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Books by Bill Wall |
In 1755, Francois-Andre Danican Philidor applied unsuccessfully for the post of court composer at Versailles and Master of the Chapel Royal, where two new motets of his compositions, including Lauda Jerusalem, were performed. A rumor had started that nobody could be a chess master and compose good music, so his church music was not really his own. His church music was not accepted by the French royalty because Philidor added an Italian influence, so he turned to comedy opera. Marie Leszczynska (1725-1768), Queen of France and wife of Louis XV, thought his motet, Lauda Jerusalem, was "too Italian." It had been sung in her presence at Versailles. In 1755, Philidor wrote L'art de la modulation (Six quatuors), which was regarded as a groundbreaking and innovative series of chamber works. He also wrote his chamber cantata, L'Ete. These are Philidor's only known chamber pieces. In 1755 Philidor beat Francois Antoine de Legall de Kermeur (1702-1792) in a chess match at the Cafe de la Regence. At the time, de Legal was at the height of his strength. [sources: Allen and von der Lasa, The Life of Philidor, 1865, p. 51 and Twiss, Chess, Vol.1, 1787, p. 165] In 1755, the Italian chess master Giambattista Lolli (1698-1769) lost a chess game to Ercole del Rio (1718-1802), played in Modena, Italy. In 1755, a chess article appeared in Diderot's Encyclopedie, volume 5. It was written by Louis, Chevalier de Jaucourt. The article was 4 pages long about the rules and history of chess. In 1755, Phillip Stamma (1705-1755) died in London. He was a native of Aleppo, Syria who later resided in England and France. He was a chess master and pioneer of modern chess. In April 1755, A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) first appeared. It included the definition of chess and its origin.
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Bill Wall
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