented on the music and approved of the choruses, but thought the melody was defective.

In November 1754, Philidor, age 28, returned to Paris after being gone for 9 years. He started composing music again, but critics claimed that his music was too Italianate for their tastes. He did not return to England until 1772, 18 years later.

In 1754, he wrote a motet called Lauda Jerusalem.

In 1755, he applied unsuccessfully for the post of court composer at Versailles and Master of the Chapel Royal, where two new motets of his composition, including Lauda Jerusalem, were performed. A rumor had started that nobody could be a chess master and compose good music, so his church music was not really his own. His church music was not accepted by French royalty because Philidor added an Italian influence, so he turned to comedy opera. Marie Leszczynska (1725-1768), Queen of France and wife of Louis XV, thought his motet, Lauda Jerusalem, was "too Italian." It had been sung in her presence at Versailles.

In 1755, Philidor wrote L'art de la modulation (Six quatuors), which was regarded as a groundbreaking and innovative series of chamber works. He also wrote his chamber cantata, L'Ete. These are Philidor's only known chamber pieces.

In 1756, with the composer Jean-Louis Laruette (1731-1792), Philidor composed the music for the three-act opera comique Le Diable a quatre, ou la Double Metamophose. It premiered at the Theatre de la Foire in St. Laurent in Paris on August 19, 1756. It also played at the St. Germain fair on Feb 12, 1757. The opera was considered a failure.

In December 1756, Philidor composed Le Retour du Printemps (The Return of Spring).

In 1757, Philidor was rebuffed by the Paris Opera, especially by Fracois Rebel (1701-1775) a major French composer and opera director.

In October 1757, he composed a Te Deum, a Christian hymn of praise, for the birth of Charles X (1757-1836), Count of Artois and, later, king of France.

 In 1758, Philidor was urged to undertake a regular comic opera.

In 1758, Philidor composed the opera comique Les Pèlerins de la Mecque (The Pilgrims of Mecca). It premiered at the Theatre de la Foire St. Laurent. The director of the theatre was Corbi, who encouraged Philidor to compose more music for opera comiques.

In 1759, Philidor composed the music for Blaise le Savetier (Blaise the Cobbler), a one-act opera comique, which first premiered at the Theatre de l'Opera Comique de la Foire of Saint Germain, Paris, on March 9, 1759. The text was by Michel-Jean Sedaine (1719-1797), based on a work by La Fontaine. The opera had such a run that Philidor abandoned church music and applied himself wholly to the stage and opera.

In 1759, he composed Diligam Te, motet a grand choer.

In 1759, he composed the music for the opera comique L'huître et les plaideurs, ou Le tribunal de la chicane (The Oyster and the Pleaders, or the Court of the Chicane). The text was written by Sedaine. It premiered at the annual fair of St. Laurent in on September 17, 1759.

On February 13, 1760, at age 33, Philidor married Angelique Heinriette Elizabeth Richer (1741-1809) in Versailles. She was the daughter of Francois Joseph Richer, Superintendent of Music of the Dukes of Orleans and Chartres, and Marie Elizabeth Leroy.. He had 5 sons and 2 daughters with her. He never taught chess to his children. The children may have learned chess on their own. In one anecdote, Philidor entered the house and saw two of his children playing chess. After watching the game after a few moves were made, he said to his wife, "Ma chere amie, our children have fairly succeeded in making chess a game of chance."

Philidor's wife sang, occasionally as a concert soloist, and played the keyboard instrument. Her three brothers were all musicians. Often, Philidor's wife, and sometimes one or more of his brothers-in-law, rehearsed Philidor's musical compositions for him so he could hear how they sounded since he himself neither played nor no longer sang.

In 1760, he composed the music for the opera comique Le quiproquo, ou Le volage fixe (The Misunderstanding, or the Fixed Flight). It premiered at the Comedie-Italienne, Hotel de Bourgogne on March 6, 1760.

In 1760, he composed the music for the opera comique Le Soldat Magicien (The Magician Soldier). It premiered at the Fair of St. Laurent on August 14, 1760.

In 1761, he composed the music for the opera comique Le jardinier et son seigneur (The Gardener and his lord), which first premiered at the Fair of St. Germain on February 18, 1761.

In 1761 he composed the music opera for the opera comique Le marechal ferrant (The Blacksmith). It was first performed by the Opera-Comique at the Theatre de la Foire St Laurent in Paris on August 22, 1761. It was later performed at the Hotel de Bourgogne on February 10, 1762. It was also performed for the royal court at Faintainebleau on November 3, 1762. It became one of Philidor's most popular works. It was the first opera ever to be performed in Russia in 1764.

In 1761, Philidor composed the music for the two-act opera comique, Le Triomphe-du Temps (The Triumph of Time). It first premiered at Versailles on December 30, 1761.

In 1762, he composed the music for the opera comique Sancho Panca, Gouverneur dans l'Isle de Barataria. It first premiered at the Comedie-Italienne, Hotel de Bourgogne, in Paris, on July 8, 1762.

