Innocent Boutry was a French chapel master, active in several towns between 1657 and 1680 and notably in Le Mans.
Biography He was born around 1634, in the diocese of Chartres. He acceded to priesthood around 1663-1664.
He was received at the of Le Mans on October 1654, aged about 30.Archives de l’évêché du Mans, 13 October 1654, mentioned after Granger 1996 p. 1022, and before it Anjubault 1862, p. 11-12.
He became master of music at the Saint-Gatien Tours Cathedral from 1657 to 1661.
He competed and was rewarded at the puy de musique du Mans in 1657.Chambois 1894 p. 12.
According to Chartier and Yvon, Boutry would have spent some time in Rouen as "master of music" and in Noyon as "master of the church".See Chartier 1897 and Yvon 1964; these elements are to be taken with all reservations in the absence of archival sources.
He was hired as head of the chapel of the cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris from 4 August 1662 to 20 October 1663.Yvon 1964 p 384-387. From this period, it is known he was granted a leave of absence for fifteen days without knowing the reason.Paris AN : LL 205, 9 September 1662 (p. 730), mentioned after Gautier 1993 p. 14.
According to Granger (1996), he briefly returned to Chartres and was named a priest, before returning to Le Mans.Cf. Beauhaire.
He returned to Le Mans around Christmas 1664, where he succeeded Jean Colin as chapel master of the Saint-Julien cathedral.AD Sarthe: G 936, 19 December 1664, 9 March, 15 April, 15 May and 1 June 1665, mentioned after Granger 1996 p. 1022. Shortly thereafter, he asked the Chapter to purchase a spinet.Idem, 15 May 1665, mentioned p. 877. He remained there for five years and, in addition to his emoluments as a chapel master, he received 10 sols per day as vicar.Le Mans, Archives de l’évêché : B 16, 21 September 1668, mentioned after Granger 1996 . He was also endowed in December 1665 with the chapel of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, served in the church of Le Mans.
In 1666, Boutry competed at the and received the silver harp and the second prize for the motet.This appears on the poster of the 1667 puy de musique (AD Eure: D 5), miraculously preserved. About this poster, see Guillo 2011. In the same year, he was a judge at the puy de musique du Mans, having the two motets received sang and whose best was none other than Louis Bouteiller's one, then a child in the psallete he directed, "de facto" excluded from the competition.AD Sarthe : G 936, 22 November 1666, mentioned by Granger 1996 p. 874.
In January 1670 he was admonished by the Chapter for not having led or brought the children back to church and for having missed the choir service, under threat of dismissal,Le Mans, Archives de La l’évêché : B 16, 15 January 1670, mentioned after Granger 1996 p. 848 et 1022. which may be a sign of disagreement with the chapter. He then moved closer to the chapter of the collegiate church of Saint-Pierre-la-Cour, without respecting the hierarchical ways, and agreed with it to move on to its service as a chapel master (he had already worked there between 1654 and 1657). He was immediately dismissed by the St-Julien Cathedral chapter.Le Mans, Archives de l’évêché : B 16, 25 January 1670, mentioned after Granger 1996 p. 1023. This hasty departure did not prevent him from soliciting the chapter to borrow three children of choir for an exit from his mastership at the Cordeliers: idem, 22 October 1670, mentioned by idem p. 1109. It was musician Louis Bouteiller who succeeded him at Saint-Julien.
His commitment to Saint-Pierre is formalised on 26 January.AD Sarthe : G 494, 26 January 1670, mentioned after Granger 1996 p. 1023. There, he evicted François Fleury, hired two months earlier, who was probably not doing the job. The act of his commitment specifies that he had previously worked in Tours, at the Noyon Cathedral, at Notre-Dame de Paris, in addition to the cathedral Saint-Julien du Mans.The engagement is the subject of a contract in front of the notary Jean Delabbaye signed on 15 February 1670, mentioned by Granger 1996 p. 833.
His service in Saint-Pierre-la-Cour gives some examples of the daily life of a chapel master. One month after his engagement, he got a chapter credit to buy a dozen music masses from Robert III Ballard.Idem, 1 March 1670, mentioned . In July 1671, he was asked by the Chapter to provide for the replacement of a failing choirboy within a few weeks.Idem, 31 July 1671, mentioned p. 806. In the summer of 1672, he was granted a two-week leave of absence to go to Paris to go to his business - we don't know which - in the company of his colleague Pierre Ribière.Idem, 10 July 1672, mentioned .
