''Horatius Coclès'' is an opera in one act and nine scenes (styled an ''acte lyrique'') by the French composer

Étienne Nicolas Méhul Étienne, a French analog of Stephen or Steven, is a masculine given name. An archaic variant of the name, prevalent up to the mid-17th century, is Estienne. Étienne, Etienne, Ettiene or Ettienne may refer to: People Scientists and inventors ...

with a

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Antoine-Vincent Arnault Antoine-Vincent Arnault (1 January 176616 September 1834) was a French playwright. Life Arnault was born in Paris. His first play, ''Marius à Minturne'' (1791), immediately established his reputation. A year later he followed with a second ...

. It was first performed at the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

on 18 February 1794. It is based on the Roman legend of

Horatius Cocles Publius Horatius Cocles was an officer in the army of the early Roman Republic who famously defended the Pons Sublicius from the invading army of Etruscan King Lars Porsena of Clusium in the late 6th century BC, during the war between Rome and Cl ...

Background and performance history

''Horatius Coclès'' was created during the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...

, at the height of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, when all works of art were strongly encouraged to have a political purpose. According to Arnault in his memoirs, the piece was intended to curry favour with the revolutionary authorities and thus improve the chances with the censor of a far more important opera Méhul and Arnault were then working on, ''

Mélidore et Phrosine is an opera by the French composer Étienne Méhul. It takes the form of a ''drame lyrique'' (a type of ''opéra comique'') in three acts. The libretto, by Antoine Vincent Arnault, is loosely based on the myth of Hero and Leander. The work was f ...

''. The revolutionaries viewed the early

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

as one of the models for their new state. Arnault saw parallels between the Rome of Horatius, which had just expelled its kings, and Revolutionary France, fighting against the crowned heads of Europe. Arnault claimed that he and Méhul finished the opera in 17 days. The opera initially had 18 performances in 1794, featuring sumptuous scenery. Arnault wrote that the authorities deemed it sufficiently patriotic to ease the path of ''Mélidore et Phrosine'' to the stage. It was revived for a further 9 performances between November 1797 and January 1798. During one night in the second run, one of the chorus fell off the "Pons Sublicius", taking 50 other performers with him, resulting in multiple injuries to the singer playing the lead. When the work reappeared on 30 December,

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

was among the audience.

Roles

Synopsis

:''Scene: a view of Rome, including the

Pons Sublicius The Pons Sublicius is the earliest known bridge of ancient Rome, spanning the Tiber River near the Forum Boarium ("cattle forum") downstream from the Tiber Island, near the foot of the Aventine Hill. According to tradition, its construction was or ...

and the camp of Lars Porsenna'' A chorus of Romans mourns the death of

Lucius Junius Brutus Lucius Junius Brutus ( 6th century BC) was the semi-legendary founder of the Roman Republic, and traditionally one of its first consuls in 509 BC. He was reputedly responsible for the expulsion of his uncle the Roman king Tarquinius Superbus after ...

, who had led them to expel King Tarquin and found the republic. The city is now besieged by the Etruscan king Lars Porsenna, who wants to reinstall the Roman royal family, and the people are starving. Horatius takes a dagger and swears on the tomb to pursue the ruin of the kings and maintain the liberty of Rome. Mucius Scaevola enters dressed as an Etruscan and declares his intention to infiltrate the enemy camp and assassinate Porsenna, even at the cost of his own life. Horatius begs to be allowed to undertake the mission instead, since he is old, but Publicola tells him he is too famous for the disguise to work. Mucius sets off. Publicola rewards Horatius' loyalty by entrusting him with the defence of the Pons Sublicius, the bridge across the River Tiber, while Publicola leads the main Roman army against the enemy. An envoy arrives from Porsenna, accompanied by Roman captives, including Horatius' son, young Horatius, whom he had believed dead. The envoy offers to hand over the captives if the Romans will accept their kings back. Horatius, his son and the assembled Romans flatly refuse this offer. The Etruscans attack and Horatius defends the bridge single-handedly while the Romans chop through it behind him. The bridge collapses and Horatius and the Etruscans plunge into the Tiber, but Horatius survives. Mucius Scaevola returns and tells how he had managed to gain access to Porsenna's camp, but instead of killing Porsenna he had struck down a courtier who had insulted Rome. He told Porsenna that he was one of 300 Romans who had vowed to kill him. Mucius had thrust his hand into the fire to punish it for the failure of his mission. Porsenna had been so impressed by this action that he had abandoned his attempt to conquer Rome. The opera ends with the return of the victorious Publicola, bringing back Horatius' son among the other freed captives.

Music

According to Arnault, Méhul described the austere style of ''Horatius Coclès'' as "iron music." The work has no roles for female soloists, a feature which is relatively rare in the history of opera but not so unusual among propaganda works of the French Revolutionary era. Elizabeth Bartlet comments that Méhul "did not hesitate to find a musical equivalent for 'fraternité' .e. fraternity, one of the chief French Revolutionary virtues In ''Horatius Coclès'' the little music for soloists, apart from

recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repea ...

to advance the plot, is for the most part in the form of duos and trios, not solos." The D major overture, which has been described as Beethovian, was a favourite of

Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Roya ...

and praised by

Castil-Blaze François-Henri-Joseph Blaze, known as Castil-Blaze (1 December 1784 – 11 December 1857), was a French musicologist, music critic, composer, and music editor. Biography Blaze was born and grew up in Cavaillon, Vaucluse. He went to Paris ...

as one of Méhul's best.Adélaïde de Place, p.59

Recording

Overture only: Méhul ''Overtures'', the Orchestre de Bretagne, conducted by Stefan Sanderling, ASV CD DCA 1140 (2002).

References

Sources

* Adélaïde de Place ''Étienne Nicolas Méhul'' (Bleu Nuit Éditeur, 2005) * Elizabeth Bartlet, entry on Méhul in the ''New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' * Malcolm Boyd (ed.) ''Music and the French Revolution'' (Cambridge University Press, 2008), includes the chapter "The new repertoire at the Opéra during the Reign of Terror: Revolutionary rhetoric and operatic consequences" by Elizabeth Bartlet

External links

First edition of the libretto (in French) at BNF Gallica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horatius Cocles Operas by Étienne Méhul 1794 operas French-language operas One-act operas Operas