JEAN-JOSEPH CASSANÉA DE MONDONVILLE (1711-1772)
Sonate No. 1 for orchestra "Sonates en Symphonies" Op. 3
1. Overtura: Grave, staccato - Allegro
2. Aria: Gratioso e poco piano (3:16)
3. Gigha: Allegro (5:50)
Performed by Les Musiciens du Louvre
Directed by Marc Minkowski
www.mdlg.net/fr/
"The Rape of Europa" (1747) by François Boucher (1703 - 1770)
*Jean-Joseph de Mondonville, also known as Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville, was a French violinist and composer. He was a younger contemporary of Jean-Philippe Rameau and enjoyed great success in his day. Pierre-Louis Daquin (son of the composer Louis Claude Daquin) claimed: "If I couldn't be Rameau, there's no one I would rather be than Mondonville.
Mondonville was born in Narbonne in Southwest France to an aristocratic family which had fallen on hard times. In 1733 he moved to Paris where he gained the patronage of the king's mistress Madame de Pompadour and won several musical posts, including violinist for the Concert Spirituel.
His first opus was a volume of violin sonatas, published in 1733. He became a violinist of the royal chapel and chamber and performed in some 100 concerts; some of his grands motets were also performed that year receiving considerable acclaim. He was appointed sous-maître in 1740 and then, in 1744, intendant of the Royal Chapel. He produced operas and grands motets for the Opéra and Concert spirituel respectively, and was associated with the Théatre des Petits-Cabinets, all the while maintaining his career as a violinist throughout the 1740s. In 1755, he became director of the Concert Spirituel on the death of Royer. He died in Belleville near Paris at the age of sixty.
Due to the popularity of his unique "Piece de clavecin en sonates avec accompagnement de violon" Op. 3 (1734), Mondonville rearranged the works for orchestral forces in 1748-1749.