Nicolas Bernier

He was appointed head of the maîtrise of Chartres Cathedral on 17 September 1694 and remained there until 18 March 1698, when he obtained a similar position at St Germain-l'Auxerrois, Paris.

It had taken the patronage of Philippe, Duke of Orléans, for him to keep the position after his marriage to Marie-Catherine Marais on 20 June 1712, since the rule of the Sainte-Chapelle required its maître de musique to be ‘a celibate in clerical garb’.

In spite of Le Cerf de La Viéville's claim, Bernier was not an abbé, but only an acolyte entitled to wear the clerical collar.

The posts thus created were allotted, without being thrown open to competition, to André Campra, Charles-Hubert Gervais and Bernier, who officiated during the summer term of duty until his death.

Vigorous recitatives and da capo airs, with or without an initial motto, follow each other freely, while the expressive melody, with few wide intervals or long melismas, is rooted more in the French tradition.

Bernier had a reputation as a contrapuntist, and the polished writing of fugal choruses in Beatus vir and Confitebor tibi Domine bear witness to his skill.

Bernier, all doubtful authenticity: Quis habitat, Resonate, Salve regina, Sicut cervus, all Pn; Haec dies quam fecit Dominus, LYm [24] Cantates françoises ou musique de chambre, 1–2vv, bc, some with insts, bk 1–4 (1703) repr, in The Eighteenth-Century French Cantata, vi–vii (New York, 1990) 21 for 1v, 3 for 2vv Les nymphes de Diane, cantate françoise, 2vv, bc (1703) repr.

in The Eighteenth-Century French Cantata, viii (New York, 1990) 2 divertissements [6] Cantates françoises, ou musique de chambre, 1v, bc, some with insts, bk 6 (1718) repr.

in The Eighteenth-Century French Cantata, viii (New York, 1990) [6] Cantates françoises, ou musique de chambre, 1v, bc, some with insts, bk 7 (1723) repr.