Louis-Maurice de La Pierre

Louis-Maurice de La Pierre was a French composer born in Versailles in 1697 and died in Lunéville in 1753. He belongs to the musical life of the Lorraine court in the eighteenth century, a setting of modest scale but with ties to the France of Louis XV, and his output is known above all for cantatas and pieces written for courtly occasions.

The first references to him date from around 1722, when one of his songs was included in the Ballard collection, and in 1728 two books of cantatas were published. From 1729 he was in the service of Stanislas, Duke of Lorraine and former King of Poland, first at Chambord and, in 1737, as superintendent of music in Lorraine. In February 1744 he married Thérèse Salcenska, a lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Poland, at Lunéville. They had a son in May 1749. La Pierre died four years later and was buried in the Capuchin church in Lunéville.

Alongside cantatas and cantatilles, he composed a motet, some instrumental pieces and two stage works, divertissements celebrating the name days of the Kings of Poland. His music is distinguished by elegant melodies and competent craftsmanship, with a recognisable, if superficial, charm. His cantatas show the influence of Lully. Some of his instrumental works have been lost, and several sources come from old private collections, so his catalogue is not fully documented.