Antoine Forqueray Sheet Music
- Born: 1671
- Died: 28th June 1745
- Birthplace: Paris, France
Antoine Forqueray was a French composer and virtuoso of the viola da gamba. Forqueray, born in Paris, was the first in a line of composers which included his brother Michel (1681–1757) and his sons Jean-Baptiste (1699–1782) and Nicolas Gilles (1703–1761). Forqueray's exceptional talents as a player led to his performing before Louis XIV at the age of ten. The king was so pleased with him that he arranged for Forqueray to have music lessons at his own expense and then, seven years later, in 1689, named him musicien ordinaire of La chambre du Roy a position Forqueray held until the end of his life. To supplement his official income he gave lucrative private lessons to members of the royal family and the aristocracy. In Louis XIV's later years the normal routine of concerts at the court of Versailles was augmented by Mme de Maintenon. She arranged almost daily performances in her apartments by such musicians as Robert de Visée (guitar), René Descoteaux (flute), Jean-Baptise Buterne (harpsichord) as well as Forqueray. Forqueray's style was so distinctive that three of his near-contemporaries Jean-Philippe Rameau, François Couperin and Jacques Duphly each composed a piece named 'La Forqueray' as a tribute to him.