Robert, Pierre (EN)

Robert Pierre, *ca. 1618 Louvres (near Paris), †29 December 1699 Paris, French composer and clergyman. He received his musical education at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris; in 1648 he won the Saint Cecilia music competition in Le Mans, and subsequently served as maître de chapelle at various cathedrals: in Senlis until 1650, in Chartres from 1650 to 1652, and at Notre-Dame in Paris from 1653 to 1663. In April 1663, he became one of the four sous-maîtres of Louis XIV’s royal chapel; from 1672 to 1683, he served there – alongside H. Du Mont – as vice-maître de chapelle and was awarded the title “compositeur de la musique de la chapelle et de la chambre du Roi.” From 1671 he served as abbot of Chambon, and from 1678 until the end of his life he was abbot of Saint Pierre de Melun.

Although Robert served as royal maître de chapelle, only his religious works have survived, representing the two most important genres of French music in the second half of the 17th century: the grand motet and the petit motet. Published at the command of Louis XIV, the collection of motets contains music intended for grand court ceremonies. Together with H. Du Mont, Robert established the model for the large-scale panegyrical motet, which was later emulated by other representatives of the genre – J.B. Lully and M.-R. Delalande. These motets are written for a 6-part grand choeur, a 5-part ensemble of soloists (petit choeur) and a 5-part string orchestra; the polyphonic element is significantly reduced here, with a preference for a rich chordal texture, whilst the orchestra and timbral contrasts play a major role. A more individual style comes to the fore in the petit motets, in which Robert appears as a continuator of the models established by G. Carissimi. Greater emphasis is placed here on the interpretation of the text and heightened expression achieved through dissonance, chromaticism, contrasts in texture, tempo and key, as well as various dynamic effects.

Literature: H. Charnassé Un aspect du grand motet à la fin du XVIIe siècle. Pierre Robert, w: Le grand motet français (1663–1792), eds. J.-R. Mongrédien and Y. Ferraton, Paris 1987; T. Leconte La question instrumentale dans les motets à grand chœur de Pierre Robert in: L’orchestre à cordes sous Louis XIV: Instruments, répertoires, singularités, eds. J. Duron, F. Gétreau, Paris 2015; L. Delpech Les Motets pour la chapelle du roy à la cour de Saxe: Contours et enjeux d’un transfert musical (1697–1721) in: La circulation de la musique et des musiciens d’église: France (16e–18e siècle), eds. X. Bisaro, F.Thoraval, G. Clément, Paris 2017.