Gaspard Corrette

Gaspard Corrette was a French organist and composer born in Rouen around 1670 or 1671 and who died in Paris before 1730. The son of a Rouen dancing master, he is above all known as the father of the celebrated Michel Corrette, the first of the eight children he had with Marguerite Vérard, whom he married in Rouen in 1700, when he was twenty-nine.

In 1703 he applied for the post of organist at the cathedral of Saint Herblain, although Boyvin, with whom he may have studied, remained in the post for another three years. He did not win the position in the relevant competitive examination, and he subsequently served at three other churches in Rouen: Saint Pierre le Portier (1708-1711), Saint Denis (for part of 1711) and Saint Jean (1711-1720). Around 1720 he moved to Paris, where one document records him as an apprentice dancing master at the age of forty-nine, while others cite him as an organist; it seems possible that these could be two musicians of the same name. His connection with Delft, mentioned by Michel on a title page, remains unexplained.

His principal work is the Messe du 8e ton pour l'orgue à l'usage des dames religieuses, published in Paris in 1703, a complete set of versets in the vein of François Couperin's convent mass, to which are added two graduals and an extra elevation. Musically it depends to a considerable extent on the work of Boyvin, but its preface is valuable for its indications on registration and ornamentation.