Nicolas de Grigny

Nicolas de Grigny (1672–1703) was a French organist and composer. He died young and left behind a single collection of organ music, and an Ouverture for harpsichord. Nicolas de Grigny was born in Reims in the parish of Saint-Pierre-Le-Vieil. He was born into a family of musicians. Between 1693 and 1695 he served as organist of the abbey church of Saint Denis, in Paris. It was also during that period that Grigny studied with Nicolas Lebègue, who was by then one of the most famous French keyboard composers. In 1695 Grigny married Marie-Magdeleine de France, daughter of a Parisian merchant. Apparently he returned to his hometown soon afterwards: the record of the birth of his first son indicates that de Grigny was already in Reims in 1696. By late 1697, Grigny was appointed titular organist of Notre-Dame de Reims, the city's famous cathedral in which French kings were crowned. In 1699, the composer published his Premier livre d'orgue in Paris. Grigny died prematurely in 1703, aged 31, shortly after accepting a job offer from Saint Symphorien, a parish church in Reims. His Livre d'orgue was reissued in 1711 through the efforts of his widow. The collection became known abroad and was copied in 1713 by Johann Sebastian Bach.