BOISMORTIER, JOSEPH BODIN DE

born Dec. 23, 1689, Thionville, France died Oct. 28, 1755, Roissy-en-Brie prolific French composer of instrumental music in addition to cantatas, ballet-operas, and other vocal music. His first works appeared in Paris, in 1724, and by 1747 he had published more than 100 works in a variety of vocal and instrumental combinations. His music, particularly for the voice, was extremely popular, and he became rich without the aid of patrons. Boismortier was the first French composer to use the Italian concerto form. 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).