Jacques Thomelin

Jacques Thomelin, also known as Jacques-Denis or Alexandre-Jacques-Denis Thomelin, was a French composer, harpsichordist, and organist born in Paris around 1635 and dead there on 28 October 1693. He belonged to a Parisian family headed by his father Jacques, a master writer and bourgeois of Paris. Thomelin spent his life largely in Paris, where he lived successively in the parishes of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, Saint-Étienne du Mont, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and later on rue de la Verrerie.

The details of his musical training are unknown, but he was already active as an organist by 1653. He served at Saint-André-des-Arts until June 1669 and at the Carmelites of Place Maubert, a position he retained until his death. In 1667 he became the first titular organist of the new organ at the Carmelite church, built by the sons of Pierre Thierry, and he held that post until 1685, when he passed it to his pupil Tassin.

In 1669 Thomelin succeeded Étienne Richard as organist of Saint-Jacques-la-Boucherie. The agreement for this appointment specified an annual salary of 400 livres, part of which was withheld for official lodging belonging to the parish. During the 1670s he entered a period of considerable fame and was repeatedly called upon as an expert on organs, showing the high regard in which he was held in Parisian musical life.

His reputation culminated in 1678, when he competed for the organist post of the Chapelle royale after the death of Joseph Chabanceau de La Barre. He won the competition and received the first quarter of service, while Jean-Baptiste Buterne, Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers, and Nicolas Lebègue took the remaining quarters. He also served on the jury of the important April 1683 competition for the posts of sub-maîtres of the king's chapel, and beyond his musical duties he purchased the office of Secrétaire ordinaire du roi.

Thomelin was also active as a teacher. Between 1679 and 1685 he gave lessons to the young François Couperin, and he may also have taught François de Lalande. After Thomelin's death, Couperin succeeded him in his quarter at the Chapelle royale. At Saint-Jacques-la-Boucherie and at the Carmelites of Place Maubert, Thomelin designated his nephew Louis-Jacques Thomelin, son of his elder brother Guillaume, as his successor.

He married Hélène Dumelin on 10 November 1653. She was the daughter of a Parisian goldsmith and brought a dowry of 2400 livres. They had two daughters, including Éléonore and Marie-Madeleine. Thomelin died four days after drafting his testament and was buried in the church of Saint-Jacques-la-Boucherie. His posthumous inventory records cash, as well as musical manuscripts left to his widow, though some papers later disappeared in family disputes and have never resurfaced.

Only a small part of Thomelin's music survives. Several organ pieces are preserved in the Brussels manuscript MS III 926, and a few harpsichord allemandes are known from manuscript sources in Berkeley and Paris. A collection of his organ works may have been prepared for publication by his son according to a privilege request of 1698, but that volume is now lost, if it was ever actually printed. His surviving music and his role as teacher of François Couperin make him an important figure in seventeenth-century French keyboard music.

Connections

This figure has 1 connection in the Music Lineage catalog.