The Classical Music Book

70

LULLY MERITS WITH

GOOD REASON THE

TITLE OF PRINCE OF

FRENCH MUSICIANS

LE BOURGEOIS GENTILHOMME (1670),

JEAN-BAPTISTE LULLY

T

he 1670 comédie-ballet

Le bourgeois gentilhomme,

devised by the French

composer Jean-Baptiste Lully and

the playwright and actor Molière,

represents the high point of this

specifically French genre. It was

the culmination of a series of

comedy-ballets by the two men

who were known as Les deux

Baptistes (Molière’s real name

being Jean Baptiste Poquelin). The

comédie-ballet genre mixed spoken

drama with music and dance,

ballet having long been enjoyed

at the court of King Louis XIV.

The story of Le bourgeois

gentilhomme, the foolish Monsieur

Jourdain, who has delusions of

grandeur, is told through a mixture

of spoken dialogue written by

Molière, interspersed with lively

orchestral interludes and dances

by Lully. The choruses and solo

arias were the work of both men.

Dramatic skill

Lully was a skilled musician,

dancer, and actor, and this is

evident in his compositions.

Instead of merely accompanying

the singers, Lully’s orchestra

enhances the drama of his works,

commenting on the actions of the

characters and creating a sense

of place and occasion. His earlier

Ballet des Muses (1666) anticipated

the rise of the concerto, by pitting

solo instrumental passages against

alternating orchestral responses.

Examples of virtuosity and

complexity are often evident

in Le bourgeois gentilhomme,

particularly in the quickfire

exchanges between characters,

in the whirling violin and flute

ornamentations of the Spanish

tunes, and in the stately flourishes

of the overture. Over the course of

five acts, Lully uses every tool at

his disposal, from popular dance

forms, such as jigs and minuets,

to drinking songs and even a

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

French Baroque

BEFORE

1626 Les vingt-quatre violons

du roi, the King’s orchestra,

is founded—an ensemble in

which Lully later performs.

1647 The premiere is held of

Luigi Rossi’s opera Orpheus,

the first opera commissioned

by the French court.

AFTER

1691 Henry Purcell composes

his opera King Arthur, with

“shivering” effects in the

violins, allegedly influenced

by Lully’s opera Isis.

1693 Marc-Antoine

Charpentier’s opera Médée

is indebted to Lully’s style.

1733 Jean-Philippe Rameau’s

Hippolyte et Aricie is the first

French opera to depart from

Lully’s style and the first

piece of music to be described

a s “Ba roq ue.”

I do not believe there is any

sweeter music under the

heaven than Lully’s.

Madame de Sévigné

French aristocrat (1626–1696)

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