Pierre Février

Pierre Février (21 March 1696 – 5 November 1760) was a French baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist.

Biography Born in Abbeville, Province of Picardy, in 1696, he arrived in Paris in 1720 and served as titular organist of two churches on Saint-Honoré street: the Jacobins' church (destroyed at the Revolution) and Saint-Roch (still standing). Claude-Bénigne Balbastre, who moved to Paris in 1750, was among his pupils and eventually succeeded Février at Saint-Roch. Pierre Février died in Paris on 5 November 1760.

Works Two volumes of his harpsichord pieces are extant. The first one is dated 1734 and contains five suites: Suite in A major Allemande la Magnanime Le Concert des Dieux - Double du concert La Délectable Le Berceau La Boufonne ou la Paysanne Suite in D minor Fugue Courante Les Plaisirs des Sens Le Labyrinthe Ariette et doubles Suite in B minor Fugue L'Intrépide La Grotesque Suite in D major Gavotte et doubles Le Brinborion Le Tendre Language Tambourin Suite (Festes de Campagne) in C major Entrée Musette 2 Menuets Le Gros Colas et la Grosse Jeanne Les Petites Bergères

The second volume, composed after 1734 and before 1737, was discovered in the late 1990s in a private collection in Belgium (Arenberg). It contains two harpsichord suites that follow a similar pattern, mixing dances and descriptive pièces de caractère in the typical late Baroque French tradition:

1st Suite in G Minor Les Liens Harmoniques - Rondeau La Caressante - Rondeau La Fertillante La petite Coquette Tambourin - Rondeau 2nd Suite in C Minor Allemande Les Tendres Tourterelles - Rondeau Les Croisades - Rondeau Menuet