Vachon, Pierre
Vachon, Pierre
Vachon, Pierre, French violinist and composer; b. Aries, June 1731; d. Berlin, Oct. 7,1803. He studied with Chiabrano in Paris from 1751, first appearing at the Concert Spirituel on Dec. 24,1756, as soloist in his own concerto. From 1761 he was 1stviolinist in the orch. of the Prince de Conti. In 1772 he gave concerts in London and then returned to Paris; by 1775 he was again in London, where he remained for some 10 years. He then went to Germany, and became concertmaster of the royal orch. in Berlin in 1788; was pensioned in 1798.
Works
dramatic: Renaud d’Asi,comedie (Fontainebleau, Oct. 12,1765; in collaboration with J.-C. Trial); Ésope a Cythere,comédie (Paris, Dec. 15, 1766; in collaboration with J.-C. Trial); Les Femmes et le secret,comédie (Paris, Nov. 9,1767); Hippomène et Atalante,ballet-héroïque (Paris, Aug. 8,1769); Sara, ou La Fermière écossaise,comédie (Paris, May 8, 1773). ORCH.: 6 symphonies á 4 partieswith Horns ad libitum (Paris, 1761); other syms.; at least 2 violin concertos. CHAMBER: String quartets: 6 as op.6 (Paris, c. 1773), 6 as op.7, book 2 (Paris, 1773; also publ. as 6 Quartettos,London, c. 1776), 6 as op.9, book 3 (Paris, 1774), 6 as op.5 (London, c. 1775), 6 as op.6 (London, 1776), 6 quatuors concertans,op.ll (Paris, 1782), and 3 Quartettos (London, n.d.); 6 sonates for Violin and Bass, op.l (Paris, 1760); 6 sonates for Violin and Bass, op.3 (Paris, 1769; also publ. as 6 soli,London, c. 1769); 6 trios for 2 Violins and Bass, op.4 (Paris, c. 1772); 6 trios for 2 Violins and Cello, op.5 (Paris, c. 1772); 6 trios for 2 Violins and Basso Continuo, op.4 (London, c. 1775); 6 Easy Duettosfor 2 Violins, op.5 (London, c. 1775); other pieces in contemporary collections.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire