Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer (1705–1755)
A harpsichordist and opera composer at the court of Louis XV, Royer published in 1746 one of the most spectacular books of French Baroque harpsichord music, including the famous Marche des Scythes.
Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer was born around 1705 in Turin to French parents and settled in Paris in the 1720s, where he made his name as a harpsichordist and stage composer.
He wrote several operas, including Pyrrhus (1730) and Zaïde, reine de Grenade (1739). He became music master to the royal children and, from 1748, directed the Concert Spirituel, the main public concert series in Paris.
His Premier livre de pièces pour clavecin (1746) is his best-known work today. Several pieces in it are adapted from his operas. It contains brilliant character pieces — La Marche des Scythes, Le Vertigo, La Zaïde — that exploit every resource of the harpsichord: repeated notes, sweeping arpeggios and hand-crossings.
He died in Paris in 1755. Long forgotten, his music is now much loved by harpsichordists and pianists for its theatrical energy.
Piano sheet music (6)
- Premier livre de pièces de clavecin — movement 13 · level 4
- Premier livre de pièces de clavecin — movement 4 · level 5
- Premier livre de pièces de clavecin — movement 6 · level 5
- Premier livre de pièces de clavecin — movement 8 · level 5
- Premier livre de pièces de clavecin — movement 11 · level 6
- Premier livre de pièces de clavecin — movement 3 · level 3