Chapelle royale


The chapelle royale was the musical establishment attached to the royal chapel of the French kings. The term may also be applied to the chapel buildings, the Chapelle royale de Versailles.
The establishment included a choir, organist and instrumentalists and was separate from the musique du chambre which performed secular music.

Maîtres and sous-maîtres of the Chapelle Royale

During the reign of Louis XII (1498–1515)

In 1511 Louis XII decided the responsibilities of the treasurer of the Sainte-Chapelle and the master of the chapelle royale. The death, and sumptuous 40-day funeral of Louis' wife, Anne of Brittany in 1514 marks the origin of a unified chapelle royale combining the chapels of both Louis and Anne. Though at Anne's funeral the two chapels sang separately for the last time. Louis' Chapelle du Roi led by Antoine de Févin, included Johannes Prioris, Costanzo Festa, and Antoine de Longueval but not Jean Braconnier. Anne's Chapelle de la Reine led by Antoine Divitis included Jean Mouton, Jean Richafort, Claudin de Sermisy, and Pierre Moulu.

François I (1515–1547)

  • François I inherited all 29 singers of the combined chapels of Louis and Anne. Claudin de Sermisy, who was earlier noted as clerc musicien of the Sainte-Chapelle in 1508, and in 1515 as a member of the Chapelle Royale under Louis II, from 1532 became sous-maître of the chapelle of François I. From 1547 to 1553, Guillame Belin and Hilaire Rousseau also were ''sous-maîtres de la chapelle.''

    Henri II (1547–1559), François II (1559–1560)

  • Pierre Certon.

    Charles IX (1560–1574), Henri III (1574–1589), Henri IV, Bourbon (1589–1610)

was the king whom legend tells said "Paris is worth a Mass."
On the 1683 retirement of Henry Du Mont and Pierre Robert the position of maître of the chapelle was divided into four positions:
1761 Four posts reduced to two.