Barthélémy Beaulaigue

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Barthélémy Beaulaigue [Beaulegue] (ca. 1544 - ?) was a French musician and composer, active in Marseille around 1558 and whose works were published in Lyon in 1558 and 1559. The only biographical elements available about Beaulaigue come from the two editions that appeared in his name, in Lyon. The dedication of his book of Chansons nouvelles tells us that he is not yet fifteen years old, that he is a choir boy at the cathedral of Marseille and that he is still under the rule of a tutor. No other document about him remains, nothing especially in the archives of Marseille, nor in the local chronicles. As Beaulaigue does not hesitate to dedicate his two volumes to Diane de Poitiers, as also his polyphonic writing is perfectly mastered, it was considered unlikely that such a young and accomplished musician left no trace of his activity in Marseille; his existence was questioned and the hypothesis was put in doubt that under this name was hiding an older musician, who was not identified. The hypothesis of a mystification is also supported by two things: the text of his dedication, very elaborate, seems to be a key text as it is circumvented and profusely symbolic. In addition, some events that occurred in Marseille and cited in the songs tended to show that some pieces were composed in 1551, when Beaulaigue was at most eight years old, or even in 1539 so before his birth. Recent research tends to show that the volumes would indeed be a musical deception, whose real objectives ar

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