Jean-Benjamin François de la Borde (5 September 1734 – 22 July 1794) was a French composer, writer on music and fermier général (farm tax collector). Born into an aristocratic family, he studied violin under Antoine Dauvergne and composition under Jean-Philippe Rameau. From 1762 to 1774, he served at the court of Louis XV as premier valet de la chambre, losing his post on the death of the king. He wrote many operas, mostly comic, and a four-volume collection of songs for solo voice, Choix de chansons mises en musique illustrated by Jean-Michel Moreau. Many of the songs from the collection were later published individually through the efforts of the English folksong collector Lucy Etheldred Broadwood. His Essai sur la musique ancienne et moderne was published in 1780. La Borde was guillotined during the French Revolution in 1794.[1] [2]
| Title | Genre! | Number of acts | Libretto! | Première date | Theatre | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La chercheuse d'oiseaux | opéra comique en vaudeville | 1 | de Rozée | 1748 | ? | |||
| Le rossignol ou le mariage secret | comédie en vaudeville | 1 | Charles Collé | 18 November 1751 | Château de Berny | |||
| Gilles garçon peintre, amoureux et rival | parody | 1 | Antoine-Alexandre-Henri Poinsinet | 1757 | Château de Berny | |||
| Les bons compères ou les bons amis | opéra comique | 1 | Michel-Jean Sedaine | 5 March 1761 | Foire Saint-Germain, Paris | |||
| Annette et Lubin | pastorale | 1 | Jean-François Marmontel | 30 March 1762 | ||||
| Ismène et Isménias ou La fête de Jupiter | tragédie en musique | 3 | Pierre Laujon | 13 June 1763 | Château de Choisy | |||
| L'anneau perdu et retrouvé (in collaboration with Chardin) | opéra comique | 2 | Michel-Jean Sedaine | 20 August 1764 | Théâtre de l'Hôtel de Bourgogne Paris | |||
| Le dormeur éveillé | opéra comique | 2 | Louis Anseaume | 27 October 1764 | Château de Fontainebleau, Fontainebleau | |||
| Fanny | comédie-lyrique | 1 | Nicolas Chamfort | ? | 1765 | |||
| Les amours de Gonesse | opéra comique (comédie mêlée d'ariettes) | 1 | Nicolas Chamfort, Charles-Simon Favart, the Marquis de Ménilglaise | 8 May 1765 | Théâtre de l'Hôtel de Bourgogne, Paris | |||
| Le coup de fusil | opéra comique (comédie mêlée d'ariettes) | 1 | ? | 1766 | ? | |||
| Le revenant | opéra comique | 1 | François-Georges Fouques Deshayes | 1766 | ? | |||
| La bergère des Alpes (in collaboration with Josef Kohault) | pastorale | 3 | Jean-François Marmontel | 19 February 1766 | Théâtre de l'Hôtel de Bourgogne, Paris | |||
| Pandore (in collaboration with Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer) | opéra | 5 | Voltaire | 14 February 1767 | Menus Plaisirs du Roi, Paris | |||
| Amphion | pastorale | 1 | Antoine-Léonard Thomas | 13 October 1767 | Salle des Machines, Paris | |||
| Candide | opéra comique (comédie mêlée d'ariettes) | 1 | Le Prieur | 1768 | ? | |||
| La meunière de Gentilly | opéra comique (comédie mêlée d'ariettes) | ? | Pierre-René Lemonnier | 13 October 1768 | Théâtre de l'Hôtel de Bourgogne,Paris | |||
| Alix et Alexis | opéra comique (comédie mêlée d'ariettes) | ? | Antoine-Alexandre-Henri Poinsinet | 6 July 1769 | Château de Choisy | |||
| Jeannot et Colin | opéra comique (comédie mêlée d'ariettes) | 1 | François-Georges Fouques Deshayes | 1770 | ? | |||
| Colette et Mathurin | opéra comique (comédie mêlée d'ariettes) | ? | François-Georges Fouques Deshayes | 1771 | ? | |||
| La cinquantaine | pastorale | 3 | François-Georges Fouques Deshayes | 13 August 1771 | Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris | |||
| Amadis de Gaule (in collaboration with Pierre Montan Berton) | tragédie en musique | 5 | Philippe Quinault | 26 November 1771 | Académie royale de musique, Paris | |||
| Adèle de Ponthieu (in collaboration with Pierre Montan Berton) | tragédie en musique | 3 | Jean-Paul-André Razins de Saint-Marc | 1 December 1772 | Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris | |||
| L'amour quêteur | comédie | 2 | Alexandre-Louis-Bertrand Robineau ("Madame Beaunoir") | 16 September 1777 | Théâtre des Grands-Danseurs du Roi, Paris | |||
La Borde's role at court is embellished in a fictional book series about police commissioner "Nicolas Le Floch" by Jean-François Parot. The stories have also been adapted for a television series in which La Borde appears regularly.
He is portrayed by Benjamin Lavernhe in 2023 film Jeanne du Barry.