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Year 1755 (MDCCLV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar).

Events[link]

January–June[link]

• January 25 (Tatiana Day) – Moscow University is established.
• February 13 – The kingdom of Mataram on Java is divided in two, creating the sultanate of Yogyakarta and the sunanate of Surakarta.
• February 20 – General Braddock lands in Virginia to take command of the British forces against the French in North America.
• April 2 – A naval fleet led by Commodore William James of the East India Company captures Tulaji Angre's fortress Suvarnadurg from the Marathas.
• April 15 – A Dictionary of the English Language is published by Samuel Johnson (he had begun the work 9 years earlier, in 1746).

July–December[link]

• July 9 – French and Indian War – Braddock Expedition: British troops and colonial militiamen are ambushed and suffer a devastating defeat inflicted by French and Indian forces. During the battle, British General Edward Braddock is mortally wounded. Colonel George Washington survives.
• July 17 – In a convoy of ships from Great Britain, returning to India for the East India Company, the lead ship Dodington wrecks at Port Elizabeth, losing a chest of gold coins from Robert Clive, worth £33,000. In 1998, 1,400 coins are offered for sale, and in 2002 a portion is given to the South African government.^[1]
• July 25 – The decision to deport the Acadians is made during meetings of the Nova Scotia Council meeting in Halifax. From September 1755 to June 1763 the vast majority of Acadians are deported to one of the following British Colonies in America: Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia. Contrary to popular belief, no Acadians are sent to Louisiana. Those sent to Virginia are refused and then sent on to Liverpool, Bristol, Southampton and Penryn in England. In 1758 the Fortress of Louisbourg falls and all of the civilian population of Isle Royal (Cape Breton Island) and Isle St. Jean (Prince Edward Island) are repatriated to France. Among them were several thousand Acadians who had escaped the deportation by fleeing into those areas. Very few Acadians successfully escape the deportation and do so only by fleeing into some of the northern sections of present day New Brunswick. The event inspires Longfellow to write the epic poem Evangeline.

August 15: Acadians.

• August – The Great Expulsion of the Acadians begins.
• November 1 – 1755 Lisbon earthquake: In Portugal, Lisbon is destroyed by a massive earthquake and tsunami, killing 60,000–90,000 people.
• November 18 – An earthquake occurs in the vicinity of Cape Ann, Massachusetts, causing extensive damage.
• November 25 – King Ferdinand IV of Spain grants the Religious of the Virgin Mary in the Philippines royal protection.
• December 2 – The second Eddystone Lighthouse off the coast of England is destroyed by fire.

November 1: Lisbon earthquake.

Date unknown[link]

• Wolsey, the clothes manufacturer, is established in Leicester, England; the business celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2005.
• Construction of the Puning Temple complex in Chengde, China is complete, during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.
• Joseph Black describes his discovery of carbon dioxide ("fixed air") and magnesium in a paper to the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh.^[2]
• The brine shrimp Artemia salina is first described, in Linnaeus' Systema Naturæ.

Births[link]

• January 11 – Alexander Hamilton, first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (most cited date of birth) (d. 1804)
• January 25 – Paolo Mascagni, Anatomist (d. 1815)
• February 11 – Albert Christoph Dies, German composer (d. 1822)
• April 3 – Simon Kenton, Frontiersman; Revolutionary Militia General (d. 1836)
• April 10 – Samuel Hahnemann, founder of homeopathy (d. 1843)
• April 16 – Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun, French painter (d. 1842)
• May 21 – Alfred Moore, American judge (d. 1810)
• June 6 – Nathan Hale, American Revolutionary War captain, writer and patriot (d. 1776)
• June 30 – Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de Barras, French politician (d. 1829)
• September 9 – Benjamin Bourne, American politician (d. 1808)
• September 24 – John Marshall, American jurist (d. 1835)
• November 2 – Marie Antoinette, Queen of France (d. 1793)
• November 12 – Gerhard von Scharnhorst, Prussian general (d. 1813)
• November 17
  • Louis XVIII of France (d. 1824)
  • Charles Manners-Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1828)

