Cambert, Robert

Cambert, Robert

(rōbĕr` käNbĕr`), c.1628–1677, French composer; pupil of Chambonnières. His Pastorale d'Issy (1659) and other works are among the first real French operas. With the librettist Pierre Perrin (1625–75) he created French recitativerecitative
, musical declamation for solo voice, used in opera and oratorio for dialogue and for narration. Its development at the close of the 16th cent. made possible the rise of opera.
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 in operas, including Pomone (1671), which contains all the elements of later French opera such as short symphonies, airs, and dialogues. Both men founded the first French opera company in 1669, but after losing control of this venture to Jean Baptiste Lully, Cambert settled in London where he was possibly murdered.