Destouches, André Cardinal (EN)

Destouches, des Touches André Cardinal, baptized on 6 April 1672 in Paris, †7 February 1749 in Paris, French composer. At the turn of 1681 and 1682, he began his studies at the Collège des Jésuites in Paris, and in 1687 he accompanied Father Tachard on a trip to Siam. Between 1692 and 1696, he was a royal musketeer and took part in the siege of Namur by Louis XIV’s army. At that time, he also tried his hand at composition, writing airs sérieux and airs à boire. In 1696, he left the army and began studying composition with A. Campra. There are also speculations that he studied with M.-R. Delalande. Destouches’ dramatic debut were three arias for Campry’s ballet opera L’Europe galante (1697). His first independent opera, the pastorale-héroïque Issé (1697), presented in Fontainebleau, was a great success, and King Louis XIV himself is said to have remarked that no other composition since Lully had “given him such pleasure.” However, as his compositional skills progressed, Destouches decided to significantly improve Issé in 1708. In 1713, Destouches became general inspector of the Académie Royale de Musique, and in 1728–1730 he was its director. In 1718, he was appointed surintendant de la musique de la chambre; after Delalande’s death in 1727, he became maître de musique de la chambre. At the request of Queen Marie Leszczyńska, from 1725 he organized the court equivalent of Concerts spirituels; he held this position until 1745. In one year, he managed to present over 40 concerts in the queen’s apartments. Between 1726 and 1745, he worked as maître de la chapelle-musique, focusing exclusively on sacred music. He remained musically active until the end of his life. At the age of 70, he was still conducting the orchestra accompanying balls at court.

Destouches is one of the leading French opera composers of the period between J.B. Lully and J.Ph. Rameau. In the early period of his career, however, he was considered an amateur (he felt his musical calling late and did not receive a thorough musical education in his early years). His operas, written in the galant style, remained in the repertoire of theaters for a long time (Issé and Callirhoé until 1773, others until the mid-18th century). Destouches’ music shows the influence of Lully, but it also contains many individual elements that were developed in the operas of Rameau and Gluck (expressive melodies, the use of unprepared dissonances and parallel sevenths or ninths, masterful – mostly accompanied – recitative, rich instrumentation and apt emphasis on drama through musical means). Many passages in his cantatas show similarities to the operatic style (Sémélé, 1719). Destouches composed individual airs published in various collections, as well as sacred music (motets).

Literature: V. d’Indy Destouches et la musique dramatique, “La Renaissance Musicale”, May 1883; G. Pellisier Familie, fortune et succession d’André Cardinal Destouches, Nogent-le Rotrou 1900; K. Dulle André Cardinal Destouches, Leipzig 1909; R.P.-M. Masson André Cardinal Destouches. Surintendant de la musique du roi, directeur de l’Opéra (1672–1749), “Revue de Musicologie” XLIII/XLIV, 1959; D.R.B. Kimbell The „Amadis” Operas of Destouches and Handel, “Music and Letters” XLIX, 1968; J. Anthony French Baroque Music from Beaujoyeulx to Rameau, London 1973, 2nd revised edition 1978; R. Fajon André Cardinal Destouches et l’évolution du répertoire de l’Académie royale de musique en France, thesis, Paris 1984; L. Rosow André Cardinal Destouches. Issé, pastorale héroïque oraz From Destouches to Breton. Editorial Responsibility at the Paris Opéra, “Journal of the American Musicological Society” XL, 1987; S. Milliot, J de LaGorce, Marin Marais, Paris 1991; J. de La Gorce Vogue et influence de l’air italien dans l’opéra français autour de 1700, “Studi musicali” XXV, 1996; A. Żórawska-Witkowska Muzyka na dworze Augusta II w Warszawie, Warsaw 1997; Regards sur la musique au temps de Louis XV, ed. J. Duron, Wavre 2007; G. Ledoux-Evanno Les versions parodiques des Éléments de Destouches et Delalande, évolution d’un genre, „Revue de Musicologie” vols. 99, 2, 2013; K. McDowell Mad fools and the Praise of Folly: matassins and the ballets of Lully, Destouches and Campra (1660–1718), “Early Music” vols. 45, 3, 2017.