Deaths[link]

• February 10 – Montesquieu, French writer (b. 1689)
• February 11 – Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei, Italian archaeologist (b. 1675)
• March 2 – Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French writer (b. 1675)
• April 6 – Richard Rawlinson, English minister and antiquarian (b. 1690)
• June 26 – Iyasu II of Ethiopia, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. c. 1723)
• July 13 – Edward Braddock, British general (b. c. 1695)
• August 13 – Francesco Durante, Italian composer (b. 1684)
• September 8 – Ephraim Williams, American philanthropist (b. 1715)
• September 9 – Johann Lorenz von Mosheim, German historian (b. 1694)
• October 16 – Gerard Majella, Catholic saint (b. 1725)
• October 22 – Elisha Williams, American rector of Yale College (b. 1694)
• November 25 – Johann Georg Pisendel, German musician (b. 1687)
• December 1 – Maurice Greene, English composer (b. 1696)

References[link]

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Zachary Richard
Zachary Richard (at right) and the "Bayou des mystères" in Paris, 1976
Background information
Born	(1950-09-08)September 8, 1950 Scott, Louisiana
Origin	Lafayette, Louisiana
Genres	Cajun music Zydeco
Instruments	Singing
Years active	1972-present
Website	www.zacharyrichard.com

Zachary Richard, CM is a Cajun singer/songwriter and poet. His music is an innovative combination of Cajun and Zydeco musical styles.

Biography[link]

Zachary Richard began his musical career at the age of 8, as soprano in the Bishop's Boys Choir at Saint John’s Cathedral in Lafayette, Louisiana. He attended Cathedral High School and Tulane University, graduating summa cum laude in 1972.

Richard has recorded Cajun and zydeco music for over 35 years. He has recorded sixteen studio albums of which five were declared gold albums in Canada with a double platinum (Cap Enragé). Although recording in both English and French, Richard’s career has been notably Francophone. He has been awarded 5 Prix Félix (Quebec music award named after Félix Leclerc). He is an Officer in the Ordre des Arts et Lettres de la République Française and a member of the Ordre des Francophones d’Amérique. In 1980, he was awarded the Prix de la Jeune Chanson Française by the French Minister of Culture.

In addition to his musical works, Richard published works include 3 volumes of poetry and 3 children’s books. Faire Récolte earned the Prix Champlain (Quebec) in 1998 and Feu received the Roland Gasparic Award (Bucharest, Romania) in 2002.

Richard has collaborated on several television documentary projects including Against the Tide, the Story of the Cajun people of Louisiana (producer and music director) which received the Best Historical Documentary prize in 2000 awarded by the National Educational Television Association. The French version, Contre vents, contre marées received the Prix Historia the following year. Zachary was narrator and musical director of Migrations", Vu du Large, Coeurs Batailleurs and most recently Kouchibouguac, l’histoire de Jackie Vautour et des Expropriés.

A lifelong resident of the Acadiana region of south Louisiana, Richard is a committed to the protection of the natural environment. In collaboration with the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, he participated in the television documentary Labranche, Legacy of the Lost. A founding member of Action Cadienne, Richard remains committed to the preservation and promotion of the French language of Louisiana.

In 2009, he was made an honorary Member of the Order of Canada "for his contributions as an author, composer, singer and poet, and for his important role in defending and promoting the French language and the "Cadian" and Acadian identity".^[1]

Richard suffered from a stroke on October 17, 2010, leading him to suspend work and appearances for the rest of that year.^[2]

Discography[link]

