Michel Richard Delalande

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Michel Richard Delalande [de Lalande] (1657 – June 18, 1726) was a prolific French Baroque composer and organist who specialized in orchestral suites known as "Simphonies pour les Soupers du Roy", or in an alternative spelling of the time, simply "Symphonies". Delalande also composed ballets and church music.

Born in Paris, he was a contemporary of Jean-Baptiste Lully and François Couperin. Delalande taught music to the daughters of Louis XIV of France, and was director of the French chapel royal from 1714 until his death at Versailles in 1726.

Delalande was arguably the greatest composer of French grands motets, a type of sacred work that was more pleasing to Louis XIV because of its brevity and greater informality. According to tradition, Louis XIV organized a contest between composers, giving them the same sacred text and a time to compose the musical setting. He alone was the judge. Delalande was one of four winners assigned to compose sacred music for a quarter of the year. Delalande's post was from October through December, the most important quarter because of the Christmas holiday.

Delalande's music is fascinating for study because he left many versions of his works. His earlier versions show ahderance to French Baroque style, but the later revisions incorporate more Italian melismatic lines and greater attention to polyphonic counterpoint.

Also, at least four collections of his works exist, each creating a snapshot of the composer's work as viewed by the people who assembled each collection.

Scholarship of Delalande's work has been hindered because of inconsistencies in the spelling of his last name: de Lalande, Lalande, la Lande, de la Lande, and others.