André Danican Philidor the Elder

André Danican Philidor the elder French: l’aîné (c. 1652, Versailles – 11 August 1730, Dreux), a member of the Philidor family of French musicians and referred to as André Danican Philidor le père after 1709, was a music librarian, instrumentalist, and composer. He is chiefly known as the organizer and principal copyist of what is now known as the Philidor Collection of French Baroque manuscript scores. Career as a librarian and copyist He was appointed Garde de la Bibliothèque de la Musique du Roi (Keeper of the King’s Music Library) sometime before 1684, although in 1694 he claimed to have been working as music librarian for 30 years. Philidor Collection Philidor’s atelier prepared manuscript copies of much of the music performed at the Palace of Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV, as well as some dating back to the reign of Henri IV. The earliest known copy is dated 1681. and the . A large number of manuscripts that Philidor prepared for the Count of Toulouse were owned by St Michael’s College, Tenbury. When these were sold in 1978, a number of volumes returned to France (Paris and Versailles). ) after Lully’s death in 1687. He may have hoped to be appointed to Lully’s pos