Jean Mignon

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Life

Born: c. 1640

Died: c.1708

He held the position of Master of Music at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris from 1664 to 1694, and was succeeded there by André Campra. He composed motets, masses, as well as court arias (Cloris s'en va partir, J'adore une belle inhumaine, Philis qu'ai-je commis contre vos beautés). Many of his works have been lost; six of his masses were reissued in 2010 by the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles.

Jean Mignon belongs to the generation of Marc-Antoine Charpentier, in the second half of the 17th century; this Parisian composer conducted the music of Paris Cathedral for 30 years and built up a fine reputation both in France and abroad. Between 1676 and 1707, under the impetus of Louis XIV, Jean Mignon proposed, in the midst of the evolution of religious ceremonial music at Versailles, 4 masses in 4 parts (Cantus, Altus, Tenor & Bassus), 1 mass in 5 parts (Cantus, Quinta pars, Altus, Tenor & Bassus) and finally 1 mass in 6 parts (Cantus, Sexta pars, Altus, Tenor, Quinta pars & Bassus), the 6 a capella masses. Later editors added basso continuo to the manuscripts of Sébastien de Brossard; other musicians, inspired by it, added basso continuo to the remaining masses.

The music that has come down to us includes arias published in Le Mercure galant and by the publisher Ballard. The masses in particular, were created to meet the expectations of the choirmasters of the kingdom in the diversity of the means at their disposal. The first editions of masses were in a "choir book" format by the Ballard family dating back to the 16th century. These works met with great success, as can be seen from the new works regularly published and the re-editions that followed until 1744. They cover very different musical practices over two centuries during which musical conception moved from the most exuberant counterpoint to the most assertive tonality.

https://editions.cmbv.fr/achat/produit_details.php?id=1022

List of choral works

 


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