Claude-Bénigne Balbastre

Having studied composition with Rameau and the organist Fevrier, Balbastre set himself apart as a composer and a teacher. He was at the court of Louis XVI before the Revolution and had the opportunity to teach a number of foreign dignitaries (a Jeffersonian connection was even made). Balbastre's performances grabbed international acclaim. His own compositions were diverse but standard. The romance from Balbastre's "Quatuors" and his "Pastorale in A" were perhaps his most popular pieces with the possible exception of "noels in variations". ~ Keith Johnson