Charles Racquet (1597–1664) was a French organist and composer, best known for his monumental organ Fantaisie.
He came from a large family of Parisian organists and himself was appointed organist of Notre Dame de Paris at an early age, in 1618. He held the post until shortly before his death and was succeeded by another member of the Racquet family. He also served as musician to Marie de' Medici (a post that his father Balthazar occupied earlier)[1] and to Anne d'Autriche, the Queen Mother.[2] Racquet was very highly regarded by his contemporaries: his pupils included the famous lutenist Denis Gaultier (who wrote a tombeau on his teacher's death), Jesuit scholar Marin Mersenne was a close friend of his. In the 18th century writer Jean-Benjamin La Borde named Racquet "the best organist of his time."[1]
First staves of the Fantasie by Charles Racquet
Of Racquet's music only a single organ Fantaisie and Douze versets de psaume en duo sur les douze modes (12 duos on psalm verses) survive, in Mersenne's Traité de l'harmonie universelle (1636). The fantasia, written upon Mersenne's request to "show what could be done at the organ", is one of the most famous pieces of the French organ school. It is inspired by Dutch music, particularly that of Sweelinck: a single theme is developed through several sections, most of them imitative. The layout is as follows:[3]
Section 1: traditional imitative counterpoint with several countersubjects
Section 2: imitative counterpoint on an ornamented version of the subject, with faster counterpoints
Section 3: subject in augmentation, stated once in each voice
Section 4: a bicinium duplici contrapuncto, a two-voice section in which the subject in its original form is combined with sixteenth-note figures in the other voice
Section 5: a toccata above a pedal point
Racquet's Fantaisie is a unique piece in the entire French keyboard repertory; nothing like it was ever written again in France.[3]
CharlesRacquet (1597–1664) was a French organist and composer, best known for his monumental organ Fantaisie. He came from a large family of Parisian...
The "spaghetti" racquet was a type of double-strung tennis racquet that had a brief spike in popularity in the fall of 1977, revolutionizing the sport...
The Racquet Club was a resort in Palm Springs, California, founded by actors Charles Farrell and Ralph Bellamy, which opened on December 15, 1934. Originally...
fictionalized version of himself as the owner of a Racquet Club. Farrell sold his real-life Racquet club in 1959 for $1.2 million but returned as club...
The Racquet and Tennis Club, familiarly known as the R&T, is a private social and athletic club at 370 Park Avenue, between East 52nd and 53rd Streets...
Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms...
France: Solstice, 1992. SOCD 94/6. 3 CDs. Boléro sur un thème de CharlesRacquet for organ and percussion. Improvised in May 1973 at Notre-Dame de Paris...
Louis Marchand Christophe Moyreau Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers Charles Piroye CharlesRacquet André Raison François Roberday Claude-Bénigne Balbastre Jacques-Marie...
Constantijn Huygens 1596 – 1687 Dutch Mathieu Gascongne fl. 1517–1518 French CharlesRacquet 1597 – 1664 French Andreas Düben 1597 – 1662 Swedish Johann Crüger...
(1935–2017) Peer Raben (1940–2007) Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) CharlesRacquet (1597–1664) Mikołaj Radomski (Nicolaus de Radom) (fl. c. 1400) Jean-Théodore...
1662) date unknown Charles d'Helfer, French baroque composer and maître de musique at Soissons Cathedral (died 1661) CharlesRacquet, organist and composer...
that the chant itself is in the bass). Jean Titelouze (c. 1563–1633) CharlesRacquet (1598–1664) Louis Couperin (c. 1626–1661) François Roberday (1624–1680)...
translator (born 1606) Michel Corneille the Elder, painter (born c.1601) CharlesRacquet, organist and composer (born 1597) Antoine Singlin, Jansenist Catholic...
church. She gave him a son in 1642 who was named Charles in honor of his godfather, CharlesRacquet, the famous organist of Notre Dame de Paris. With...
teachers, among them CharlesRacquet, but no evidence exists of any lessons. Fétis's early claim that Jean Titelouze taught Racquet is now regarded as insubstantial...
1720) date unknown – Daniel Purcell, composer (died 1717) January 1 – CharlesRacquet, organist (born c. 1598) July 16 – Andreas Gryphius, librettist and...
National Academician in 1907. He belonged to the university, Lambs, and Racquet and Tennis Clubs of New York, and to the St. Botolph and Somerset Clubs...
little is known about Gaultier's career. He may have studied under CharlesRacquet, since he commemorated the lutenist's death with a tombeau. Until at...
several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis")...
McHugh. Bellamy opened the Palm Springs Racquet Club in Palm Springs, California, with fellow actor Charles Farrell in 1934. Bellamy was married four...
proceeds from Racquet Galop. Simmons’ music was published in America and internationally by Augener & Co., Carl Fischer Music, Charles Sheard & Co., Edwin...
The head of a racquet may vary somewhat in size and shape. The heads are circular and about 30 centimetres (12 in) in diameter. The racquet handles are...
Global Information