Jean-Marie Leclair

Jean-Marie Leclair l'aîné (Jean-Marie Leclair the Elder) (10 May 1697 – 22 October 1764) was a French Baroque violinist and composer. He is considered to have founded the French violin school. His brothers, the lesser-known Jean-Marie Leclair the younger (1703–77) as well as Pierre Leclair (1709–84) and Jean-Benoît Leclair (1714–after 1759), were also musicians.

Biography Leclair was born in Lyon, but left to study dance and the violin in Turin. In 1716, he married Marie-Rose Casthanie, a dancer, who died about 1728. Leclair had returned to Paris in 1723, where he played at the Concert Spirituel, the main semi-public music series. His works included several sonatas for flute and basso continuo.

In 1730, Leclair married for the second time. His new wife was the engraver Louise Roussel, who prepared for printing all his works from Opus 2 onward. He was named ordinaire de la musique (Director of Music of the Chapel and the Apartments) by Louis XV in 1733, Leclair dedicated his third book of violin sonatas to the king. Leclair resigned in 1736 after a clash with Jean-Pierre Guignon over control of the musique du Roi.

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.

Murder

In 1758, after the break-up of his second marriage, Leclair purchased a small house in a dangerous Parisian neighbourhood in the northern part of Le Marais near the old Temple, where he was found stabbed to death on 23 October 1764. Although the murder 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.

Leclair was buried in the Church of Saint-Laurent, in Paris.

List of works Source: Op. 1 No. 1 – Violin Sonata in A minor Op. 1 No. 2 – Violin Sonata in C major Op. 1 No. 3 – Violin Sonata in B flat major Op. 1 No. 4 – Violin Sonata in D major Op. 1 No. 5 – Violin Sonata in G major Op. 1 No. 6 – Violin Sonata in E minor Op. 1 No. 7 – Violin Sonata in F major Op. 1 No. 8 – Violin Sonata in G major Op. 1 No. 9 – Violin Sonata in A major Op. 1 No. 10 – Violin Sonata in D major Op. 1 No. 11 – Violin Sonata in B flat major Op. 1 No. 12 – Violin Sonata in B minor Op. 2 No. 1 – Violin Sonata in E minor Op. 2 No. 2 – Violin Sonata in F major Op. 2 No. 3 – Violin Sonata in C major Op. 2 No. 4 – Violin Sonata in A major Op. 2 No. 5 – Violin Sonata in G major Op. 2 No. 6 – Violin Sonata in D major Op. 2 No. 7 – Violin Sonata in B flat major Op. 2 No. 8 – Violin Sonata in D major Op. 2 No. 9 – Violin Sonata in E major Op. 2 No. 10 – Violin Sonata in C minor Op. 2 No. 11 – Violin Sonata in B minor Op. 2 No. 12 – Violin Sonata in G minor Op. 3 No. 1 – Sonata for 2 violins in G major Op. 3 No. 2 – Sonata for 2 violins in A major Op. 3 No. 3 – Sonata for 2 violins in C major Op. 3 No. 4 – Sonata for 2 violins in F major Op. 3 No. 5 – Sonata for 2 violins in E minor Op. 3 No. 6 – Sonata for 2 violins in D major Op. 4 No. 1 – Trio for 2 violins & continuo in D minor Op. 4 No. 2 – Trio for 2 violins & continuo in B flat major Op. 4 No. 3 – Trio for 2 violins & continuo in D minor Op. 4 No. 4 – Trio for 2 violins & continuo in F major Op. 4 No. 5 – Trio for 2 violins & continuo in G minor Op. 4 No. 6 – Trio for 2 violins & continuo in A major Op. 5 No. 1 – Violin Sonata in A major Op. 5 No. 2 – Violin Sonata in F major Op. 5 No. 3 – Violin Sonata in E minor Op. 5 No. 4 – Violin Sonata in B flat major Op. 5 No. 5 – Violin Sonata in B minor Op. 5 No. 6 – Violin Sonata in C minor "Le Tombeau" Op. 5 No. 7 – Violin Sonata in A minor Op. 5 No. 8 – Violin Sonata in D major Op. 5 No. 9 – Violin Sonata in E major Op. 5 No. 10 – Violin Sonata in C major Op. 5 No. 11 – Violin Sonata in G minor Op. 5 No. 12 – Violin Sonata in G major Op. 6 – Récréation de musique in D major Op. 7 No. 1 – Violin Concerto in D minor (1737 homotonal, with all movements in D minor) Op. 7 No. 2 – Violin Concerto in D major Op. 7 No. 3 – Violin Concerto in C major Op. 7 No. 4 – Violin Concerto in F major Op. 7 No. 5 – Violin Concerto in A minor Op. 7 No. 6 – Violin Concerto in A major Op. 8 – Récréation de musique in G minor Op. 9 No. 1 – Violin Sonata in A major Op. 9 No. 2 – Violin Sonata in E minor Op. 9 No. 3 – Violin Sonata in D major "Le Tambourin" Op. 9 No. 4 – Violin Sonata in A major Op. 9 No. 5 – Violin Sonata in A minor Op. 9 No. 6 – Violin Sonata in D major Op. 9 No. 7 – Violin Sonata in G major Op. 9 No. 8 – Violin Sonata in C major Op. 9 No. 9 – Violin Sonata in E flat major Op. 9 No. 10 – Violin Sonata in F sharp minor Op. 9 No. 11 – Violin Sonata in G minor Op. 9 No. 12 – Violin Sonata in G major Op. 10 No. 1 – Violin Concerto in B flat major Op. 10 No. 2 – Violin Concerto in A major Op. 10 No. 3 – Violin Concerto in D major Op. 10 No. 4 – Violin Concerto in F major Op. 10 No. 5 – Violin Concerto in E minor Op. 10 No. 6 – Violin Concerto in G minor Op. 11 – Scylla et Glaucus, tragédie en musique with prologue and five acts (opera, fp. 1746) Op. 12 No. 1 – Sonata for 2 violins in B minor Op. 12 No. 2 – Sonata for 2 violins in E major Op. 12 No. 3 – Sonata for 2 violins in D major Op. 12 No. 4 – Sonata for 2 violins in A major Op. 12 No. 5 – Sonata for 2 violins in G minor Op. 12 No. 6 – Sonata for 2 violins in B flat major Divertissement for Le danger des épreuves, a one-act comedy given at the Duke of Gramont's theatre at Puteaux on 19 June 1749 [lost] Apollon et Climène, seconde entrée des Amusemens lyriques, given at the Duke of Gramont's theatre at Puteaux, in February 1750 [lost] Incidental airs and dances for various theatrical productions (1751–1764) [lost] Op. 13 No. 1 – Ouvertura for 2 violins & continuo in G major Op. 13 No. 2 – Trio for 2 violins & continuo in D major Op. 13 No. 3 – Ouvertura for 2 violins & continuo in D major Op. 13 No. 4 – Trio for 2 violins & continuo in B minor Op. 13 No. 5 – Ouvertura for 2 violins & continuo in A major Op. 13 No. 6 – Trio for 2 violins & continuo in G minor Op. 14 – Trio for 2 violins & continuo in A major Op. 15 – Violin Sonata in F major