• 1972 - High Time (re-released 2000)
• 1976 - Bayou des mystères
• 1977 - Mardi Gras
• 1978 - Migration
• 1979 - Allons danser
• 1980 - Live in Montreal
• 1981 - Vent d’Été
• 1984 - Zack Attack
• 1987 - Zack’s Bon Ton
• 1988 - Mardi Gras Mambo
• 1990 - Women in the Room
• 1992 - Snake Bite Love
• 1995 - Looking Back (compilation)
• 1997 - Cap enragé
• 2000 - Coeur fidèle
• 2000 - Silver Jubilee (compilation)
• 2002 - Travailler c'est trop dur (double compilation)
• 2007 - Lumière dans le noir
• 2009 - Last Kiss
• 2010 - Le Grand Gosier

Published works[link]

• 1980 - Voyage de nuit (Les Intouchables, Montreal)
• 1997 - Faire récolte (with audio CD, Perce Neige, Moncton)
• 1999 - Conte Cajun, l'Histoire de Télésphore et 'Tit Edvard (Les Intouchables, Montreal)
• 2001 - Feu (Les Intouchables, Montreal)
• 2007 - Télésphore et 'Tit Edvard dans le Nord (Les Intouchables, Montreal)

Major distinctions[link]

• 1978 - Gold record for L'arbre est dans ses feuilles, RIAA Canada
• 1978 - Gold Album for Migration, RIAA Canada
• 1980 - Prix de la jeune chansons française, République Française
• 1997 - Félix, l'ADISQ, Chanteur francophone le plus illustré au Québec
• 1997 - Officier l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres de la Rébublique Française
• 1998 - Membre l'Ordre des Francophones d'Amérique ^[3]
• 1998 - Félix, l'ADISQ, Chanteur francophone le plus illustré au Québec
• 1998 - Prix Litéraire Champlain, Conseil de la vie française en Amérique
• 1999 - Félix, l'ADISQ, Chanteur francophone le plus illustré au Québec
• 2000 - MéritasAcadien, Fédération Acadienne du Québec
• 2001 - Double Platinum album for Cap Enragé, RIAA Canada
• 2001 - Félix, l'ADISQ, Chanteur francophone le plus illustré au Québec
• 2002 - Prix Historia, L'institut d'Histoire de l'Amérique Française
• 2005 - PhD Honoraire en Musique, Honoris Causa, Université de Moncton, New Brunswick
• 2007 - Félix, l'ADISQ, Chanteur francophone le plus illustré au Québec
• 2007 - Chevalier, l'Ordre de la Pléiade
• 2008 - Honorary PhD in Fine Arts, Honoris Cause, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
• 2009 - PhD Honoraire en Littérature, Université Sainte-Anne, Nova Scotia
• 2009 - Order of Canada
• 2010 - Honorary member of Regroupement QuébecOiseaux

See also[link]

• History of Cajun Music
• List of Notable People Related to Cajun Music

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website of Zachary Richard
• Zachary Richard: American Singer Songwriter
• AOL Music Bio of Zachary Richard
• In the Wake of Katrina: Return to Louisiana, article written by Richard, November 5/6, 2005
• Official Karaoke Versions

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (23 December 1689 – 28 October 1755) was a French baroque composer of instrumental music, cantatas, opéra-ballets, and vocal music. Boismortier was one of the first composers to have no patrons: having obtained a royal license for engraving music in 1724, he made enormous sums of money by publishing his music for sale to the public.

Biography[link]

The Boismortier family moved from the composer's birthplace in Thionville (in Lorraine) to the town of Metz where he received his musical education from Joseph Valette de Montigny, a well-known composer of motets. The Boismortier family then followed Montigny and moved to Perpignan in 1713 where Boismortier found employment in the Royal Tobacco Control. Boismortier married Marie Valette, the daughter of a rich goldsmith and a relative of his teacher Montigny.

In 1724 Boismortier and his wife moved to Paris where he began a prodigious composition career, writing for many instruments and voices. He was prolific: his first works appeared in Paris in 1724, and by 1747 he had published more than 100 works in various vocal and instrumental combinations. His music, particularly for the voice, was extremely popular and made him wealthy without the aid of patrons. He died in Roissy-en-Brie.