 In 1763, he composed the music for the opera comique Le bûcheron, ou Les trois souhaits (The Lumberjack or The Three Wished). The text was written by M. Guichard. It first premiered at the Comedie-Italienne, Hotel de Bourgogne, in Paris, on February 28, 1763.

In 1763, he composed Ariette pour le Davin du Village.

In 1763, he composed the music for the opera comiqies La bagarre and Les fêtes de la paix (The Festival of Peace). Both premiered at the Comedie-Italienne, Hotel de Bourgogne, in Paris, on July 4, 1763.

In 1763, Philidor composed the music for the popular opera Le Sorcier (The Sorcerer). It first premiered at the Comedie-Italienne, Hotel de Bourgogne, in Paris, on January 2, 1764. Philidor was the first French composer to be applauded in person after the premier of Le Sorcier.

Philidor was later accused of plagiarism for the music on Le Sorcier, stealing note for note from Christoph Gluck's (1714-1787) Orfeo ed Euridice, written in 1762. Later on, it was Gluck that was accused of plagiarism as Philidor's opera was performed in public in Paris before Gluck's opera was performed in public in Vienna. Philidor sometimes wrote down music as his own that had actually been composed by others. One music critic wrote, "Our musical savants claim that Philidor has stolen from Italians. What does it matter, if he enriches our nation with the beautiful things of foreign lands which we would perhaps never have known without him?"

On October 11, 1764, Philidor's Te Deum (Requiem pour Rameau) was sung at a memorial service for Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764).

In 1765 he composed the music for the comic opera Tom Jones for the theater loosely based on Henry Fielding's (1707-1754) novel, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, published in 1749. The text was written by Antoine-Alexandre-Henri Poinsinet (1735-1769). Philidor introduced for the first time an unaccompanied quartet. It first premiered at the Comedie-Italienne, Hotel de Bourgogne, in Paris, on February 17, 1765. It was damned and booed by the public the first night. However, Philidor had the text revised by Michael-Jaen Sedaine, and this new version was performed almost a year later, on January 30, 1766, to great success. It proved to be one of the most popular opera comics of the late 18th century.

In Tom Jones, Philidor showed that he was a pioneer in descriptive music. He introduced onomatopoeic sounds into his orchestra — the hunting horn, the bay of the hounds, the horses' hooves, and the crack of whips. (source: Schonberg, Grandmasters of Chess, 1973, P. 34)

 Philidor was the first musician to lure the audience to listen to Italian music by adapting French words to Italian music and emulating the Italian style in several of his own comic operas.

In 1765, Philidor assisted in the composition of the music for the opera comique Le Tonnier (The Stalwart). It first premiered at the Comedie-Italienne, Hotel de Bourgogne, in Paris, on March 16, 1765.

In 1765, he composed, Six ariettes composees pour le roman : Histoire amoureuse de Pierre Lelong et de sa très honoree dame Blanche Bazu.

In September 1766, for the anniversary of music composer Jean-Philippe Rameau's (1683-1764) death, Philidor composed a requiem which was performed at the Oratorio.

In 1766, he composed Douze ariettes periodiques.

In 1767, he composed the music to Ernelinde, princesse de Norvege (Ernelinde, Princess of Norway), a three-act operatic tragedie lyrique. The text is written by Henri Poinsinet. It was Philidor's first tragic opera. It first appeared at the Academie Royale de Musique, Theatre des Tuileries on January 10, 1768. It later premiered in Brussels in 1772 and at Versailles in 1773. His opera was performed for 8 successive nights and 18 performances overall before it finally closed on January 24, 1768. King Louis XV privately rewarded Philidor with 25 Louis d'or (gold coins).

On the opening night of Ernelinde, the Duke of Chartres, who was present, bet a friend 100 Louis that the opera would not reach 20 presentations. He won his bet.

In 1767, Andre Gretry (1741-1813), a composer of opera comics, moved to Paris and became friends with Philidor. Gretry and Philidor worked together and wrote the music for the opera comique Le Jardinier de Sidon (The Gardener of Sidon) in 1768. It first premiered at the Comedie-Italienne, Hotel de Bourgogne, in Paris, on July 18, 1768. Gretry later became known as 'the Moliere of music.'

In 1768, he composed La Chasse.

 On June 7, 1769, Henri Poinsinet, Philidor's friend and main text writer to Philidor's operas, died. Philidor then selected Michel-Jaen Sedaine as the main text writer for his operas.

In 1769, he composed the music for the opera comique L'amant degiuse, ou Le jardinier suppose (The disguised lover, or the supposed gardener). It first premiered at the Comedie-Italienne, Hotel de Bourgogne, in Paris, on September 2, 1769.

In 1769, he assisted in the composition of the music for the opera comique La Rosiere de Salency. It first premiered at Fontainebleau on October 25, 1769.

In 1769-1770, he composed the music for the opera comique La nouvelles ecole des femmes (The New School of Women). It first premiered at the Comedie-Italienne, Hotel de Bourgogne, in Paris, on January 22, 1770.

