Chevalier de Meude-Monpas
The Chevalier de Meude-Monpas (fl. c. 1780-1790) was a French composer, musician, author, and royalist of the 18th-century. Meude-Monpas was otherwise known as J.J.O. de Meude-Monpas (possibly Josse Jean-Olivier). He was a "gentilhomme-servant du roi", meaning he was on the king's payroll, and a composer and violinist, as well as a member of several academies. Music career. Meude-Monpas was born in Paris and studied violin with , and composition with Giroust, but later he pretended to be one of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's pupils because he shared the  man's opinions and purported to be extremely sensitive. In 1786 Meude-Monpas published six concertos for violin, with 2 violins, viola, double bass, 2 oboes and 2 horns. Like many other members of the court, he left the country during the French Revolution and served for a time in a corps under the orders of the Prince de Condé. Later, Mme de Genlis met him in Berlin where he was writing and publishing poetry. She gave the poetry a bad review, an opinion shared by Framery, who criticized it as ignorant and absurd in the Mercure de France (ann . 1788, n.26). On May 5, 1790, Meude-Monpas had an impromptu published in which he suggested that the Duke of Aiguillon had dressed as a woman to take part in the Women's March on Versailles (this was a preexisting legend) : "We have been transported to miraculous times. / While d'Aiguil ... disguises himself as a woman, / Antoinette becomes a brave man, / Worthy of honouring the noble blood of the House of Guise." Meude-Monpas denied that he had been referring to the duke and on May 23, the Marquis de Condorcet's "Chronique de Paris" jeered at him and reminded the  public that Meude-Monpas was a self-styled "chevalier" - in fact the son of a master goldsmith in Paris, a Mr. Josse "who would be amazed to see his youngest son has become a gentleman-servant and a chevalier (knight) in spite of his ancestors, and the Don Quixote of dukes, marquis and counts, his noble peers and friends." An article by Camille Pelletan in Georges Clemenceau's newspaper "La Justice" published on April 29, 1889, describes a counter-revolutionary newspaper called "Le petit Gautier" or, more officially, "Le Journal de la cour et de la ville". (1745-1827) and  Jean-Olivier de Meude-Moupas were notable contributors. Personal life. Meude-Monpas was known as a staunch supporter of Louis XVI and had a public reputation. Nearly a century later, he became a character in a play by Edmond de Goncourt, "La Patrie en Danger", drame en cinq actes, en prose, premiered on March 19, 1889 at the Théâtre Libre, salle des Menus-Plaisirs. (see "Journal des débats politiques et littéraires", March 19, 1889). Meude-Monpas is mentioned in François-Joseph Fétis's "Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique". The author notes that Meude-Monpas was  a "black musketeer" (which means that he belonged to a company riding black horses, not to the other company having grey ones). Recordings. One of his concerti was recorded by Rachel Barton Pine – Cedille Records, 1997: CDR 90000 035. A recording of his Concerto in D (1876) was included as part of a compilation of violin concertos of 18th and 19th century French composers in 1998.