Boismortier was the first French composer to use the Italian concerto form, in his six concertos for five flutes op. 15. (1727). He also wrote the first French solo concerto for any instrument, a concerto for cello, viol, or bassoon (1729). Much of his music is for the flute, for which he also wrote an instruction method (now lost). His op. 91 for harpsichord obbligato and flute derives from Rameau's Pieces de clavecin en concerts and is dedicated to the flutist Michel Blavet. A notable piece of Boismortier's that is still often performed is the Deuxieme serenade ou simphonie. The violinist Jean-Marie Leclair the elder (1697-1764) cultivated both solo and trio genres with charm although with less profundity. Boismortier and Rameau both lived during the Rococo era of Louis XV and upheld the French tradition, composing music of beauty and sophistication that was widely appreciated by the French musical public.

A quotation[link]

The music theorist Jean-Benjamin de la Borde wrote in his Essai sur la musique ancienne et moderne (Essay on ancient and modern music) in 1780 about Boismortier: Bienheureux Boismortier, dont la fertile plume peut tous les mois, sans peine, enfanter un volume. (Happy be Boismortier whose fertile pen can give birth without pain to a new piece of music every month.)

To such criticism, it is said that Boismortier would simply answer: "I'm earning money."

Principal works[link]

• Les quatre saisons, cantatas (1724)
• Six concertos for five flutes op. 15. (1727)
• Concerto for cello, viol, or bassoon (1729)
• Les voyages de l'amour, opera ballet (1736)
• Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse, comic ballet (1743)
• Daphnis et Chloé, pastorale (1747)
• Cinquante-neuvieme oeuvre de M.Boismortier, contenant quatre suites de pieces de clavecin for harpsichord
• Daphné, tragédie lyrique (unperformed^[1]) (1748)
• Les quatre parties du monde (1752)
• Les gentillesses, cantatilles (short cantatas)
• Numerous concerti and sonatas

Selected discography[link]

Hervé Niquet has a made a substantial number of recordings of Boismortier's works:

• Ballets de Villages (2000) performed by Le Concert Spirituel under the direction of Hervé Niquet (Naxos 554295)
• Motets avec Symphonies (1991) performed by Le Concert Spirituel under the direction of Hervé Niquet (Accord 476 2509)
• Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse (1997) performed by Le Concert Spirituel under the direction of Hervé Niquet (Naxos 8.553647)
• Daphnis & Chloe (2002) performed by Le Concert Spirituel under the direction of Hervé Niquet (Glossa GCD 921605)
• Sonates Pour Basses (2005) performed by Le Concert Spirituel under the direction of Hervé Niquet (Glossa GCD 921609)
• French Music for Two Harpsichords (2000) played Hervé Niquet and Luc Beauséjour (Analekta 23079)

Other recordings include:

• Sonates à deux flûtes traversières sans basse (2001) played by Stéphan Perreau and Benjamin Gaspon (Pierre Verany PV 700023)
• Sonatas for flute and harpsichord, op. 91 (1994) played by Rebecca Stuhr-Rommereim and John Stuhr-Rommereim (Centaur CRC 2265)
• Joseph Bodin de Boismortier: Six Suites, Op. 35 for Unaccompanied Flute (2008) played by Rebecca Stuhr (Lebende Music)
• Les Maisons de Plaisance (1999) played by Wieland Kuijken and Sigiswald Kuijken (Accent ACC 99132 D)

External links[link]

• Free scores by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Free scores by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier at the International Music Score Library Project
• Flute duett (Kantoreiarchiv)
• Article on Boismortier by Stéphan Perreau on the Eventail Baroque Dance Company site
• (French) Le magazine de l'opéra baroque
• (Italian) Amadeusonline Almanach

References[link]

• Cook, Elisabeth, Weller, Philip, "Boismortier, Joseph Bodin de", in Sadie, Stanley (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Grove (Oxford University Press), New York, 1997, ISBN 978-0-19-522186-2, I, pp. 526-7