Jean-Baptiste Besard

Jean -Baptiste Besard, Jean- Baptiste Besardus, (* 1567 in Besançon, † 1617) was a French lawyer, lutenist and composer.

Life

The son of a merchant from Besançon acquired at the University of Dole the academic degree of Dr. jur., But was also interested in music, physics, medicine and alchemy.

In Rome Jean -Baptiste Besard According received instruction at Lorenzo Tracetti, also known as Lorenzino, suonatore di liuto. He worked alongside many other studies with the collection and composition of works for the instrument. Since he was almost constantly from 1600 to travel, mainly in Italy and Germany, show his collections a very wide -ranging picture of the lute music of that time.

So its published in 1603 collection Thesaurus Harmonicus contains 403 lute pieces, some with vocals; 21 composers are represented, including Besard itself, and nearly all the musical forms of time occur. Many pieces have been included in later collections. 1617 appeared the slightly smaller collection Novus parturition (61 pieces, including ensemble pieces with Tiorbino ). Both collections are significant in terms of their scope, the universality of artistic taste, their influence and their historical context.

Besards detailed instruction for playing the lute in the Thesaurus (revised in Novus parturition ) is concerned particularly with fingerings and was later translated into English (Robert Dowland, Varietie of Lute - lessons, London 1610: " Wherento is Annexed certaine observations BELONGING to Lute -playing by Jon Baptiste Besardus of Visconti ").

Works

• Thesaurus harmonicus divini Laurencini Romani ... ADDITUS est operis extremitati de modo test in Udine studendi libellus (Cologne, 1603)
• Isagoge in artem testudinariam, that is: Gründtlicher Vnderricht VBER the artificial strings play the sounds ( Augsburg, 1617)
• Novus parturition immersive Concertationes Musicae ( Augsburg, 1617)