Jacques-Martin Hotteterre

Jacques-Martin Hotteterre

Jacques-Martin Hotteterre (29 September 1674 – 16 July 1763), also known as Jacques Martin or Jacques Hotteterre, was a French composer and flautist. Jacques-Martin Hotteterre was the most celebrated of a family of wind instrument makers and wind performers.

Biography

Jacques-Martin Hotteterre was born in Paris, the son of Martin Hotteterre (d. 1712) and Marie Crespy. In about 1704, Jacques-Martin Hotteterre succeeded his cousin Jacques in the post of basse de hautbois et taille de violon at the royal court.

Hotteterre lived and studied in Rome early in his career, and his nickname le Romain (the Roman) came from this period. He spent two years (1698–1700) employed by Prince Francesco Ruspoli in Rome, before adopting the nickname of "Le Romain" at some point between 1705 and 1707. By 1708, he became a musician to the king of France, in the king's 'Grande Écurie, and in 1717, he inherited René Pignon Descoteaux's post as Jouëur de Fluste de la musique de chambre.

Hotteterre owed his fame largely to his talent playing the flute, an instrument for which he wrote a number of pieces, significantly extending the repertory for the instrument. In addition, he played the bassoon, oboe, and musette.^{[citation needed]} Jacques-Martin Hotteterre was also an internationally celebrated teacher to aristocratic patrons. He wrote one method for the transverse flute, recorder, and oboe, published in 1707, as well as a method for the musette, published in 1737. His L'Art de préluder sur la flûte traversière was published in 1719. It underscores his highly developed technique^{[citation needed]} and includes pieces in nineteen keys.

In addition to performance and teaching, Hotteterre continued his family's tradition of wind instrument making. It may have been Hotteterre who made a number of changes in the design of the transverse flute, though there is little concrete evidence for this. Most notably, the flute, which had previously been made in one cylindrical piece, was cut in three pieces: the head (with the mouthpiece), the body (with most of the holes), and the foot (with one, keyed hole for the low E♭).

He died in Paris in 1763.

Compositions

• Op. 1 Principes de la flûte traversière, ou flûte d'Allemangne, de la flûte à bec ou flûte douce et du hautbois, divisez par traictez (1701)
• Op. 2 Premier livre de pièces pour la flûte traversière et autres instruments avec la basse (1708)
• Op. 3 Sonates en trio pour les flûtes traversières et a bec, violon, hautbois (1712)
• Op. 4 Première suitte de pièces suite de pièces à deux dessus, sans basse continue. Pour les flûtes-traversières, flûtes à bec, violes, " (1712)
• Op. 5 Deuxième livre de pièces pour la flûte traversière et autres instruments avec la basse (1715)
• Op. 6 Deuxième suite de pièces à deux dessus pour les flûtes-traversières, flûtes à bec, violes, etc... avec une basse adjoutée et sans altération des dessus, laquelle on y pourra joindre pour le concert" (1717)
• Op. 7 L'art de Préluder (1719)
• Op. 8 Troisième suite de pièces à deux dessus (1722)
• Op. 9 Concert de Rossignol (lost)
• Op. 10 Méthode pour la Musette contenant des principes, par un recueil d'airs et quelques préludes (1738)

• Airs et brunettes à deux et trois dessus avec la basse - Tirez des meilleurs autheurs (1721)
• Arrangements of pieces by Valentine and Torelli for two flutes
• Arrangement of trios by Albinoni (lost)

References

• Giannini, Tula. 1993a. "Jacques Hotteterre le Romain and his Father Martin: A Re-examination Based on Recently Found Documents". Early Music 21, no. 3 (August): 377–95. [Includes genealogical chart, illustrations, transcriptions and translations of documents.]
• Giannini, Tula. 1993b. Great Flute Makers of France, the Lot and Godfroy Families (1650-1900). London: Tony Bingham. ISBN 094611305X
• Sardelli, Federico Maria. 2007. Vivaldi's Music for Flute and Recorder, translated by Michael Talbot. Aldershot, England; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, in association with the Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi/Fondazione "Giorgio Cini". ISBN 075463714X

External links

• Free scores by Jacques-Martin Hotteterre in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)