Lambert, Michel (EN)

Lambert Michel, *1610 Champigny-sur-Veude, †27 June 1696 Paris, French composer, singer and singing teacher. He was a member of the Boys’ Choir in Champigny, then a page in the service of Gaston d’Orléans in Paris, a singer, member and finally conductor of the string ensemble of Mademoiselle de Montpensier, daughter of Gaston d’Orléans, known as “la Grande Mademoiselle.” In 1641, he married Gabrielle Dupuy, sister of Hilaire Dupuy, a singer with whom he performed dialogues in 1652. Before the age of 30, he was already a renowned singing master; he accompanied himself on the theorbo. Between 1651 and 1663, he participated in several ballets de cour (court ballets), and in 1661 he became (until his death) maître de musique de la chambre du Roi. In 1662, [Jean-Baptiste] Lully married Lambert’s daughter (Madeleine), which led to their collaboration on the music for three ballets and Lambert’s support for Lully’s opera endeavours. He published over 20 collections of airs, most of which have been lost. Lambert was highly regarded by his contemporaries, as evidenced by his record earnings and his inclusion, along with Lully and Molière, among the “grands héros de l’harmonie.”

In Book 1 of his airs, dedicated to his teacher, P. de Nyerta, Lambert praises the Italian style of singing, the flexibility of ornamentation and the lightness of verse. He popularised this method of singing through his performances, highly regarded lessons, and compositions. His method was promoted by B. de Bacilly, who gave several examples of Lambert’s airs in his Recueil… In Lambert’s typical airs, the first part is the basic version, and the second part is a kind of virtuosically ornamented double, in which, however, the melodic and harmonic material has been preserved (in the prints, the basso continuo was no longer repeated in the double). A typical form for airs is a short binary structure, followed by a double familiar from the air de cour. According to Arnheim, Lambert was often responsible solely for the doubles, and borrowed melodies from other authors or cited popular melodies. Of his more than 330 surviving compositions, most were regarded as innovative, chiefly because he developed the two-part air sérieux. He also wrote airs en rondeau. Lambert’s récits and dramatic dialogues were also renowned; they served as a model for French opera composers for their precise declamation and their shaping of characteristically operatic, dramaturgically closed scenes. These “petites chansons” served as models for other French composers to create “musique d’action et de Théâtre.” The way in which he combined French and Italian practices into a new style, later referred to as the “French” style, is probably his greatest achievement. 

Literature: A. Arnheim Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des einstimmigen weltlichen Kunstliedes in Frankreich in 17. Jh., “Sammelbände der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft” X, 1909; T. Gérold L’art du chant en France au XVIIe siècle, Strasburg 1921, reprint 1971; E. Millet Le musicien Michel Lambert (1610–1696) était de Champigny-sur-Veude, “Bulletin des Amis de vieux Chinon” VII, 1968; J. Anthony French Baroque Music from Beaujoyeulx to Rameau, London 1973, 2nd edition, revised, 1978; C.  Gordon-Seifert The Language of Music in France: Rhetoric as a Basis for Expression in Michel Lambert’s “Les Airs de Monsieur…”, dissertation at the University of Ann Arbor, Michigan 1994; C. Massip L’art de bien chanter: Michel Lambert (1610–1696), Paris, 1999; Y. Mahé Michel Lambert and his collection of 1689…, “Litteratures” no. 67, 2012.