La Barre Michel de, *ca. 1675 Paris, †1744 Paris, French composer and flutist. From at least 1694, he belonged to the circle of chamber musicians active at the court of Louis XIV (the first edition of his works, Premier Livre des Trio from that year, lists him as “flûte de la Chambre du Roy”), and later also at the court of Louis XV. From around 1699, he was a member of the Académie Royale de Musique (until 1721), in 1703 he joined the Musique de l’Écurie et de la Chambre du Roi, and in 1704 – the Musettes et Hautbois de Poitou ensemble, also associated with the court of Versailles, where he replaced Antoine Piesche. In 1730, he resigned from these positions, and since then there has been no information about the composer.
La Barre was considered the most outstanding flutist of his time (opinions such as these were expressed by Sébastien de Brossard and Tion du Tillet, among others), specializing in playing the transverse flute, generally known in France at the time as the flûte allemande. The expressiveness of his playing was particularly appreciated. His oeuvre is therefore dominated by flute pieces, published in Paris in 12 books between 1709 and 1725, and included in anthologies. Most of the compositions are suites for two solo flutes or with basso continuo accompaniment. Three collections of trios (also in the form of suites, generally shorter, with Italianate features) and two stage works showing the influence of André Campry’s style date from his early period: the opéra-ballet Le triomphe des arts (1700) and the comédie-ballet La vénitienne (1705), which were not successful on stage, although fragments of them enjoyed popularity and were later published in various anthologies and arrangements. He also published many collections and individual compositions in the style of airs sérieux, à boire, and italiens, including Recueil d’airs à boire à deux parties, Paris 1724.
La Barre’s flute compositions are among the most outstanding Baroque works for this instrument and the earliest to treat it idiomatically. The composer’s intention, revealed in the introduction to book I of Suitte de pièces (1709), was to match the achievements of his contemporary viola da gamba virtuoso, M. Marais. The suites from book I consist mainly of 8–9 parts, each suite opening with a prelude and allemande, the remaining sections being various types of dances, rondeaux, and airs, as well as characteristic French suite pieces, plaintes and others. In the later books, the number of movements in the cycle was reduced (usually to four), probably under the influence of the Italian chamber sonata. La Barre’s work contributed to a significant increase in the popularity of the transverse flute in France. The works of J. Hotteterre can be considered a creative continuation of his style.
Literature: P.-L. D’Aquin Lettres sur les hommes célèbres (…) sous le règne de Louis XV, Paris 1752; C. Parfaict Dictionnaire des théâtres de Paris, Paris 1756; L. Fleury The Flute and Flutists in the French Art of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, “The Musical Quarterly” IX, 1923; Bowers, Jane M. La Barre, Michel de, in: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell, London 2001
