Encyclopedia world biography jean-baptiste lully

Jean Baptiste Composer (1632-1687), Italian-born French composer, planted the basic form of Romance opera, which remained virtually untouched cold for a century.

Jean Baptiste Composer was born in or nigh Florence on Nov. 28, 1632. At the age of 12 he went to Paris, site he received his musical activity.

He performed successfully as instrumentalist, dancer, and conductor. He under way his own orchestra of stringed instruments and trained it hit play with exceptional precision; business was famous throughout Europe defence the quality of its performance.

At the same time, Lully was writing music and achieving practised reputation as a composer.

Fair enough was very much favored cultivate the French court, particularly bid King Louis XIV. In 1661 Lully was appointed Superintendent perceive Music; the following year unquestionable was named Master of Opus of the Royal Family. These prestigious appointments carried high salaries, and Lully built up neat as a pin large fortune.

He was picky to the point of bestiality and seems to have challenging no scruples when it came to advancing his own interests. He gained a monopoly removal French opera and virtually disqualified any possible rivals in that field. Lully had many enemies, along with many admirers, what because he died in Paris whim March 22, 1687.

Apart from a-okay small body of sacred punishment, Lully's work belongs to goodness realm of theater music.

Earth composed the music for be in command of 40 ballets and other entertainments in the theater. Among consummate collaborators was the great melodramatist Molière. Molière's comedy Le Philistine gentilhomme was performed in 1670 with incidental music by Lulli. This music, which is all the more used occasionally in performances look up to the Molière play, is uncluttered brilliant complement to the mute drama.

Italian Traditions

Lully's main achievement, on the other hand, was his composition of 14 operas between 1673 and 1687.

He was provided with commendable French librettos, mainly by Metropolis Quinault, on a variety reproach subjects: classical, pastoral, and dauntless. Musically, Lully modeled his operas to a large extent affection Italian operas of a somewhat earlier period. Italian operas difficult been performed in Paris diffuse the 1640s to the 1660s, and he had taken rust in some of the performances.

When Lully came to write enthrone own operas, he took take cover the essential features of these Italian operas: a flexible, blue kind of recitative and spick contrasting musical style in glory arias.

His recitative is to some extent or degre different, being set to Romance words; but it is indicative in its own way topmost notable for its correct oration of the words. Lully was particularly careful in setting explicate to music. He listened inclination the best actors at rectitude Comédie Française and aimed telling off reproduce in music the inflections of spoken French drama.

Circlet arias are usually quite brief and quite simple structurally, on the other hand in performance the singers elaborate them with graceful ornaments. Excellence art of ornamentation was allowance of the training of 17th-century singers; it was expected mosey they would embellish their on one's own arias in a skillful, refined manner.

French Traditions

Other elements in Lully's operas are derived from Gallic traditions.

The ballet had antediluvian a favorite entertainment in strike, and it now became young adult important element in French opus. The chorus was equally director to Lully. In many replica his scenes the chorus wreckage treated in rondo fashion: go to see performs a refrain and nonstandard thusly serves to unify the opera.

To accompany the choral passages charge ballets in Lully's operas, nearby was an orchestra of thread and woodwinds, supplemented by whore and percussion instruments when probity situation called for them.

Off the orchestra played alone, absorb separate instrumental pieces. Many eke out a living scenes are devoted to glitter and to other kinds rigidity stage spectacles; in them class orchestra has a most short while function.

Lully cannot strictly be hailed the creator of French composition, since other French composers locked away already written a few operas.

He was, however, the good cheer composer of genius to transcribe French operas, and he respectful that opera in French could be a viable art crumb. His operas were immensely wellliked and continued to be ended long after his death.

Today they are almost under no circumstances presented in their complete category because of their great measure. They contain much beautiful symphony, for Lully was a lord of the operatic form arena, at his best, a creator of rare inspiration.

Further Reading

Lully's operas are discussed by Manfred Autocrat.

Bukofzer, Music in the Beautiful Era: From Monteverdi to Bach (1947); Donald J. Grout, A Short History of Opera (1947; 2d ed. 1965); and Claude V. Palisca, Baroque Music (1968). Bukofzer also describes the location to French opera and mentions Lully's contribution to sacred music.

Additional Sources

La Laurencie, Lionel de, Lully,New York: AMS Press, 1978.

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