- Prunières, Henry. L’opéra italien en France avant Lulli. Paris: Champion,
- 512p. ML1727.2 .P9. Reprint, Geneva: Minkoff, 1974, and Paris:
Champion, 1975.
A scholarly account of Italian opera at the French court and its influence. Let-
ters and documents, performance chronology. Bibliography (10 pages), index. - Cucuel, Georges. Les créatures de l’opéra-comique français. Paris: Alcan,
- 243p. ML1727.3 .C9.
A history of the genre, not the company. Deals with origins, fairs, influence of
opera buffa, early masters of the form (Gluck, La Ruette, and Duni), and, with
much detail, the works of Monsigny, Philidor, and Grétry. With a section on
the impact of the Revolution. Footnotes, brief bibliography, no index. - Fajon, Robert. L’opéra à Paris: Du roi soleil à Louis bien-aimé. Geneva:
Slatkine, 1984. 440p. ISBN 2-05100-5389. ML1727.8 .P2 F16.
An exhaustive, scholarly examination of the period 1643–1774. In narrative
form, with some analysis of works; background and reception of individual
operas; table of performances by type. Poor, hand-scrawled musical examples
detract from usefulness. Bibliography of about 75 items.
See also #1143.
- Cancelled entry.
A debate about the relative merits of French and Italian opera occupied many minds and
filled many pages in the mid-18th century; the debate is referred to as the Quarrel of the
Buffoons, or La querelle des bouffons.A leading philosopher was one of the instigators:
- Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Lettre sur la musique française. Paris, 1753. 92p. En-
glish trans. in Strunk.
Despite his nationality, Rousseau sided with the Italian mode, opera buffa,
rather than with the French classical style. He himself composed a successful
light (Italian-type) opera, Le devin du village(1752; see item #1596); it had
considerable influence in the development of French opéra-comique.
2258.La querelle des bouffons: Textes des pamphlets. Ed. Denise Launay. Geneva:
Minkoff, 1973. 3v. ML1727.33 .A1 Q5.
A huge (2,381 pages) collection of primary materials, such as Rousseau’s letter,
issued 1752–1754. Useful discussion of the dispute, chronology of the writings
and of opera performances, attributions for anonymous pamphlets, running
commentary, and index.
See also #89 and #378. Other documents relating to the quarrel are in Fubini (#98).
- Lowinsky, Edward E. “Taste, Style and Ideology in Eighteenth-Century
Music.” In Aspects of the Eighteenth Century, ed. Earl Wasserman, 163–206
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins U.P., 1965. CB411. W3).
A learned examination of the French-Italian opera dispute, with special atten-
tion to the role of Rousseau and his Le devin du village,comparing it with La
serva padronaby Pergolesi (1733), which was an inspiration for Rousseau.
422 Opera