# Jean-Féry Rebel



## Taggart

Jean-Féry Rebel (1666-1747) was an innovative French Baroque composer and violinist. He could have done with a good PR man as some of his portraits are terrible.









This is credited to Antoine Watteau and shows Rebel in about 1710.

Rebel was a student of the great composer Jean-Baptiste Lully. By 1699 Rebel had become first violinist of the Académie royale de musique (Royal Academy of Music) and at the Opéra. Rebel went to Spain in 1700. Upon his return to France in 1705 he was given a place in the 24 Violons du Roy (Violins of the King). Rebel served as court composer, maître de musique at the Académie, and director of the Concert spirituel.

In honor of his teacher, Rebel composed Le Tombeau de M. Lully (literally, the Tomb of Monsieur Lully; figuratively, A Tribute to Lully). Some of Rebel's compositions were choreographed "symphonies." His Les Caractères de la danse presented the leading dance rhythms of the time and combined music with dance. Among his boldest original compositions is Les élémens ("The Elements") which describes the creation of the world.


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## Ingélou

I got to know about Rebel because he is my gifted violin teacher's favourite French Baroque composer. Chaos & the Elements is amazing - so 'out of its time' & bold. 'Les Caractères de la Danse' is more what you'd expect: elegant, charming, graceful; but still with extra oomph. I love it!


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## science

The elements, especially Chaos, is one of my favorite compositions.


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## Ravndal

what the f... this is some real heavy stuff. And from 1737!?!? (the elements)


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## Taggart

Ravndal said:


> what the f... this is some real heavy stuff. And from 1737!?!? (the elements)


True Baroque and Roll!


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## Cheyenne

Besides the great elements, I have a cpo disc of his trio sonatas, which are quite fun too.


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## Ingélou

Cheyenne said:


> Besides the great elements, I have a cpo disc of his trio sonatas, which are quite fun too.


Oh, thanks, Cheyenne - I've found a YouTube clip & will listen to them!


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## Norse

I only know The Elements so far, which has some very nice movements, although the opening Chaos is the only one with 'avantgarde' elements as far as I can remember. The Air pour l'Amour is incredibly sweet and light.


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## Cheyenne

Taggart said:


> In honor of his teacher, Rebel composed Le Tombeau de M. Lully (literally, the Tomb of Monsieur Lully; figuratively, A Tribute to Lully).


The 'Tombeau' was actually a common musical genre at the time, basically a sort of elegy.

The disc I spoke of earlier was not in fact cpo, but from an apparently unidentifiable label. Either way, the _Ensemble Rebel_ - who evidently named themselves after Rebel - play a selection of his trio sonatas, which follow the Corellian form. (Italian music overtook the French musical landscape quickly after the death of Lully.) It has been re-released on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, here. Andrew Manze also recorded a selection of the same 1712 publication, _Recueil de 12 Sonates a Il et Ill Parties_, which you can find here. Despite consisting mostly of trio sonatas (7, the other 5 are violin sonatas) you will likely see recordings of it always labeled 'violin sonatas', which makes it quite difficult to distinguish it from the violin sonatas published a year later, but I believe this disc contains some of them, next to one of his 1705 suites for violin and basso continuo, of which he composed three. Hugo Ryene also once performed Rebel's only opera, Ulysse, and that recording, though out of print, can be found here.

By the way, if you were planning on getting the Manze set, do consider buying this compilation: http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Violin-Archangelo-Corelli/dp/B002HNA94U/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top I'm buying it right now, as for some ridiculous error, it is only_ 15 bucks_ at a certain site here, which is significantly less expensive than any the individual recordings..


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## Guest

I only know him from this recording of his violin sonatas, which are some of my favorites from the Baroque era.


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## joen_cph

Judging from the famous portrait shown also in the OP above, Rebel must have been of short stature.

If anyone stumbles upon information about his approximate height, I'd be interested in knowing it; it's for a possible project.

There's a somewhat more detailed biography here
http://www.early-music.com/what-is-early-music/jean-fery-rebel-1666-1747/


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