7.2 Lully and the establishment of French opera

Jean-Baptiste Lully, an Italian-born French composer, revolutionized French Baroque music. As King Louis XIV's music master, he created tragédie lyrique, a new opera genre combining classical drama, ballet, and Italian opera elements.

Lully's operas featured French overtures, recitatives, and integrated dance scenes. His work at the Académie Royale de Musique set the standard for French opera for nearly a century, influencing composers like Rameau and shaping instrumental music development.

Lully and the Establishment of French Opera

Lully's impact on French opera

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  A performance of Lully's opera Armide in the Salle du Palais-Royal in 1761 View original

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• Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) Italian-born French composer, instrumentalist, and dancer became the most influential figure in French Baroque music
• Appointed superintendent of the royal music and music master of the royal family by King Louis XIV in 1661
• Collaborated with librettist Philippe Quinault to create a new genre of French opera called tragédie lyrique (also known as tragédie en musique)
  • First tragédie lyrique Cadmus et Hermione (1673)
• Established the Académie Royale de Musique (Paris Opera) in 1672 under the patronage of Louis XIV
  • Held a monopoly on public opera performances in France

Key features of tragédie lyrique

• Combines elements of classical French drama, ballet, and Italian opera
• Typically consists of a prologue followed by five acts
  • Prologues often glorify the king and celebrate his power and virtues (Louis XIV)
  • Acts usually end with a divertissement a suite of dances and choruses
• Libretti based on stories from classical mythology (Greco-Roman) or medieval romances, often with allegorical or political undertones
• Employs a French overture slow-fast-slow at the beginning of the opera and each act
• Makes use of recitative a speech-like singing style to advance the plot, alternating with airs (solo songs), choruses, and dances
• Features elaborate stage machinery, special effects, and scenic designs

Music, dance, and drama in Lully's operas

• Music enhances the emotional impact of the drama and characterization
  • Recitatives convey the dialogue and action
  • Airs express the characters' feelings and reflections (soliloquies)
• Dance is an integral part of the opera, not merely a decorative addition
  • Dances incorporated into the plot, reflecting characters' emotions or representing allegorical figures
  • Ballet scenes feature professional dancers, while other dances involve the chorus and soloists
• Lully's music closely tied to the French language and its prosody
  • Composed with careful attention to the natural rhythms and inflections of the text

Lully's influence on French composers

• Lully's tragédies lyriques became the model for French opera for nearly a century after his death
• Composers such as Pascal Collasse, Henri Desmarets, André Campra, and Marin Marais followed Lully's conventions
• Jean-Philippe Rameau, the most important French composer of the 18th century, further developed the tragédie lyrique genre
  • Introduced harmonic innovations and greater musical complexity while retaining Lully's basic structure and principles
• Lully's influence extended beyond opera to instrumental music, particularly in the development of the French overture style and dance forms (minuet, gavotte, passacaille)