Jean-Féry Rebel

Jean-Féry Rebel (1666 –1747) was a French baroque composer, harpsichordist, conductor and violin virtuoso. His father, Jean Rebel, was a singer in Louis XIV’s private chapel. Jean-Féry Rebel was a child prodigy, and he was already renowned as a violinist by the age of eight. He studied under one of the true masters of French baroque music, Jean-Baptiste Lully. In 1699, at the age of 33, Rebel became first violinist at the Académie Royale de Musique and the Opéra. Between 1700 and 1705 he worked in Spain, and upon his return to France he played in the prestigious Vingt-quatre violons du roy ensemble. He conducted the Concert Spirituel, and in 1726 he received the title of Court Chamber-Composer. Rebel was the first French composer to write sonatas in the Italian style. His works are marked by their originality; his contemporaries sometimes had trouble following his rhythmic and harmonic novelties. His best-known work, Les élémens (The Elements), uses music to describe the creation of the world.