Nicolas Saboly


Nicolas Saboly was a French poet, composer and choirmaster. He composed many Christmas carols in the Provençal dialect which form one of the monuments of poetry in that language and have been repeatedly republished until the present day.

Life

Nicolas Saboly was born on 31 January 1614 in Monteux to a family of herdsmen.
His great-grandfather Claude Saboly and his grandfather Raymond Saboly followed this occupation.
It was Raymond Saboly who came to settle in Monteux.
Nicolas was the youngest son of Felisa Meilheuret and Jean Saboly.
He had an older brother named Jean-Pierre Saboly and three sisters named Anne, Félicia and Claire.

Student destined for the priesthood

Saboly's father died on 15 August 1619, and Nicolas entered the Jesuit college of Carpentras.
At the end of his schooling he became a member of the Congregation of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin on 14 May 1628.
In the autumn of 1628 he left his college to begin taking classes at the University of Avignon.
He received the tonsure in 1630 and attended courses in law and theology, as evidenced by two notarial acts of 12 March 1632 and 27 December 1633, which he witnessed as a student of theology.
In 1634 he left the University without taking his degrees.
On 27 September 1635 he was ordained a sub-deacon, deacon and priest.

Career as choirmaster

In 1639 Nicolas Saboly obtained the position of organist and choirmaster of the Saint-Siffrein Cathedral in Carpentras.
He was occasionally employed in local festivals, such as on 22 September 1639 when the clergy of Caromb asked him to play the organ for the parish festival of St. Maurice.
He received 10 florins and 12 sous for his performance.
His name disappears from the accounts of Saint-Siffrein after 20 June 1643, when he was replaced by the choirmaster David.
Nicolas Saboly went to Arles where he was choirmaster from 1643 to 1646, then the cathedral of Aix-en-Provence from 1652 to 1655.
He was in Nîmes in 1659.
He was choirmaster of the collegiate church of Saint-Pierre d'Avignon from before 1668 until his death.

Ecclesiastical benefices

Like many priests of his time, Saboly obtained several ecclesiastical benefits.
On 16 April 1633 he became chaplain of St. Mary Magdalene in the Cathedral of Saint Siffrein in Carpentras.
He kept this benefice until 1663.
On 28 March 1658 he was issued a certificate of studies that found he had attended courses at the University of Avignon from 1628 to 1634, and was given a certificate of aptitude for obtaining profits in the dioceses of Nîmes and Uzès.
On 10 June 1660, after a lengthy process, he obtained a pension of 100 lt. from the papal administration to take on the priory and the benefit of Saint-Benoît-de-Cayran in the diocese of Uzès.
After returning to Avignon he obtained the chaplaincy of Saint Mary, which he still held in 1663.

Testament and death

On 21 April 1671 Saboly's will was notarized by François Julien in Marseilles.
Saboly made his niece Claire Saboly his universal heiress.
He also bequeathed 600 lt. to his servant Isabeau Sevique, and reserved from his niece's legacy an annuity with 600 lt. of capital yielding 30 lt. annually to be paid to the chapter of Saint-Pierre d'Avignon so that after his death two masses would be said each week in his memory.
He died four years later on 25 July 1675 in Avignon.
He is buried in the choir of the Saint-Pierre church.
Saboly's career as a choirmaster was standard for this period.
He is famous for the carols that he composed.

Works

Manuscript works

First editions in fascicle

The first editions of Saboly's carols consist of eight bound instalments, dated between 1668 and 1674, kept in Paris Ars. : BL 9478. The titles of the instalments are:
In the second part of the 19th century Saboly's were often published with those of Antoine Peyrol and Joseph Roumanille.
These many editions reflect the literary movement of the Félibriges. The list below is not exhaustive.
Saboly did not compose all the Christmas carols that were attributed to him.
They were originally published without music because they were sung to popular tunes that everyone knew by heart.
Saboly simply gave a note like "on the air of the echo", "on the air of the pastouro" or sometimes "On an air by Saboly".
The Provencal Documentation Center has retained in its booklet devoted to this author a list of 48 carols definitely composed by Saboly.
Following are the carols are according to the François Seguin edition of 1856:
First book
Second book
Third book
Fourth book, titled "Story of the birth of Jesus Christ"
Fifth book
Sixth book
Seventh book
Eighth book
Additions in the 1704 edition
Unpublished carols from the Bastide collection
Fragments from the Bastide collection
Other carols often attributed to Saboly
Famous carols

Citations