Biography
Henri Desmarets (or Desmarest) (February 1661 in Paris – September 7, 1741 in Lunéville) was a French composer of the middle Baroque period. He was a child prodigy and sang as a boy soprano in the royal chapel. His opera "Endymion" was staged at Versailles in March, 1682. In 1683, King Louis XIV gave Desmarets a 900-livre pension.
In 1696, Demartes' wife died. Three years later, Desmarets took a lover, Marie-Marguerite, and was arrested and sentenced to death for helping her flee a convent. He escaped on August 5, 1699, and fled the country with Marie-Marguerite for the Low Countries.
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He was then hired by the King of Spain, Philip V, in 1701 and then by Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine, in 1707. He was pardoned by the Duke of Burgundy in 1720.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.