Jean-Benjamin de La Borde
Illustration — Jean-Benjamin de La Borde Jean-Benjamin François de la Borde (5 September 1734 – 22 July 1794) was a French composer, writer on music and fermier général (farm tax collector). Jean-Benjamin de La Borde was born into an aristocratic family, he studied violin under Antoine Dauvergne and composition under Jean-Philippe Rameau. From 1762 to 1774, he served at the court of Louis XV as premier valet de la chambre, losing his post on the death of the king.
Also recorded as Jean-Benjamin François de la Borde · Benjamin de Laborde
Jean-Benjamin de La Borde

painter: Du Rameau [Louis Jean-Jacques Durameau] · Bibliothèque nationale de France (cropped version) · Public domain
- Born
- 1734 · Paris.
- Died
- 1794 · Paris.
- Nationality
- France
- Occupation
- choreographer · composer · music historian · librettist · fermier général · writer · musician
- Fields
- opera
- Movements
- classical music
- Languages
- French
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Illustration — Jean-Benjamin de La Borde Jean-Benjamin François de la Borde (5 September 1734 – 22 July 1794) was a French composer, writer on music and fermier général (farm tax collector). Jean-Benjamin de La Borde was born into an aristocratic family, he studied violin under Antoine Dauvergne and composition under Jean-Philippe Rameau. From 1762 to 1774, he served at the court of Louis XV as premier valet de la chambre, losing his post on the death of the king.
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Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
wikipedia incomplete · checked 25 September 2026
- Identity
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- Independent source families
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- Admitted assertions
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Authority files
museum · 9ac0a8c4-588c-4df9-845f-a255f22fbdbe · wikidata · Q932694 · wikipedia · Jean-Benjamin de La Borde
In this article
Operas
Operas
He wrote many operas, mostly comic, and a four-volume collection of songs for solo voice, Choix de chansons mises en musique illustrated by Jean-Michel Moreau. Many of the songs from the collection were later published individually through the efforts of the English folksong collector Lucy Etheldred Broadwood. His Essai sur la musique ancienne et moderne was published in 1780. La Borde was guillotined during the French Revolution in 1794.
• |Title — |Genre — |Number of acts — |Libretto — |Première date — |Theatre • La chercheuse d'oiseaux — opéra comique en vaudeville — 1 — de Rozée — 1748 —? • Le rossignol ou le mariage secret — comédie en vaudeville — 1 — Charles Collé — 18 November 1751 — Château de Berny • Gilles garçon peintre, amoureux et rival — parody — 1 — Antoine-Alexandre-Henri Poinsinet — 1757 — Château de Berny • Les bons compères ou les bons amis — opéra comique — 1 — Michel-Jean Sedaine — 5 March 1761 — Foire Saint-Germain, Paris • Annette et Lubin — pastorale — 1 — Jean-François Marmontel — 30 March 1762 — Château de Choisy • Ismène et Isménias ou La fête de Jupiter — tragédie en musique — 3 — Pierre Laujon — 13 June 1763 — Château de Choisy • L'anneau perdu et retrouvé (in collaboration with Chardin) — opéra comique — 2 — Michel-Jean Sedaine — 20 August 1764 — Théâtre de l'Hôtel de Bourgogne Paris • Le dormeur éveillé — opéra comique — 2 — Louis Anseaume — 27 October 1764 — Château de Fontainebleau, Fontainebleau • Fanny — comédie-lyrique — 1 — Nicolas Chamfort —? — 1765 • Les amours de Gonesse — opéra comique (comédie mêlée d'ariettes) — 1 — Nicolas Chamfort, Charles-Simon Favart, the Marquis de Ménilglaise — 8 May 1765 — Théâtre de l'Hôtel de Bourgogne, Paris • Le coup de fusil — opéra comique (comédie mêlée d'ariettes) — 1 —? — 1766 —? • Le revenant — opéra comique — 1 — François-Georges Fouques Deshayes — 1766 —? • La bergère des Alpes (in collaboration with Josef Kohault) — pastorale — 3 — Jean-François Marmontel — 19 February 1766 — Théâtre de l'Hôtel de Bourgogne, Paris • Pandore (in collaboration with Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer) — opéra — 5 — Voltaire — 14 February 1767 — Menus Plaisirs du Roi, Paris • Amphion — pastorale — 1 — Antoine-Léonard Thomas — 13 October 1767 — Salle des Machines, Paris • Candide — opéra comique (comédie mêlée d'ariettes) — 1 — Le Prieur — 1768 —? • La meunière de Gentilly — opéra comique (comédie mêlée d'ariettes) —? — Pierre-René Lemonnier — 13 October 1768 — Théâtre de l'Hôtel de Bourgogne, Paris • Alix et Alexis — opéra comique (comédie mêlée d'ariettes) —? — Antoine-Alexandre-Henri Poinsinet — 6 July 1769 — Château de Choisy • Jeannot et Colin — opéra comique (comédie mêlée d'ariettes) — 1 — François-Georges Fouques Deshayes — 1770 —? • Colette et Mathurin — opéra comique (comédie mêlée d'ariettes) —? — François-Georges Fouques Deshayes — 1771 —? • La cinquantaine — pastorale — 3 — François-Georges Fouques Deshayes — 13 August 1771 — Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris • Amadis de Gaule (in collaboration with Pierre Montan Berton) — tragédie en musique — 5 — Philippe Quinault — 26 November 1771 — Académie royale de musique, Paris • Adèle de Ponthieu (in collaboration with Pierre Montan Berton) — tragédie en musique — 3 — Jean-Paul-André Razins de Saint-Marc — 1 December 1772 — Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris • L'amour quêteur — comédie — 2 — Alexandre-Louis-Bertrand Robineau ("Madame Beaunoir") — 16 September 1777 — Théâtre des Grands-Danseurs du Roi, Paris
In popular culture
In popular culture
La Borde's role at court is embellished in a fictional book series about police commissioner "Nicolas Le Floch" by Jean-François Parot. The stories have also been adapted for a television series in which La Borde appears regularly. He is portrayed by Benjamin Lavernhe in 2023 film Jeanne du Barry.
Identity
Identity
Jean-Benjamin de La Borde is recorded as choreographer, composer, music historian, librettist and fermier général.

La Borde, Jean-Benjamin de (1734-1794)
unknow · Bibliothèque nationale de France
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1734
Jean-Benjamin de La Borde born at Paris.
1794
Jean-Benjamin de La Borde died at Paris.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
FR.
Country
Paris.
Birth place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q932694: Jean-Benjamin de La Borde
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Jean-Benjamin de La Borde”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Institutional database
- MusicBrainz artist record for Jean-Benjamin de La Borde
Scholarly · MetaBrainz Foundation
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
MusicBrainz artist record for Jean-Benjamin de La BordeMetaBrainz Foundation
Verifiedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q932694: Jean-Benjamin de La BordeWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
Teachers, collaborators, publishers and institutions recorded against this person, each on a stated basis.
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
The authorities additionally record the headings Jean-Benjamin François de la Borde and Benjamin de Laborde. His recorded language was French. His recorded confession was Catholicism. He was the child of Jean-François de La Borde. Connected to 2 other published records in the VALÉORINE Encyclopedia.
Identity and origins
Within the Encyclopedia
(MusicBrainz artist record for Jean-Benjamin de La Borde) • Country: FR (MusicBrainz artist record for Jean-Benjamin de La Borde) • Kind Of Artist: person (MusicBrainz artist record for Jean-Benjamin de La Borde) • Born: Jean-Benjamin de La Borde was born in 1734 at Paris.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
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