Born in Toul, Jean-Baptiste Nôtre's father, Jacob Notter, from Mels near Sargans in Switzerland, married in Toul in 1721 and settled there, after serving as a soldier in the Esly regiment; he became the Swiss of the cathedral, under the French name Jacques Nôtre. Jean-Baptiste Nôtre, who was initially a choirboy in the cathedral, probably received his first organ lessons from the organists Noirel et Martelet. In 1754, the canons awarded him a scholarship to train for six months in Paris by Guillaume-Antoine Calvière, one of the organists of the Chapelle Royale and titular at Notre-Dame de Paris. When he returned, they named him organist of the Toul Cathedral, which had a magnificent instrument built by Nicolas Dupont between 1751 and 1755. He was asked to appraise the organs of the Cistercian abbey Notre-Dame de Beaupré., the , the , as well as those of the Nancy Cathedral. In 1793, he was commissioned to estimate the organs of all the churches in Toul, which became national property. Even though the French Revolution suspended his activities for a while, he remained organist of the cathedral until his death. In 1757, he married Nancy Françoise Mangin, daughter of an innkeeper, who gave him five children. Their daughter Marguerite Nôtre was an organist in the Lunéville parish of Saint-Jacques.
His ''Livre d'orgue''
Preserved at the Municipal Library of Châlons-en-Champagne, among the scores from the organist Jean-Baptiste Charbonnier, and entitled Livres de piesses d’orgue par l’organiste de Toul, the collection of Nôtre's pieces contains eight suites of nine short pieces, ordered by ton, which could in fact be verses for the Magnificat:
: Plein jeux. Fugue grave. Duo. Trio. Basse de trompette. Récit. Duo. Grand jeux. Grand jeux.
: Plein jeux. Fugue grave. Duo. Trio. Cornet. Basse de trompette. Grand jeu. Récit de cromhorne. Grand jeux.
: Plein jeux. Fugue grave. Duo. Trio. Récit. Cornet. Trio. Grand jeux. Grand jeux.
: Plein jeux. Fugue grave. Duo. Trio. Récit. Cornet. Duo. Grand jeux. Grand jeux.
: Plein jeux. Fugue grave. Duo. Récit. Clairinette. Basse de trompette. Trio. Grand jeux. Grand jeux.
: Plein jeux. Fugue grave. Duo. Clairinette. Duo. Trio. Basse de trompette. Grand jeux. Grand jeux.
: Plein jeux. Fugue grave. Duo. Récit. Trompette. Trio. Basse de trompette. Grand jeux. Grand jeux.
: Plein jeux. Fugue grave. Duo. Trio. Clairinette. Cornet. Récit. Grand jeux. Grand jeux.
While in keeping with the great French tradition of liturgical organ books, Nôtre's book reflects the evolution of taste in the second half of the 18th century, particularly the influence of German music for the pianoforte. The pieces are written without a pedal and can be played on the piano.
Modern edition of the ''Livre d'orgue''
Jean-Baptiste Nôtre, Livre d’orgue…, published by Jean-Luc Gester, intr. by Jean-Luc Gester and Damien Vaisse, Hombourg-Haut: , 2003, 66 p.
Discography
Jean-Baptiste Nôtre, Le Livre d'Orgue - Pascal Vigneron sitting at the large Schwenkedel organs of the Toul Cathedral and the historical organ of Charles Cachet at Domgermain - ref. Quantum QM 7064.
The "Livres de Piesses dorgue" by Jean-Baptiste Nôtre was recorded by Dominique Dantand, titular of the historical Küttinger organ of Vézelise, organ received and played by J-B Nôtre in 1775. The CD is available from the . This is currently the only trulyhistorical record of these pages. Here's what Jean-Charles Ablitzer says:
