Tragédie Lyrique – Comparison of Approaches of J. B. Lully and J. P. Rameau
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Tragédie lyrique – Comparison of Approaches of J. B. Lully and J. P. Rameau
Jean –Baptiste Lully and Jean –Philippe Rameau both were composers who made a distinctive contribution into a development of French opera genre. Born in 1632, Jean – Baptiste Lully was probably the most powerful force in French music in the seventeenth century. With a generous support of Louis XIV who granted him an exclusive right to produce sung drama in France, he and his librettist Jean – Philippe Quinalt reconciled the demands of drama, music and ballet in a new French form of opera called tragédie lyrique. Being successful in their attempts, Lully and Quinalt gave birth to a new form of dramatic action that without any significant modification governed the operatic production of France for over more than 60 years until the time when Jean – Philippe Rameau firstly introduced his title Hippolite et Aricie. Although Rameau did not turn away from Lully’s concept completely, musicologists do identically record on remarkable differences among his and Lully’s work. This brief study divided into six sections will overtly attempt to describe major properties of the tragédie lirique genre as well as separately introduce differences in
2 approaches of two prominent composers of 17th century, Jean – Baptiste Lully and Jean – Philippe Rameau.
Jean - Baptiste Lully ( November 28, 1632 – March 22, 1687)
An interesting paradox of the history of French baroque opera has a lot to do with the fact that Lully's origin is indisputably Italian. Living in Florence until his twenty – four years of age, in 1646 Lully was appointed to the position of Italian teacher in the service of French princess, Medemoiselle de Montpensier. With the help of this princess, Lully started to cultivate his natural musical talents. Knowledge
Tragédie lyrique – Comparison of Approaches of J. B. Lully and J. P. Rameau
Jean –Baptiste Lully and Jean –Philippe Rameau both were composers who made a distinctive contribution into a development of French opera genre. Born in 1632, Jean – Baptiste Lully was probably the most powerful force in French music in the seventeenth century. With a generous support of Louis XIV who granted him an exclusive right to produce sung drama in France, he and his librettist Jean – Philippe Quinalt reconciled the demands of drama, music and ballet in a new French form of opera called tragédie lyrique. Being successful in their attempts, Lully and Quinalt gave birth to a new form of dramatic action that without any significant modification governed the operatic production of France for over more than 60 years until the time when Jean – Philippe Rameau firstly introduced his title Hippolite et Aricie. Although Rameau did not turn away from Lully’s concept completely, musicologists do identically record on remarkable differences among his and Lully’s work. This brief study divided into six sections will overtly attempt to describe major properties of the tragédie lirique genre as well as separately introduce differences in
2 approaches of two prominent composers of 17th century, Jean – Baptiste Lully and Jean – Philippe Rameau.
Jean - Baptiste Lully ( November 28, 1632 – March 22, 1687)
An interesting paradox of the history of French baroque opera has a lot to do with the fact that Lully's origin is indisputably Italian. Living in Florence until his twenty – four years of age, in 1646 Lully was appointed to the position of Italian teacher in the service of French princess, Medemoiselle de Montpensier. With the help of this princess, Lully started to cultivate his natural musical talents. Knowledge
References: Castonguay, Remi, Meter Fluctuations in Lully 's Recitative. Hunter College, New York, 2006 Dill, Charles, Rameau Reading Lully : Meaning and System in Rameau’s Recitative Tradition. Cambridge Opera Journal, 1992 Burkholder, Grout, Palisca, A History of Western Music. Norton and Company, New York – London, 2009 Oxford Music Online, Groove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/44040,