His works were mostly farcical operas, but they also embraced a number of motets (sacred music compositions) and a few lyric tragedies. Philidor divided his time between the cities of Paris and London. He died in England at the age of 69, exiled from his homeland.
On September 7, 1726, the composer who came to be known as "Philidor" was born in Dreux, France to 79 year old Andre Danican and his youthful third wife. The father, best known as the organizer of the Philidor Collection, a compilation of famous musical pieces, was a recently retired bassoon player of King Louis XIV. His wife is said to have been greatly unsophisticated. The boy, Francois-Andre Danican, was last to inherit the title "Philidor" that had been passed down in his family for generations since the reign of King Louis XIII in the early 1600's. The king had dubbed an ancestor, Michel Danican, as first in the line of a beloved dynasty of musicians that got their names from a favored Italian player named "Filidori."
Music at the Royal Chapel
At the age of six, only two years after his father's death, young Philidor was admitted as a page of the Royal Chapel at Versailles.
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