Louis XIV’s Master of Music
Jean Baptiste Lully (1632 – 1687) was a musical giant in his lifetime – a master of French baroque and the most successful musician of his era. Lully was a French court and opera composer, instrumentalist, and dancer who spent most of his career in the court of King Louis XIV of France. From 1662, he completely dominated French court music, and such prominence in the Sun King’s court, Europe’s most splendid, led to widespread imitation of Lully’s style throughout Europe.
Born in Florence as Giovanni Battista Lulli, he later Gallicized his name when was naturalized as a French subject. His rise began when at age fourteen, he was clowning with a violin on the street, and attracted the attention of a visiting French duke. The nobleman took him back with him to France so his niece could have someone to converse with in Italian. Lully honed his skills in the lady’s household, and soon gained renown as a genius violinist, guitarist, and dancer. In an unfortunate twist of fate, he is remembered nowadays more for his odd death than the accomplishments of his life.
