Ortigue, Joseph Louis d'

1802-1866

French critic and writer on musical subjects; born at Cavaillon. He first studied law, but his taste for music asserted itself and he became a musical critic. In 1829 he wrote for the Memorial Catholique. He was a constant contributor to various periodicals, notably Les Journal des debats, Gazette Musicale, La France Musicale, Revue de musique ancienne et moderne, Le Menestrel, Le National, and L'Univers. He wrote Le Balcon de 1'Opera; Leaves from the Newspapers; De 1'ficole Italienne et de l'Administration de l'Academie Royale de Musique; Du Theatre Italien et son Influence sur le Gout Musical Franc.ais; Abecedaire du Plain-Chant; Palingenesie Musicale; and De la Memoire chez les Musiciens, reprinted from the Revue and Gazette Musicale; Introduction a 1'fitude Comparee des Tonalites et Principalement du Chant Gregorien et de la Musique Moderne. His most important work is La Dictionaire Liturgique, Historique; et Theorique du Plain-Chant et de Musique Religieuse, published in 1854 and 1860. Ortigue was assisted in this work by Abbe Normand, known as Theodore Nisard. Two other productions of his are La Musique a l'glise, and Traite Theorique et Pratique de rAccompagniment du PlainChant, written in collaboration with Niedermeyer, with whom he founded La Maitrise, a sacred-music periodical, which he edited from 1858 to 1860 and which he revived in 1862 with M. Clement under the name Journal des Maitrises. Ortigue died in Paris.