Simon Simon

Simon Simon (born in either in 1720 or 1735, near Rambouillet; died after 1788 in Dreux) was a French harpsichordist and composer. Biography Most of the accounts of his life derive from the recollections of Jean-Benjamin de La Borde, in his . Youth At the age of seven, he was entrusted to his uncle Butet, organist at an abbey near Caen. It is remarked that “the mediocrity of the master’s talents spread to the progress of the pupil”. At age thirteen, his harpsichord skills were noticed by the Marquise de la Mézangère, a pupil of François Couperin. In 1747 she decided to take him in at her Paris to teach him the harpsichord while the violinist Saint-Saire taught him music. He later went on to study composition with Antoine Dauvergne. Career Louis XV gave Simon Simon the role of harpsichord teacher to the heirs to the throne, and later also the Queen Marie Leszczyńska and the Countess of Artois. He married a Mademoiselle Tardif, pupil of Le Tourneur, who became his assistant. Throughout the reign of Louis XVI he remained at Versailles. He survived the French Revolution, and retired to Montfort-l’Amaury and then to Dreux. Works Simon Simon published three books of harpsichord pieces, b