Claude Le Jeune

Le Jeune was a court composer and musician for the Duke of Anjou, and later, for the court of Henry IV. A Protestant, he experienced religious persecution during his lifetime and once was forced to flee Paris because of Catholic hostilities. As a leading exponent of musique mesuree a l'antique and other innovative theories Le Jeune had a great effect on the music of France in his time. His experiments in rhythm and harmony revised the methods of the ancients and combined them with those of the previous two centuries. Le Jeune's music is characteristically elegant with innovative rhythms and, remaining popular throughout the 17th century, inspired the air de cour, the ballet de cour and Monteverdi's Scherzi musicali. ~ Lynn Vought