1624–1680 · France · Baroque
François Roberday (1624–1680) was a French Baroque organist and composer born in Paris. Only one of his works survives: Fugues et caprices for organ, published in 1660. It is a collection of four-part contrapuntal pieces.
Paris was where François Roberday came into the world in 1624, in all likelihood in March. Both goldsmithing and music ran in the family, and his father, a goldsmith of good repute, kept an organ at home.
Roberday was the brother-in-law of Jean-Henri d'Anglebert, a celebrated French composer and harpsichordist to the King.
After his father's death, Roberday was appointed goldsmith to the King. In 1659 he bought the office of the Queen's manservant.
Roberday played the organ in a number of Paris churches, above all Notre-Dame des Victoires and Petits-Pères. He had a reputation as a teacher too.
Tradition has it that Jean-Baptiste Lully studied with him, but this is unconfirmed.
His affairs went steadily downhill and he ended his days in poverty. He died during an epidemic on 13 October 1680.
Roberday left one surviving work, the organ collection Fugues et caprices, printed in Paris in 1660. It holds twelve fugues for four voices. Six of them (numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 and 9) have a caprice built on the fugue's own subject.
Long note values dominate the fugue subjects; in the caprices they are reshaped for a fast tempo. The caprices keep four voices, but their counterpoint is a little simpler. Numerous pieces fall into several sections, and there are double fugues and fugues in variation form.
Italian influence is clear throughout. Numerous pieces borrow their themes from other composers active at the time, including Frescobaldi, Louis Couperin, d'Anglebert, Froberger and Cavalli. None of the pieces is liturgical, and for this reason Roberday is seen as a late representative of French polyphonic writing.
The site has two organ pieces from this collection, Fugue 1re and Fugue 5e, both at intermediate level. The first is a convenient place to begin.