{{Short description|French composer}} thumb|''Portrait of Nicolas Vallet'', 1615 '''Nicolas Vallet''' (also ''Valet'';<ref>{{Cite Grove |last=Tollefsen |first=Randall H. |last2=Grijp |first2=Louis Peter |title=Vallet, Nicolas|name-list-style=amp}}</ref> c. 1583 – c. 1642) was a French lutenist and composer who emigrated to the Dutch Republic.
Vallet, a Huguenot, was born at Corbeny, Aisne, but fled around 1613 from France to the Netherlands for unknown reasons. In Amsterdam he worked as a self-supporting musician, lute teacher, and as the owner of a dance school.
His primary work, ''Le Secret des Muses,'' contains compositions and instruction for the 10-course Renaissance lute. It was published in two parts in 1615 and 1616. It was among the last compositions to appear for this instrument, before it was supplanted by the Baroque lute.
He also wrote a ''Psalms of David'' (in 1615) and ''Regia Pietas'' (in 1622).
According to Frederick Neumann,<ref>Neumann, Frederick (1983). {{Google books|7yEUTTyqgJkC|Ornamentation in baroque and post baroque music: With Special Emphasis on J. S. Bach}}. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. p. 66. {{ISBN|0-691-02707-2}}.</ref> Vallet may have been among the first to introduce ornaments to the lute tablature.
==References== {{reflist}} *{{cite book|last=Bailes|first=Anne|title=Nicolas Vallet (1583-1642): Pieces for 4 Lutes|publisher=Tree Edition|year=1984|location=Lübeck; Münich|oclc=11938111}} *{{cite book|last1=Vallet|first1=Nicolas|title=Le Secret des Muses|last2=Souris |first2=A. |last3=Rollin |first3=M.|publisher=Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique|year=1970|location=Paris|oclc=255665595}} *{{cite book|last=O'Dette|first=Paul|title=Booklet to CD of Secret des Muses| publisher=Harmonia Mundi France|year=2003}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vallet, Nicolas}} Category:1580s births Category:1640s deaths Category:17th-century classical composers Category:French Baroque composers Category:Dutch male classical composers Category:Dutch classical composers Category:Dutch lutenists Category:French lutenists Category:French classical composers Category:French male classical composers Category:People from Aisne Category:17th-century male musicians Category:Huguenots
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