Joseph Bodin de Boismortier
prisant du tabac

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (1689 – 1755) was probably the first free-lance composer in history.  He started life as a duty collector for the régie royale des tabacs in Perpignan.  During this time he published two drinking songs. With increasing recognition of his music, he moved to Paris where he received his first royal permission to publish music in 1724.

During his lifetime he was criticized as being too “commercial”, and profiting from the tastes of the day for music which was technically undemanding,  graceful, and which was playable by amateurs.  With an excess of 100 opus numbers to his credit, Boismortier’s reply to his critics was “I make money”.

Boismortier was responsible for introducing the Italian term Concerto into French music. The music of his concertos is very Italianate, with the composer abandoning the heavily ornamented French style of the period.