In 1772-73, he composed the music for the opera comique Le bon fils (The Good Son). It first premiered at the Comedie-Italienne, Hotel de Bourgogne, in Paris, on January 11, 1773.

In 1773, he composed Te Deum.

In 1773, he composed the music for the opera Zemire et Melide (Melide, ou Le navigateur). It first premiered at Fontainebleau before the Royal Court on October 30, 1773.

In November 1773, Philidor revised his Ernelinde Princesses de Norvege, and called his new revision Sandomir, Prince de Danemark (changing the heroine to the hero and changing to another Scandinavian country). Philidor's music was performed at the Theatre Gabriel at the Palace of Versailles in celebrating the wedding of Count d'Artois, age 16, brother of Louis XVI, and Maria Theresa of Savoy, age 14. The performance at Versailles was on December 11, 1773.

During his time in London, Philidor also composed music for 9 out of his 23 operas.

In 1774-75, Philidor assisted in the composition of the music for the opera comique Berthe. It first premiered at Las Monnale in Brussels on January 18, 1775.

In 1775, he composed the music for the opera comique Les femmes vengees, ou Les feintes infidelites (The Avenged Women, or The Feints Infidelities). It first premiered at the Comedie-Italienne, Hotel de Bourgogne, in Paris, on March 20, 1775.

In the late 1770s, he composed the music for the opera comique Protogene, but it was incomplete and never performed.

Late in 1778, Giuseppe (Joseph) Baretti (1719-1789), an Italian poet and scholar, decided to set to music the Horace (65 BC — 8 BC) poem, Carmen Saeculare, (the original music was lost to antiquity). He persuaded Philidor, who was in London, to provide the score.

In February 1779, Philidor set to music to Carmen Saeculare while in London. The English text was written by Baretti and Samuel Johnson wrote the Latin and English epilogue. This was the most ambitious musical composition ever based on Horace's poetry. It was performed three nights (Feb 26, March 5, and March 12, 1779) with great success at Free-Mason's Hall in London. Later, in 1780, it was performed in Paris three times. It received high praise from music critics in both cities. Philidor received 450 British pounds for his work (over $70,000 in today's currency).

In 1780, he composed the music for the tragedie lyrique Persee (Perseus). It was first premiered at the Academie Royale de Musique, Theatre de Palais-Royal in Paris on October 27, 1780. It was not very successful.

In 1780, Philidor made the Paris premiere of Carmen into a social event. He secured a hall in the Tuileries Palace and chose a day when there were no classes at the University of Paris. He sold tickets to the event in advance and had a program printed up giving the text in both Latin and French.

In 1780, Philidor sent a copy of his musical work from Carmen Saeculare to Catherine the Great of Russia. She generously rewarded Philidor for his work.

In 1783, he composed La Belle Enclave.

In 1784, Philidor composed the music to the opera comique Le Dormeur eveille (douteux).

In 1785 he composed the music for the tragedie lyrique Themistocle. It first premiered at Fontainebleau on October 13, 1785.

In 1785, he composed the music for the opera comique L'amitie au village (Friendship in the village). It first premiered at Fontainebleau on October 18, 1785.

In 1786, he composed Te Deum, motet a grand choeur.

In 1787, he composed the music for the opera comique La belle Esclave (The good slave). It first premiered at the Theatre de Comte de Beaujolais on September 18, 1787.

In 1788, he composed the music for the opera comique Le mari comme il les faudrait tous, ou La nouvelle ecole des maris (The Mari as it should all, or The new school of husband). It first premiered at the Theatre de Comte de Beaujolais on November 12, 1788.

In June 1789, Philidor composed, 'Te Deum et Domine salvum fac regem'(An Ode on His Majesty's Recovery), for some celebration of the recovery of King George III. Twiss wrote that Philidor ran away the day after the performance of his musical composition at the Restoration Concert at Hanover Square in London, without paying the musicians.

In 1789, he composed Canon scientifique.

In December 1792, at age 65, he left France for England, never to return again. His music was banned from France after the French Revolution

In 1795, he started writing the music for Belisaire but did not finish it before he died. It was finished by Auguste-Louis Bertin and premiered on October 3, 1796, at the Opera Comique, Salled Favart in Paris.

In 1795, Philidor composed Protegene, but did not finish it before he died.

On Monday, August 31, 1795, at age 68 (7 days from his 69th birthday), he died at 10 Little Ryder Street (a burial ledger states that he lived at 8 Little Ryder Street) in the parish of St. James in Piccadilly, London. A newspaper obituary read, "On Monday last, Mr. Philidor, the celebrated chess player, made his last move, into the other world."

Philidor was buried on September 3, 1795, not at St James Chapel in London. The St James Church graveyard was already full. Philidor was buried in a graveyard at what is today St. James' Gardens, Camden (Hampstead, near Euston Station). He was buried in burial plot g18, Ground 3. The St. James chapel by this graveyard was demolished in the 1870s.