de Visée, Robert

Robert de Visée (1652-1730) was a French lutenist, guitarist, theorbist and viol player at the court of the kings Louis XIV and Louis XV, as well as a singer and a composer for lute, theorbo and guitar. de Visée is first mentioned (by Le Gallois) in 1680, and at about that time he became a chamber musician to Louis XIV, in which capacity he often performed at court. In 1709, he was appointed as a singer of the royal chamber, and in 1719 was named ‘Guitar Master of the King’ (Maître de Guitare du Roi) to Louis XV, the ten-year-old great-grandson of Louis XIV, who succeeded to the throne in 1715. Jean Rousseau reported in a letter of 1688 that Visée was a respected musician at Versailles and played the viol (Strizich & Ledbetter 2001). He died in Paris on February 15, 1730, leaving his son François de Visée as his sole heir.

Classical guitar sheet music in free PDF. Delcamp Editions with fingerings

Robert de Visée (1660-1720) : Suite VIII en ré mineur, Paris 1686 Adaptation for classical guitar and fingering by Jean-François Delcamp

Facsimiles :

Robert de Visée – Livre de guittarre dédié au Roy. Composé par R. de Visée. Gravé par Hierosme Bonneüil. Paris, 1682. Conservé à la Bibliothèque nationale de France, pdf 7MB

Robert de Visée – Livre de pièces pour la guittarre dédié au Roy. Composé par R. de Visée. Gravé par Bonneüil. Paris, 1686. Conservé à la Bibliothèque nationale de France, pdf 13MB

Robert de Visée – Suite en ré pour guitare – Paris 1686. Conservé à la Bibliothèque nationale de France, pdf 3MB