Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers

Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers (c. 1632, Paris – 13 November 1714) was a French organist, composer and theorist. His first livre d’orgue is the earliest surviving published collection with traditional French organ school forms (a collection by Louis Couperin that is in manuscript does not seem to have been published. See Guy Oldham, “Louis Couperin: A New Source of French Keyboard Music of the Mid-17th Century”, Recherches sur la musique française classique, Vol. I (1960), pp. 51–59). Nivers’s other music is less known; however, his treatises on Gregorian chant and basso continuo are still considered important sources on 17th century liturgical music and performance practice. Life Nivers was born into a prosperous Parisian family: his father was a fermier générale (tax collector) for the bishop. Little is known of his early years or his musical training; only that he may have received a degree from the University of Paris. In the early 1650s, Nivers became organist of Saint-Sulpice, a post he retained until 1702. In 1668 the composer married; he had one son. Nivers’s subsequent career was illustrious. On 19 June 1678 he was appointed one of the four organists of the Chapelle Royale—an en