Jean-Marie Leclair l'aîné (Jean-Marie Leclair the Elder) (10 May 1697 – 22 October 1764)[1] was a FrenchBaroqueviolinist andcomposer. He is considered to have founded the French violin school. His brothers, the lesser-knownJean-Marie Leclair the younger (1703–77) as well as Pierre Leclair (1709–84) and Jean-Benoît Leclair (1714–after 1759), were also musicians.
Leclair was born inLyon, but left to studydance and theviolin inTurin. In 1716, he married Marie-Rose Casthanie, a dancer, who died about 1728. Leclair had returned toParis in 1723, where he played at theConcert Spirituel, the main semi-public music series. His works included several sonatas forflute andbasso continuo.
In 1730, Leclair married for the second time. His new wife was theengraver Louise Roussel, who prepared for printing all his works from Opus 2 onward. He was namedordinaire de la musique (Director of Music of the Chapel and the Apartments) byLouis XV in 1733, Leclair dedicated his third book of violin sonatas to the king.[2] Leclair resigned in 1736 after a clash withJean-Pierre Guignon over control of the musique du Roi.[2]
Leclair was then engaged bythe Princess of Orange – a fineharpsichordist and former student ofHandel – and from 1738 until 1743, served three months annually at her court in Leeuwarden, working inThe Hague as a privatemaestro di cappella for the remainder of the year. He returned toParis in 1743. His only operaScylla et Glaucus was first performed in 1746 and has been revived in modern times. From 1740 until his death in Paris, he served the Duke of Gramont, in whose private theatre atPuteaux were staged works to which Leclair is known to have contributed. They included, in particular, a lengthy divertissement for the comedyLes dangers des épreuves (1749) and one complete entrée,Apollon et Climène, for theopéra-ballet by various authors,Les amusemens lyriques (1750).[3]
Leclair was renowned as a violinist and as a composer. He successfully drew upon all of Europe's national styles. Many suites, sonatas, and concertos survive along with his opera, while some vocal works, ballets, and other stage music are lost.
In 1758, after the break-up of his second marriage, Leclair purchased a small house in a dangerous Parisian neighbourhood in the northern part ofLe Marais near the oldTemple, where he was found stabbed to death on 23 October 1764.[4] Although themurder remains a mystery, there is a possibility that his ex-wife may have been behind it—her motive being financial gain—although suspicion also rests strongly on his nephew, Guillaume-François Vial, an embittered violinist who desperately wanted employment.[5]
Leclair was buried in the Church of Saint-Laurent, in Paris.