He remained in St. Peter's until October 1676, not without being noticed several times for his strong character.Idem, 1 July, 6 and 12 November, 17 and 18 December 1672, mentioned p. 1086 and 1091. Jean Mourot succeeded him.
At the end of October 1676, he was named canon of Pruillé l'Eguillé, a small village in the south-east of Le Mans.After Granger 1996. On the other hand, Gautier (1993) quotes Beauhaire and sends him to Prunay-le-Gillon, south-east of Chartres...
He is still cited as a canon of the collegiate church of Saint-Calais in 1688. He died there c. 1690-1695.
Works We only know of two masses of Boutry, which appeared when he was in Tours:
Missa quatuor vocum, ad imitationem moduli Speciosa facta es.Missa Speciosa facta es (1661) on Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles.fr Paris: Robert III Ballard, 1661. 2°, 14 f. RISM B 3950, Guillo 2003 n° 1661-G. Transcription by Léna Gautier : Éditions du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, 1997.
Missa Magnus et mirabilis, 4 v. Paris : Robert III Ballard, 1661. 2°. Guillo 2003 n° 1661-F. Lost edition, the existence of which is attested by several references in Ballard's catalogues. (in 1683, 1704, 1707, 1727, 1744). It must have appeared around 1661 but this date is not really attested.
His masse Speciosa facta esSpeciosa facta es on WorldCat illustrates well the contemporary evolution of the style, with a very tonal counterpoint showing some Italianizing signs.
Discography Mille ans de musique. Maîtrise de la cathédrale du Mans, dir. Philippe Lenoble. Pièces de Jehan Daniel, Jacques Peltier, Julien Belin, André Pechon, Innocent Boutry, Pierre Bouteiller et autres.1 CD Éditions Art et Musique, 2006, réf. B00139P31G.
Sources Jean-Paul C. Montagnier, Les messes polyphoniques à Notre-Dame de Paris d’Innocent Boutry à Pierre Hugard, in La musique d’église et ses cadres de création dans la France d’Ancien Régime, ed. Cécile Davy-Rigaux. - Firenze : Olschki, 2013 . Laurent Guillo. La figure de Cécile : enquête sur l’affiche du puy d’Évreux de 1667 in Imago musicæ 24 (2011), . Sylvie Granger, Les métiers de la musique en pays manceau et fléchois du XVIIe au XIXe siècle (1661-1850). Thèse pour le Doctorat d'Histoire, Université du Maine, 1996, 2 vol. Read here and there. Elements have been included in Sylvie Granger, Dans les villes de l’Ouest : des musiciens venus d’ailleurs… XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle), Annales de Bretagne et des Pays de l’Ouest 112-3 (2005), Read online. D. Launay, La musique religieuse en France du Concile de Trente à 1804. - Paris: , 1993. Léna Gautier, Innocent Boutry et la messe Speciosa facta es : biographie, transcription, analyse. Musicology dissertation under the direction of Raphaëlle Legrand, Tours University, 1993. 2 vol., 120 p. (available at the CMBV). Anne-Marie Yvon, La maîtrise de Notre-Dame de Paris aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, Le 8e centenaire de Notre-Dame, congrès de mai-juin 1964. François Léon Chartier. L’ancien chapitre de Notre-Dame de Paris et sa maîtrise d’après les capitulaires (1326-1790) avec un appendice musical.... Paris: 1897. Emmanuel-Louis Chambois. La fête de Sainte-Cécile à la cathédrale du Mans 1633-1748. Le Mans: Leguicheux, 1894. F. L. Chartier, L’ancien chapitre de Notre-Dame de Paris et sa maîtrise d’après les documents capitulaires (1326–1790). - Paris: 1887. P. A. Anjubault, La Sainte-Cécile du Mans de 1633 à 1784. - Le Mans: 1862. Beauhaire, Chronologie des évêques, des curés, des vicaires du diocèse de Chartres, Ms. Bibl. de Chartres.
References
External links Les Messes polyphoniques à la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris d’Innocent Boutry à Pierre Hugard on academia.edu Innocent Boutry - Missa "Speciosa facta es" 1st part on YouTube Innocent Boutry - Missa "Speciosa facta es" 2nd part on YouTube