Life
René Mesangeau was a French lutenist and composer whose exact birth date is unknown; he died around January 1638 in Paris. In 1619 he settled definitively in France and married the daughter of the spinet maker Jean Jacquet, and in 1621 King Louis XIII appointed René Mesangeau Musicien ordinaire du Roi at the French court. During his career he traveled to Germany and England, spreading his reputation abroad. His surviving output totals around fifty works, mixing original compositions and transcriptions, and he earned praise from the publisher Pierre Ballard and from the theorist Marin Mersenne in his 1636 treatise Harmonie universelle. His pupil Ennemond Gaultier commemorated him with the Tombeau de Mézangeau shortly after his death.
Impact
René Mesangeau stands as a pivotal transitional figure between Renaissance and Baroque lute practice: he pioneered the new ‘D minor’ tuning that became standard for the French Baroque lute and made possible the style brisé later perfected by the Gaultiers, Mouton, and Gallot. His experiments in tuning and voicing effectively launched the French lute school’s golden age, and his death occasioned the first known instrumental tombeau, composed by his pupil.
Repertoire
Allemande in G minor, c. 1630
A stately allemande demonstrating Mesangeau’s early exploration of the new D minor tuning that would define French Baroque lute music.
René Mesangeau, Allemande for Lute (ca. 1630) — Performed by jwhill7 · lute
René Mesangeau – Allemande N°7 — Performed by Bill Samson · baroque lute
Suite in G minor (Courante–Sarabande), c. 1630
A pair of dance movements illustrating Mesangeau’s role in shaping the emerging Baroque lute suite.
Rene Mesangeau – 2 suite Pieces in G Minor — Performed by baroque6hiro · lute