Baroque · Walloon
Thomas Babou
1656 – after 1726
French Classical
Core repertoire
Born in Liège in 1656, Thomas Babou was organist of the collegiate church of Saint-Jean-l’Évangéliste in Liège from at least 1687 to 1726; his son Jean-François-Pascal succeeded him in 1726. His pieces, dated 1709 and 1710, survive in a manuscript organ book at the Liège Conservatoire; their style moves between Italian and French influences, in the manner of Lebègue. He is thought to have died around 1740, a date the sources give with reservation.
The repertoire
Works in the project’s repertoire
4 works.
Core repertoire
Flagship work
Pièces d’orgue du livre d’orgue manuscrit de Liège (1709-1710)
Collection
Core project repertoire
Fantaisie du cornet en sol mineur
Fantasy
Core project repertoire
This classification reflects the place of these repertoires within the artistic and educational orientations of the project. It does not constitute a technical indication regarding the design of the instrument.
Biography
Life and organ music
Thomas Babou, born in Liège on 12 February 1656, was organist of the collegiate church of Saint-Jean-l’Évangéliste in his city from at least 1687 to 1726. His pieces, dated 1709 and 1710, survive in a manuscript organ book at the Liège Conservatoire; the date of his death has not been established.
Key dates
- 12 February 1656
- Born in Liège
- 1687
- Organist of the collegiate church of Saint-Jean-l’Évangéliste (at least from this date)
- 1709–1710
- Dated pieces in the Liège organ book
- 1726
- His son Jean-François-Pascal succeeds him
- c. 1740?
- Death in Liège, at an uncertain date
The organist of Saint-Jean
Very little is known of his life. The documents show him at the organ of the collegiate church of Saint-Jean-l’Évangéliste in Liège in 1687, and still in 1726. In that year his son Jean-François-Pascal (1700–1767) succeeded him; he was to play the organ of the collegiate church until 1767, while also working as a notary, and in 1742 became secretary to the chapter. Thomas Babou’s death is not dated: the French Wikipedia article places it around 1740, the BnF authority record gives “1740?”.
The Liège organ book
His work survives in a manuscript organ book kept in the library of the Conservatoire royal de Liège, shelfmark 191 MM III (Terry collection), probably copied by his son. Several pieces bear the words “par Monsieur Babou” and the dates 1709 or 1710, among them two trumpet fantasias “basse et haute”, in D minor and C major, and pieces for the cornet. Their brilliant, worldly style, according to the French article, moves between Italian influences and the French manner of Lebègue, and several suit the harpsichord; IMSLP indeed describes the collection as intended for organ or harpsichord.
Pierre Froidebise published thirteen of the pieces in 1959, in the series “Orgue et Liturgie” of the Schola Cantorum; a Salve Regina and a Tantum ergo are attributed to Babou there with a question mark. Hubert Schoonbroodt published an edition of 144 keyboard pieces in 1986, having recorded a complete set on three LPs between 1980 and 1984, on the Le Picard organ of the abbey of La Paix-Notre-Dame in Liège.
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